Max - 9 months

9 months

21 pounds 2 ounces

(50-70th percentile)

31 inches

(97th percentile)

red hair

blue eyes

Loves: eating paper and anything else found on the floor or ground, playing with small bottles and tubes, chasing the guinea pigs, opening and closing CD players, climbing on Isaiah and Katie, pulling hair, eating "real" foods and finger foods, staring at new people, playing peekaboo
Hates: diaper changes, naptime, being constrained, the binkie

Milestones: waving "hello," sitting up, scooting on belly, army crawling, pulling up to stand, first ice cream, rocking on knees

You're big!! This has been the month of change. You've turned into a grown-up baby, scooting from one end of the house to the other, eating everything you can find, getting into everything, and reacting like a real little person in all kinds of situations. One day I went into your room to get you up from a nap, and you were sitting up, smiling at me! There was no holding you down from that point on. You insist on sitting up, no matter how messy the diaper, or how exhausted you are. When I lay you down for naps, you pop back up, laughing at me, playing peekaboo at me as I blow kisses from the doorway.

Despite learning baby signs, you've found your own way of communicating what you want. Instead of squeezing your hand for "milk," you pound on my chest. Instead of touching your hand to your mouth for "food," you make the sign for "more" by beating your hands together. When I try to give you your binkie for a nap, you pull it out of your mouth and shove it into my face as if to say, "Here! See how you like it!" (I've taken to nursing you at nap and bed time, against my better judgement, just to find a way to get you to relax. You almost never fall asleep that way, though, you're just too busy pulling on my hair and earrings, or poking my eyes and pinching my nose and mouth.) And if we take something from you that you've claimed as yours (scrap of paper you're choking on, a sharp pencil, a coin, the broom, a garbage can), watch out! You have an incredible decible level.

Quite possibly your favorite thing of the moment is the guinea pigs. The first time you pulled up to stand was on their cage, and you can kneel or stand there for the longest time watching them and grunting at them. When they are out and running around, you are frantically scooting after them, chasing them around the room.

You continue to light up a room; even the kids' friends always ask for you and play with you during every visit. Your bright smile and mischevious attitude make you a joy to chase and cuddle every day.