Nine Months.

– is full-on, belly up-off-the-ground crawling after months of scooting and then worming (like crawling, except doing The Worm) quickly around our apartment. He especially likes to hold something while crawling (including, but not limited to straws, the giant umbrella and patio sofa which you can check out this blog post to see where we found them.

– loves food. LOVES. FOOD. All kinds and types and everything. On our trip to Asheville, he tried sweet potato pancakes, biscuits, potato samosas with chickpea stew, a sweet potato burrito, cream of mushroom soup, pinto beans, and lots of cantaloupe. Instead of a sweet tooth like me, he seems to have a healthy tooth and prefers prefers sweet potatoes to white potatoes.

– has leveled off in his growth – being more mobile means his legs are big skinnier (though certainly still delightfully chunky) and he’s around the 50th percentile instead 75th. After months of people guessing him older than his age, the pharmacist last week called him ‘tiny’ and I was unreasonably put off. Tiny?! No way! My baby is BIG. It’s a good thing, though, because my pathetic little arms are getting tired and the kid is only 20 pounds.

– often gets comments from others when we’re out to eat about how he’s ‘such a good baby.’ (He even got a dollar once from a little older woman. Cute.) While I appreciate the sentiment, it’s confusing. He is not silent or motionless when he’s out to eat. He bangs things and throws things on the floor and laughs loudly. Ah, well. I’m just glad people are so kind to him!

– is a happy little guy. He has been right on track for most of his milestones – got his first tooth at six months, could sit alone at six months, crawled at eight months, etc. – not really ahead, not really behind. The only milestones he reached early were smiling and laughing. I’m not sure what that means about his development, but I’m really hoping it means he’s going to be a happy child. *fingers crossed*

– went on lots of road trips this month – Dayton, New York City, Asheville, and North Myrtle Beach. Prior to this month, his longest trip was the 2.5 hours to Mike’s parents. He’s definitely earned his Road Warrior badge this month. He also stayed in a hotel for the first time and was away from home for his longest time yet (ten nights)!

– moved from his little infant carrier to an official Big Boy car seat that will carry him through the rest of his car seat-riding days.

– overlooks toys in favor of Much More Fun toys like electrical cords, car keys, cell phones, iPods, our faces,

– continues to adore the Drop Things game. Drop everything you have when you’re sitting in a high chair at a restaurant or are on a bed in a hotel room. It’s SO MUCH FUN to try and reach for it, then whine until your parents get it for you. Repeat. GOOD TIMES. You’ll never get tired of it!

– is saying ‘Mama’ and ‘Dada!’ It’s adorable and melts my hearts and the only bad part is Mike can be all, ‘He’s asking for you ‘ in the middle of the middle of the night.

– tries to share everything – the keys he’s chewing on, a rice cracker, his pacifier, his squeaky giraffe, an electrical cord, a rattle…and then cracks up laughing when we chew on it, too. It’s adorable and so much fun. I love this age!

– can pull up to standing.

I:

– completed the 30 Day Shred with Mike and am quite pleased with the results (biceps! And weight loss! And the hint of a six-pack!). And proud of myself for sticking with it. I haven’t been able to run much since Gabe (mostly because of issues with nursing and bras and fun stuff like that), but I’m entertaining the idea of training for my first half marathon. Now I just need to find the time. Or make the time.

– am really, really thankful that I’m able to work just three days a week. I’m not sure if I could handle either working five days a week or being home full-time. It’s such a perfect balance for us. School ended for the summer, so I am working less (and therefore, not getting paid) until mid-August. Hurrah! (and, hey, have I mentioned, I do blog, wedding invites, and other designs?)

– probably spend too much time worrying about Gabe’s teenage days. I blame this on working at a high school.

– have been looking forward to summer for months – so excited about traveling and relaxing with my little family.

– like having a baby a lot more than being pregnant. While I definitely liked being pregnant more than I expected, I also love having a baby to snuggle and play with.

– am a Type B mom.

– get overly emotional when I think about describing how much I love my little baby. Words aren’t really adequate to explain what it’s like to be his mom, how I feel when I hear his laugh, and how deeply connected to him I am.

– forgot the 9-month sticker when we went to the beach (and now we’re house sitting instead of at home, so I improvised at the beach.

On the crawl! :)

[Some shenanigans are going on with my domain –  so until I get things figured out, I’ll be posting to http://ourlittleapartment.blogspot.com instead. Bah. Don’t ask.]