Month 9

Goodness . . . NINE months old! The word that comes to mind is Attitude! You are very aware of your own wants and desires and are not afraid of making them known to anyone who gets in your way. I find it very funny as you throw your head back and scream because I know what an important step this is in your development. Plus I am able to man handle you to do what I want, even if that means throwing all my body weight over your legs so you will lay still and I can change your diaper;)

Even though you have been quite mobile for awhile now you are able to crawl on all fours and get your tummy off the ground. Too cute! You can also pull yourself up onto anything you want and fall not so gracefully when you are ready to move on. You have gotten a couple of busted lips from trying to get down on your own and I believe this is only the beginning of all the hurts that are to come. You seem very independent and want to do things on your own.

Last Sunday I forgot to pack a bottle(!) and formula(!) in your diaper bag. As your brain is growing at rapid speed mine is apparently shrinking as I forget everything these days. We went to Mazzio's after church and I anticipated a big meltdown and a quick trip to WalMart to get another bottle and formula. No such thing! You ate Cheerios, cut up peaches from the salad bar, crackers(a mild chocking incident) and drank water from my straw. You were great and enjoyed all the table food. You didn't even seem to miss the bottle.

When I clean house I must now crawl on all fours to make sure every little toy of your brothers is put away, you like to put EVERYTHING in your mouth. Last week as I was changing clothes you sat in my closet and kept busy looking for anything to chew one. To my horror you discovered a dead spider and popped that thing into your mouth before I had a chance to intervene. After going into a complete fit of shaking and yelling I put a sock over my hand to fish that huge spider out. With all the commotion you started crying and I think I scarred you for life about spiders. *shudder*

You have a big interested in all kinds of different balls. Footballs, basketballs, soccer balls they are all your favorite thing to do. You will roll that ball and chase it all over the house and scream with delight when you finally have it in your hands. You also learned how to clap. Anytime we yell "yeah!" you will clap and yell with us. MaMa is now in your vocabulary and after much coaxing you will say it, but DaDa and bye-bye are your favorite words to say over and over.

Schedule is as follows for 9 months. You are very consistent and very few surprises come up with knowing what you are needing. You are able to skip one nap and usually skip the morning one on Sundays. When you do skip a nap you will take a three hour nap in the afternoon.

8:00 wake up; change diaper and put on clothes; 6 oz bottle; oatmeal and fruit; Cheerios and apples juice; play in exersaucer; have room time; read books, wrestle with brothers; crawl around the house looking for something to get into.

10:30 Nap #1-with your favorite polka dot blanket

12:30 wake up; 6 oz bottle; vegetable/fruit; Cheerios and apple juice; same activities as the morning

2:30 Nap #2

4:30 wake up; 6 oz bottle; vegetable/fruit; if any errands need to be ran this is the time to do so.

6:00 dinner with family; you will take small bites of whatever we are eating or just eat your Cheerios; play with Daddy, bath time

8:00 Bedtime!