9 Months

My little baby is 9 months old today! How did this happen? A little snapshot of what the little man is doing at 9 months:

• Weighs 17lbs9oz (he has his 9 month appointment next week so we'll know length then)

• Is a very good little eater. So far he has tried avocado, green beans, sweet potatoes, tofu, peas, carrots, apples, pears, mangos (his absolute favorite), peaches, apricots, string cheese, watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas, scrambled egg yolks, broccoli, cauliflower, cottage cheese, yogurt and of course Cheerios, which I think he might have a slight problem with. He seriously can't get enough of the Cheerios. The only thing he has not liked is banana. Please reference this video if you need a reminder. He likes cantaloupe but the few times we have given it to him he's gotten red blotches on his face, so we're holding off on melons for awhile longer. I have been able to stick to my original plan and have so far made all of his baby food. It's a good amount of work, but it's so worth it when I feed him and know exactly what's going in his little body.
  

• LOVES his dogs. Every morning Elle and I go in to get him and he immediately starts giggling as soon as he sees her, even if he woke up crabby. Anytime she comes into view he starts giggling actually. Can't get enough! Parker is his play buddy. The poor little thing, who is about the same size as the baby now, let's him crawl on him, grab his tail, his ear, his muzzle, jump on him, etc. and never utters a peep - no growls, no snaps, nothing. It's pretty amazing to watch these two animals with their little man. The love here is definitely reciprocal.

• His favorite toy is definitely his Fisher Price ring set. He loves to take all of the rings off and carry them around. He crawls with them, climbs with them. He actually gets mad when you put them all on the pole. He immediately crawls over and pulls them all off and throws them around. This alone could entertain him for quite some time!

• Loves music and bounce up and down to it.
  

• Is a speed crawler. I can't believe how quickly this kid gets around. He actually crawls with his left knee and right foot. I have a feeling walking is not too far in our future.

• HATES having his nose wiped. He screams as if you were torturing him.

• loves being read too, especially when he's getting sleepy. He loves touching the pages and grabbing at the images he sees. One of his favorites is Little Puppy, which his Aunt Cissy gave to him before he was even here. He absolutely loves grabbing onto the the little doggy finger puppet, while mommy makes little doggy noises.

• Giggles uncontrollably when you nibble on his chin.

• Loves giving kisses. Right now they are more like open mouth slobber fests on your cheek, but absolutely adorable!

• Loves bath time and his rubber ducky.

• Will feed himself a bottle, but still prefers that Mama or Dada does it.

• Loves glasses. He will pull them off your face if you're not careful ;-)

• Has figured out how to pull hats off of his head, even if they have a chin strap.

• Is still a great sleeper at night. He usually does about 11-12 hours. Naps are still not his thing. He would much rather stay up and hang out. We have to be very purposeful having quiet play time leading up to a nap, so that he gets the hint ;-)

• Constantly gets told that he is the happiest, chillest baby around. I would have to agree with that. We pretty much take him anywhere we want to go and are not worried about how he will do.

• Is the absolute and complete love of our lives.