Nine months

William pulled himself up by holding on to my mom's hands and he was so proud. He laughed and tried to bounce.



Last Thursday, 7.17.08, I went into William's room when he woke up from his nap and found him like this:

It was the first time he was sitting up in his crib on his own. He was so happy and seemed like such a big boy.

William is nine months old! The past two weeks have been full of "firsts" for him. On Monday, 7.14.08 he learned how to sit up from a laying position. Just that little maneuver makes him seem more mobile. He manages to scoot himself to things by going from his tummy to sitting. Then on Thursday, 7.17.08 I found him sitting up in his crib playing with his aquarium after he woke up from his nap. He was really happy and content to be in there playing. I was surprised when I walked into his room to see him sitting up and not laying down happily kicking. On Monday, 7.21.08 he clapped his hands for the first time and when I cheered "yay!", he kept clapping. And on Wednesday 7.23.08 he pulled himself up on his crib. He was standing up in his crib holding on to the rail after his nap. The rails are raised now. And he took his first crawl (to reach Henry's tractor). It's more like a scoot/crawl. He crawls with one leg and sort of drags the other. He's not yet crawling everywhere. But he crawled again last night to reach another out of reach toy. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before he's on the go. His 9-month checkup is in August. I'll post his stats from that visit then.

• He loves the water. He likes taking a bath and loves to splash. He likes the pool and is very content to float in a floatie and splash at the pool water. He doesn't mind getting water on his face. We've been going to playgrounds this summer that have attached sprinkler parks and he lunges for the water and doesn't mind if it gets in his eyes or on his face.
• Most days he naps twice a day. His morning nap is usually around 9:00 and lasts between 2 and 2 1/2 hours. His afternoon nap is around 1:00 and lasts for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• He loves his pacifier, mostly at nap times or bedtime. But if he's crabby during the day, he always takes his pacifier and it helps.
• He eats lots of solids. Usually between 4 and 5 - 4 oz jars daily. I've also been breaking up pieces of table food for him to try and he has liked most things. He loves green beans, bite size banana, and cheese ravioli (I shared my Olive Garden with him). He also loves teething biscuits. I bought Earth's Best whole wheat biscuits and keep them in my purse for when we're eating out. They're super messy, but keep him very content. A good trade-off. Mealtimes are his crankiest time. He makes a nonstop grunting/unhappy noise whenever there is not food in his mouth. I try to feed him fast, but I'm never fast enough!
• He's antsy when I hold him now; he turns his body and pushes away until I set him down. It's tricky when we're out somewhere and I need to hold him. He's very curious.
• When he's tired he's really cuddly and loves to be held facing me. He will lay his head down on my shoulder and rest.
• He plays peek-a-boo. It's so sweet and he gets so excited when we say "peek-a-boo"!
• He's getting some spunk. If he wants something that I'm holding or something that I'm eating he will "yell" until I either give it to him or give him something equally interesting. He also is starting to scream when Henry takes toys away from him.
• He reaches for people to hold him. He's become a Daddy's boy and beams when Patrick comes home from work. He does the lunge move out of my arms and reaches for Patrick if I'm holding him.
• He still has 6 teeth. 2 on the bottom and 4 on the top. The top teeth are starting to get big! His smile looks so different with all of these teeth filling his mouth.
• He is starting to have separation anxiety. When we leave him with a sitter (who is usually - ok, always- a family member) he often has red-swollen eyes from crying when we pick him up and we are told that he wasn't happy or content to be set down.

With us he is a sweet, happy baby. We feel blessed to be his parents and love watching him develop his own unique personality.