The nine month photo session didn't go as well as the others. I probably should have tried again to get a happy one, but then I thought it might be funnier to have one of him crying. He's still a little bit of a grump and a lot bit of a whiner these days. I suppose (hope) that things will get easier once he's able to communicate what he wants instead of following me around the house whining. I've started some baby sign language, but need to be better at being consistent with it so that he picks it up.
He's a great crawler and even a pretty decent walker as long as he's holding onto something. In the past few weeks, he started pushing his walker around the living room. I think it moves a little bit faster than he would care to, but he makes it work. He pretty much babbles all day... probably gets that from daddy! He can kind of say mama, dada, and byebye. He waves byebye on a good day and will usually clap if you say "yay!" He's learning to be a somewhat independent in his play, as long as someone is in the room. He's still very curious and likes to know what every sound he hears is. He also hates to be told no. Sorry little guy, you can't get into every cabinet in the kitchen or pull apart all of mama's plants and try to eat them. He likes to help daddy unload the dishwasher, although daddy usually isn't very appreciative of the "help"
We recently got back from a trip to the beach. He was a little iffy on the sand/ocean the first few times, but was really enjoying it the last time we went. He was even crawling to the water. He only ate a little bit of sand and one seashell (luckily, we pulled the seashell out before he choked on it or swallowed it. Parents of the year, right?) It's amazing the things they can get away with when you turn your head for 1 second.
He still doesn't have a favorite toy. He'll play with one for a few minutes then it's off to something new. He has recently been carrying plastic rings around the house (just one at a time), so maybe they will be his favorite toy.
He's still not sleeping through the night, but he usually just gets up one time. He eats and then can usually go back to sleep by himself. He's a great eater and pretty much eats everything that we give him. I'm hoping that he'll get some teeth soon so that we can expand his finger food selection. He eats a lot of fruit, puffs, and cheese right now.
I'm sure walking is right around the corner, so life will be very interesting when that starts! I guess I'll learn to be a good chaser! :)
