9 Months

Our little stinker is now 9 months old!  3/4 of a year!  He is 21 lb. 10 oz. and his hair has really gotten blonde lately!  Just like last month, he is still on the move.  He's so quick!  Put him down, run into the other room to do something, turn around and he's right on your heels (or occasionally still sitting there fussing because Mommy put him down!).  He is very much a Mama's boy and either is being held by Mommy, pulling up on her leg or crawling behind her crying most of the day.  He does like to explore, play with toys, pull stuff from the spice rack on the pantry door, climb into the dishwasher, etc. . . . as long as Mommy or Daddy are close by.  Biggest developments this month are that our little guy now has two precious teeth on the bottom!  He also made the big move to his own bedroom upstairs and is now sleeping there for all naps and nights.  The first night we moved him was rough.  He was up most of the night crying and confused.  By the second night though he slept great and *knock on wood* has slept SO MUCH BETTER at night since moving up there.  He now wakes up only once at night to eat around 3:30-4:00.  He is still an early morning riser and cruddy napper for the most part but at least he's getting pretty good night sleep.

We have noticed more and more that Sammy is a very schedule-bound guy.  It's like he can read the clock and likes to nap again 3 hours after he last woke, eating dinner at 6:00 PM, and getting ready for bed by 7:00.  If any of those things run later he is not a happy camper!

This month Samuel also visited the church nursery for the first time!  He did great!  We take him there after church while Mommy, Daddy, and Caleb are in Sunday school.  He usually naps there and plays a little.  They have said that he fusses some and prefers to be held (no big surprise) but otherwise does well!  Mommy will be joining our church's MOPS group in the Fall so we wanted some practice with him going to the nursery before then. 

Unfortunately, Samuel had his first little fever this month.  It only hung around for about 12 hours and never got very high but about a day later he broke out in a red rash all over his trunk and neck.  We're not sure if he had a mild case of Roseola or just some other virus. 

Month 9 favorites:

• Mommy
• crawling
• chewing on things
• trying samples at HEB (mostly the ones from the bakery!)
• fruit (Samuel still will eat most anything but definitely shows a preference for fruit.  We tried cooked beets, not pickled, with him and those he refused to eat but everything else will eventually go down . . . although sometimes it's followed by an ugly face and growl!)
• stuffed "Monkey See" that he sleeps with
• Caleb making silly noises
• Caleb jumping out to "boo" him
• Seeing Daddy when he gets home from work
• turning his head over to one side and then to the other to see if we will copy him
• swinging outside
• riding in the wagon
• pulling cords
• splashing in water

Month 9 dislikes:

• Mommy leaving
• Mommy coming back and not stopping to pick him up
• Mommy coming close and not picking him up or taking him from whoever is holding him
• strangers talking to him or touching him
• beets
•  getting in and out of the car seat several times a day to drop Caleb off and pick him up at school
• if Mommy or Daddy is eating something they won't share
• being told "no"

"Nope, don't want this on my shirt!"

"Mommy, why'd you stick it back on??"

"Now see what you did?  I told you I don't like that sticker!"

Not in the mood for taking pictures.  He just wanted to come crawl over and stand in Mommy's lap.

Check out that hair!!  It's super long right in front but not really growing much elsewhere on his head.

LOVE them!

Samuel and his friend Charlotte sharing the o-ball.

The climbing begins! 

Cute little teeth!!

"Who me??"

Samuel loves pulling up to stand at his activity table.

Sammy and Caleb had their first bath together this month.  Caleb did great.  Sammy got the whole bathroom covered in water!

Silly baby!

Sweet big brother!  Sammy is very tentative when going over an edge like this.  Caleb ran and got his nap mat for school to lay it down and encourage Sammy to give crawling over the edge a try.

SPLASH!  SPLASH!  SPLASH!

What else can you do outside in this nasty Houston heat and humidity?!  Good thing they both like water!