(almost) nine months old

Nine months is quite a transitional age for Drew; he is changing so much right before our eyes! All of the sudden, he seems less infant and more toddler. The biggest change is that he is now on the move, which keeps me so busy! His crawl is funny to watch as he is not quite up on all fours and gets around surprisingly quickly! He loves to stand up against my leg or the couch, but can only last for about five seconds. He is so much more sure of his movements and is substantially stronger than before. I walked into his room this morning and he was sitting up in the crib smiling at me.

His personailty is really emerging and he makes us laugh often. He has a fake cry now and will use it to get a little attention, and then immediately break into one of his huge grins when I look at him. He kisses me when I say kiss, looks for Luke when I ask where brother is, and says an extremely enthusiastic "hi!". He has discovered that he can manipulate his eyes and often makes an adorable squinty- faced look, much like Gracie used to do.

He is playing with toys now in a way he hasn't before. Instead of holding and chewing on them, he has begun to manipulate them. This morning I demonstrated the way to work one of our pop-up toys and after a few tries, Drew was doing it on his own. He couldn't have done that even a few weeks ago.

His coordination is improving and he is able to grasp pretty well. We've just started giving him soft, small pieces of food to eat at meal time and he loves it! He is perfectly content in his seat with a tippy cup of water and some puffs or peas the entire time I cook dinner each night. He eats three meals a day in addition to nursing. His favorite food seems to be yogurt, but he is enthusiastic about everything I feed him!

He naps two-three times a day, but we'll soon be giving up the third nap altogether. He is sleeping from about nine in the evening until about seven the next morning, but not yet straight through. We'll get there eventually.....

I find that I am getting less done around the house and am more tired at the end of the day as I try to keep up with him. Gone seem to be the days where he was content on my hip while I cooked, cleaned, and played with Gracie and Luke- now he wants to be a part of everything. I had to laugh trying to change laundry yesterday while holding him. Everything that I tried to move from the washer to the dryer, he made a grab for. Babyproofing is number one on my to-do list this week and I have just ordered a new gate for the bottom of our wide stairs.

If you look really closely, you might be able to see all four teeth- two on top and two on bottom.