nine months

Before I know it, this kid is going to be walking.
Sometimes it is hard for me to even believe that he was ever a newborn that couldn't do anything,
he's getting so independent, and
determined (read: stubborn),
and smart (read: mischievous),
and silly, and charming (read: irresistible in every way).
When I find him somewhere new, kneeling like that as he discovers and explores...Mmmm.
I still just want to eat him up every single day.

I love that he's getting tougher, and we wrestle together in the living room so I can have a chance to
squeeze him "this" tight because I'm hoping that maybe,
just maybe,
I can stop him from growing.
He's crawling like a pro now, and I am in love with it. I love to hear his little hands pounding across the floor as he comes from the other room,
trying to find me.

It is also fun to watch him as he explores the house in a way he never has before,
finding his reflection in the oven door, taking all the shoes out of the shoe tray, discovering the dishes in the dishwasher, learning how to turn on and off Dad's playstation,
unplugging our laptops,
finding a tissue box and pulling out every single tissue.

Oh yes, good times.

I can never be upset with him, though, because,
well, he's just too cute.
He's got quite a little personality now, and he knows exactly what he needs to do to make us laugh. He even has a fake laugh, and throughout the day I hear him crawling around saying "heh, heh, heh."

He also likes to crawl around making a dinosaur noise, growling and trying to catch us.

He has the most unique babbling I've ever heard from a baby.
He says, "dada," "Teh, teh," and "sss." Sometimes, when he's eating, he'll say "lalala."
Perhaps he'll have excellent diction when he's older since he's mastering all of the most difficult sounds first.

He sings along with the radio.

He has a peculiar fondness for crawling through tunnels (between our legs, under the chairs, couch-pillow tunnels, and the like).He still wakes up during the night; he seemed to have a relapse in sleep habits since I wrote about him three months ago. Although the past week or so I've managed to work him down to just once or twice a night instead of the five or six times he was doing before.

He has six teeth now, and he loves to eat finger foods. His favorites are diced pears, bananas, steamed carrots, strawberries, noodles, pancakes, bread, and avocados. He is also quite partial to nibbling on Mom and Dad whenever he gets a chance. My shoulders are often red from his sweet little vampire bites.

He absolutely LOVES to play peek-a-boo, and he's even learned to cover his own face when I tell him to hide. When he gets excited he flaps his arms and kicks his legs and makes the cutest little giggle/squeal noises.
It's safe to say we're keeping him.