All About LB - 9 Months

LB is about 9 and a 1/2 months today. He is learning and doing new things everyday and I don't want to forget any of it. I hope a lot of what I document here LB will enjoy looking back on someday.

So here is nine month old LB in a nutshell.

The Stats:

At his 9 month check-up LB weighed 16.5 lbs and was 26 inches long. That was a 2.5 lb gain and a 2 inch growth in just 5 weeks! He is still small for his age but his doctor said as long as he continues to gain and stays in proportion then she isn't concerned.

His Repertoire of Tricks:

-Clapping

-Waving Hi and Goodbye

-So Big

-Kisses (And by that I mean the open mouthed baby slobber kiss. He hasn't mastered puckering his lips.)

-Giving Pat Pats

When one of my best friends had her son a few years ago, she taught him to pat her on the back every time she said, "Give Mama Pat Pats." I thought it was the sweetest thing so it is no surprise that one of the first things I taught him was to pat me on the back. It makes you melt. He will do it to other people or things now if you ask.

Personality:

My mom is always describing LB as incredibly interactive. He will "talk" to you non-stop and his voice takes on decibels you didn't think possible from such a small human. Often he will shake his arms wildly as he tells you a story. It seems something big is always going on his life. LB is very much into copy-cat these days. If I bang my hand on the ground then he bangs his hand on the ground. If I make a "he-he" noise then he will do the same thing. He will go several rounds with you. I have found that he points out little motions that I do with my hands or head that I didn't even realize that I do. But then I watch him do something and realize he is copying me. In my incredibly biased opinion, he is a quick study. We just started working on kissing people or things only about a week ago and he now does it regularly. He forces me to be much more social than I usually am. He attracts attention to himself where ever we go by "chatting" with others or just by being cute. He makes friends with other people in line at the store, in a doctor's office waiting room and at the zoo.

Food:

I would say he eats pretty well. He sucks down his bottles and has some solid foods that he will scarf down as well. LB loves all fruit. He will eat most veggies but you can tell he isn't as interested. Apples and pears seem to be his current favorites. He still has NO teeth so we've tried some of the finger food but it doesn't really work yet. I have assumed he has been teething for as long as we took placement because the amount of drool is immense. He is wearing a bib in almost every picture I take of him because that is the only way to avoid changing his outfit 5 times a day. I would rather wash 5 bibs a day than 5 outfits a day. Plus he isn't a big fan of getting dressed so it just makes life easier and even with a bib he is pretty darn handsome.

Activities:

LB loves books! He will let me read several books in a row to him and doesn't seem to get bored. Often if I am sitting next to him and reading he places his hand on my arm. It is such a small thing but I love it. He seems to prefer books that have flaps that you open. That might be part of his interactive personality. Here are his current faves:

Where's Spot

Whose Knees are These

Where is Baby's Belly Button

Pat the Bunny

So Big (Sesame Street)

My First Book of Sushi

Buckeyes Big Game

The exersaucer is still a favorite activity and he also loves to be outside. I am a little worried as winter is fast approaching. Our walking days are soon to be few and far between. Darn Ohio. He also loves music and will "dance" by moving his body forwards and backwards or shaking his head. He always claps after I sing, "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider. " I guess he is happy for the spider?

Cute Stories:

There is a little spinning frog as part of his exersaucer and yesterday I told him to kiss Mr. Froggie. I wasn't sure he would understand me but he leaned over and kissed him. I almost started to cry it was so cute.

There is a part in the book, Buckeyes Big Game, where a nose guard is described as smelly. Every time I read that I emphasize that part and wave my hand in front of my nose and say, "stinky stinky." He always laughs and even anticipates that page and looks up at me for the stinky stinky. Several weeks ago I was changing his diaper and I said, "stinky stinky" and he started waving his hand in front of his nose and making the same face I do. I almost died. It is one of his favorite things to do and I seriously think he is trying really hard to say stinky. My life would be complete if stinky ends up being his first word.

His Hair:

I cannot believe how fast his hair has started to grow. When we first met him he was 6 months old and he had very little hair. The hair that he had was mostly straight with a few curly tufts.

Here is LB at 6 months.

Here is a shot of him I took yesterday.

Holy Hair, right?! He has a similar facial expression in this photo, don't you think?

Since I can't resist here are a few more photos of my sweet, nine month old boy.