Lil Buddy,
Two days ago, you turned 9 months old. A whole 9 months! That’s almost as long as it took for you to grow in Mommy’s tummy!
Playing: You pick up new skills right and left now. The first day you were home on vacation in CA, you tried out one of the walkers Grandma bought you. You stood holding it just fine, but as soon as it moved you fell flat on your face. Just a few days later, however, you had figured out how to push it and walk behind, cruising all over the living room!
You crawl like a pro now, alternating between the “army” crawl and the traditional hands and knees. You know how to push yourself up to a standing position from the floor, using just your leg muscles! Once up, however, you look for something to hold onto for support.
You love love love to climb. Mommy had you next to her on the couch one morning, and before she knew it you had climbed over the back of the couch, onto the bookshelves beneath.
You are an absolute wiggle worm. Anyone who holds you testifies to this– you’re sometimes very hard to hang onto! Always wanting to explore.Your signature move is the rocking back and forth of your whole body, eyes fixed on whatever it is that caught your attention.
Peekaboo games are all the rage now. We can get you to laugh and squeal for nearly an hour, using the same games. While camping, you had a crowd of over 10 of your aunts and uncles captivated as Daddy snuck up to you, over and over. Your shrieks of anticipation were hysterical.
You also love love love to swim in the pool (but only in the warm Texas pool water…baby steps…). Mommy has never known of a baby who loves to be dunked, yet you do. Sure, you are surprised and sputtering– for about 2 seconds. Then, it’s all giggles. You actually try to dunk yourself while sitting in your baby flotation seat, which looks more like you trying to drink the water through your nose. When we hold you tummy down in the water, you immediately kick and try to put your face in the water.
Talking: I’m pretty sure your first word was “hi”, although it is more of a gleeful sigh. When someone comes up to you and says it first, you have started responding with, “Haaa–iii!”, using the same intonation as the person speaking, smiling the whole way. You take a different consonant each day and play with it until the cows come home. If it’s a “B”, you spend the whole day saying, “Babababababa-booboobooboo- beebeebee…” If you’re angry or upset, the letter you almost always use is “M”. I think you’re starting to associate that with Mommy, since you only use it when you want something! You’ve also taken to saying, “Daaa-daaa-daa!” whenever Claire is nearby. It wouldn’t surprise Mommy and Daddy one bit if your first consistent word was “Dog”, since you absolutely love them and can’t get enough!
Singing/Reading: If someone is singing to you, it’s a given that you sing back. No question. You also like to sing whenever the radio is on in the car.
Mommy still reads you a few books each day, and you seem to like it more now. Your attention span is only a few minutes, but you love to be read to, especially if you can slap your hands on the book’s pages while Mommy is reading.
Eating: You still nurse 5-7 times a day, but you are eating larger quantities of solids. You get 3 jars of fruits or veggies per day, along with a few tablespoons of oatmeal.
What we already love about you is your willingness to eat/try ANYTHING. Within the last month, you’ve tried and liked: peppercinis, black beans, pinto beans, rice, quinoea, chunks of banana, “finger” slices of bread, lemon, mustard…basically, anything Mommy’s having, she’ll give you a little bit of. You are good at grabbing little bits of food from your tray and placing them directly in your mouth. Mommy always thought that you would choke if you were given such solid food, but you’ve adapted quite easily. Cheerios are your favorite snack food– you eat handfuls at a time! Also, you now have two bottom teeth, fully emerged and ready to chew. This has made breastfeeding you…not so fun at times!
Sleeping: Vacations aside (you don’t do well when your schedule is messed up!), you now are a WONDERFUL sleeper. 7pm-7am at night, a 1.5 hour nap at 9am, and a 2 hour nap at 1pm, plus sometimes a tiny half hour nap at 5pm. You always sleep with your blankie, white noise and a pacifier. You move all around your crib as you sleep– everytime Mommy comes in, she finds you facing a different way, on your back, on your tummy, rolled up next to the side, etc.
Our Favorites: Your strawberry blond hair is getting long enough in the back that you are developing some seriously cute little curls! They stick out every which way after you’ve been sleeping, which is totally adorable. Also, your BIG BLUE eyes are the cutest thing ever. You get comments day and in and out about how pretty they are. In fact, you pretty much get tons of attention,wherever you go. Just last week, Mommy and Grandma were eating lunch at Panera Bread. You had at least 5 strangers at other tables, watching your every move with smiles. On one of our plane rides, two boys across the aisle couldn’t stop talking about every little thing you did. Universally speaking, people everywhere think you are ridiculously cute. Mommy thinks it’s because your smile lights up your whole face.
Also, you got to visit your entire family this month, including your Uncle Keith who had never met you! You got tons of love and attention. It didn’t matter whether you were screaming or giggling, you had someone there to dote on you.
One thing’s for sure, lil Buddy: you’ll never lack people who love you dearly.
Love, Mommy
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