Nine Months.

Well, the little one has been a part of this great big world for longer than I was pregnant with him. Possible? It must be. How? I have no idea.

We took him in for his checkup on November 14. He is up to 19.8 pounds and 28.6 inches long. Both put him right around the 50th percentile for his age. His head...well...it is large. The circumference is 18.4 inches which bumps him up to the 90th percentile. I laughed when we found this out because his daddy's pet name for him is "Big Head" (in the most loving way possible, of course!) and I always respond with "he doesn't have a big head!" But I guess he does. His parents do too. It happens and he rocks it.

He wears 6-9 month onesies and 9-12 month pajamas and pants. Some of his 12 month clothes are still a little bit big on him, but they will fit him in the next week or two. He has a couple of 18 month shirts that I put him in sometimes because they seem comfortable, but we can't leave the house in them yet. He has started soaking through his size 3 diapers at night, so we moved him to size 4 while he sleeps. He still wears size 3 during the day though because they aren't as bulky under his clothes.

He is a mover! He is still rolling all over the place. He isn't crawling yet, but he will get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. When he wants to go somewhere, he drops to his belly and rolls. I still can't decide if he is going to crawl or not (as if it is up to me to decide...) He loves to "walk." If we hold our hands out to him, he starts laughing hysterically, grabs our fingers, and pulls himself up. He takes the most adorable jerky steps and will haul his little butt back and forth across the room. I really need to get it on video before he gets more steady on his feet. I never want to forget the proud look he gets on his face or the wobbly way he picks his feet up way too high.

He is up to four official teeth. He has three on the bottom and one finally came through on the top left on 10/22. His second one on top has been trying to pop through for weeks and it just won't! It is stubborn. He looks too cute for words with his random mouth of teeth. I just love it.

His hair is getting pretty long. I've actually been debating taking him in to get it trimmed because the sides are so poofy and hang over his ears. I always wanted to grow it out into a shag, but I'm thinking I might need to just cave here. Maybe for his first birthday.

We've been introducing new foods, and boy is he picky! He loves crunchy things like puffs and purees (only in baby food form), but nothing in between. I've tried giving him noodles, different sauces, soups, vegetables, lasagna...he gags and growls and yells at me like I'm feeding him Windex. The worst was when I tried to give him wild berry applesauce (I know, how dare I?!) He cried because he hated it so bad. I talked with his doctor about it and he told me to just stick with what he likes and try things with more texture every once in a while. Hopefully one day he'll just love it!

He is doing pretty well in his crib. He has started fussing almost every morning right around 3:00. This is the time I typically get home from work and I have a bad habit of going in to cuddle him for a while before I go to sleep. I think he's come to expect it. I feel torn because I don't want to create poor sleep habits, but at the same time I don't want to ever regret a moment that I didn't cuddle him or hold him when he wanted me. I realize that when I hug him at night, it is just as much for me as it is for him and I openly admit that. I think we just miss each other when I'm gone in the evenings.

His laugh is evolving. His baby giggle is gone. He started doing what sounded like a really forced cackle laugh instead. That has gone too and now he sighs and squeals like a donkey when he laughs. Each one was amazing, but this newest one has got to be my favorite. It is yet another thing I really need to get on video before he stops.

He's a talker! He has stopped saying "Mama" which I'm sad about, but it was his first word so I'm trying not to care too much. Now he says a lot of "Dada" and "Gaga" and "Baba." He screams and growls when he is angry. He cries to show emotion and not just when he needs something. He is becoming a little boy.

He is still the most amazing baby I've ever known. I was walking with him through the grocery store a couple of weeks ago and a lady stopped me to tell me he was the most beautiful baby she'd ever seen and she had 12 grandkids! I am even more in love with him than I was last month, believe it or not. He's the best. Plain and simple.