Today you turn 9 months old! You are growing so fast. You seem to do something new almost every single day. You are the cutest thing your Dad or I have ever seen. You have your own little way of doing things that always makes us smile. You are an expert at waving "hi" and "bye." You wave like you are Ms. America. You clap your little hands and seem very proud of the sound they make. Last week you finally conquered crawling. You still won't crawl all the way across the room but will certainly crawl to get what you are after. You appear to be very cautious. You will discover something in the room that interests you and point. When I bring you to it, you won't readily touch it. You have to observe things for a bit before you jump in and explore. You must have gotten this from your Dad because he is exactly the same way.
You have also learned how to pull yourself up to a standing position in your crib. Sometimes when I put you down for a nap you like to play by yourself in your crib for a long time before going to sleep. And I will go check on you and you will just be sitting or standing there hanging out by yourself.
Your understanding of words and directions has recently exploded. You are able to follow simple directions. You can go find your bear or you ball when we ask you. You will give your bear a hug. You will sometimes give us a hug or kiss when we ask. Your ability to pick up language surprises us all the time. You figured out on your own that when we say "last bite" when you are eating there will be clapping soon to follow. So now, whenever we say "last bite" at dinner you automatically start clapping. You are a very good eater and now eat three solid meals a day. You seem to prefer sweet potatoes and all fruit. You recently learned how to chew foods with more texture like cheese and cereal puffs. You are good at picking up finger foods but will not feed yourself. You don't even attempt to feed yourself. We'll have to work on that.
You have developed a love for books that I hope you never lose. You have about 6 books that you definitely prefer. You force us to read them over and over. Sometimes you demand that I read "Brown Bear Brown Bear" to you three or four times in a row. If I get too tired of reading it and tell you no, you will cry. You really really love your books.
You understand so much now. Here are a list of some of the words that I know you understand: light, book, bye, hi, Mommy, Daddy, Bowie, Scout, take a bath, up, all done, tree, bear, ball, socks, flower, butterfly, espeja (mirror), last bite, kiss, hug, share, milk.
You are now producing variegated babble! That means you babble a bunch of different consonants and vowels in syllables. You are gearing up to say your first words. I swear I heard you say "boom boom" today and "yum yum" the other day but maybe I was just imaging that.
We are so proud of each of your accomplishments!
Love,
Mom
