Nine Month Notes

Well, Mr. C. is a whopping nine months old today, I am shocked! Where has the time gone? Where has my tiny, squishy baby gone? Who is this crawling, babbling, drumming, adorable, and lovable little person who now follows me from room to room? He has quite the little personality emerging, that's for sure!

Month eight has been my favorite so far. He learned so much this last month that it's even left my head spinning a little. I'm still trying to figure out how it all happened so fast. Here are the things our 19.4 lb, 28 inch-long little man either does or understands:

• He crawls! And he's apparently going to be one of those babies who goes directly from crawling to cruising since he already wants to pull himself up on everything!
  

• He plays peek-a-boo (as can be seen in the preceding video blog post) and other games like when I smell his "stinky feet" and make a face. He laughs so hard!
  
• He waves and clearly says "Hi" when he sees us or other favorite people.
• He shares his paci and food with us--a high honor indeed!
• He loves to read books. Today he even cried when I only had time to read Brown Bear once.
  
• He's beginning to indicate what he wants with body language. Leaning towards books or toys, raising his arms to be picked up, etc.
• He sometimes babbles or laughs in his sleep. It's the cutest thing in the world. I may have mentioned this in another post, not sure, but I find it interesting that I've always talked in my sleep and now our son does too. :)
  
• He's practicing cause and effect by doing things and then watching to see what happens. This is most evident when he tries to pull my glasses off my face, or yank on my hair/earrings. All of these things are habits that we are very much trying to curb but I still find the observation of his behaviors and their consequences interesting. He's beginning to understand the words "gentle" and "no."
• He's mastered the sippy cup like a pro now and for some reason thinks drinking water is extremely funny.
  
• He seems to love just about every food I make for him. His all-time favorite is still sweet potatoes, but he also really loves brussels sprouts, peas, carrots, broccoli/cauliflower/carrot medley, lintel soup and whole wheat spaghetti with ground turkey and veggies. I'm really enjoying making him "real" meals in addition to the simple purees I've been creating all along.
• We thought we had lost all of his pacifiers (a strange phenomenon in a baby-household, similar to disappearing socks) but today Michael found four or five of them under C's bed. I guess he must be throwing them out of his crib.
  
• Speaking of his crib, he seems to have suddenly made peace with that part of his life. I won't lie, we've been struggling with the whole sleeping habits thing (another post) but now he seems to have gotten the idea that we do come back when he needs us or when he's ready to get up.
• He loves to be sung to and will almost always stop what he's doing and listen when I sing. This is one of our nightly rituals, cherished by both parties.
  
• He loves other music too, especially wind chimes. There are chimes on our porch that he likes and also chimes at my parents house that he looks for every time we go there.
  
• He knows about the moon from "Goodnight Moon" and tonight he saw the real deal for the first time ever. He grinned from ear to ear, which was adorable!
• He is really and truly happy almost all the time, even when it's clear he doesn't feel well. As such, he makes me remember what really matters in life.

Overall my adventures in parenting this amazing little boy throughout the past nine months have been tremendous! I continually learn as much from him as he does from me. There are parts of being a mommy (as with any job) that are mundane, gross, boring, and overwhelming but by and large, the joy I get from our son far outweighs the challenges. I can't wait to see what month nine brings!