Liam | 9 Months

On Wednesday we went back to the maternity floor at Bloomington Hospital for the first time since Liam was born to visit friends who had their second baby. It definitely did not feel like nine months had passed since I was pacing those floors in labor!

But surprise, nine months have flown by and we have a happy, healthy little boy to show for it. This past month he made tremendous leaps in development, which, I keep telling myself is good, but wow, he is in to everything and very mobile now. I have to keep a constant eye on him to make sure he is not getting into trouble. He no longer does the army crawl at all, but now crawls fast on all fours. His favorite thing to do though is stand up and pull himself up on everything. This has of course resulted in some bumps and bruises as he hasn't quite figured out yet how to get down once he is standing. I am trying to find the balance of protecting him, while allowing him to explore and play and yes, fall down sometimes so he can learn to get back up and not be dramatic about falling down. He is also cruising on furniture and will take our hands and "walk" around a room very happily. I still think he will be an early walker, but we'll see.

Standing up on everything

He still loves to eat and is trying out new foods almost every day. Anything soft is up for grabs to him and he knows when it is time to eat. He is still eating baby food, about five jars a day. We go to the doctor on Wednesday for his nine month checkup so I am anxious to see what he weighs now.

Every time he eats black beans, a favorite, he looks like he has a five o'clock shadow.

For the most part, Liam's favorite toys are not toys - plastic cups are still a big hit. As is paper, my clothesline (I have to take it down every time I use it and I store it in my kitchen where he has found it), clothespins, books, a wooden hammer and my newest find, a toy drum. I bought it new at a garage sale on Saturday. It is one of those drums that is hollow inside and you can pull off the lid an there are other instruments - jingles, a tambourine, shakers, etc. - inside. So far he has only found the drumsticks which, much to his father's disappointment, did not elicit sweet beats on the drum, but rather drool as they went right into this mouth. Everything has to go into his mouth. We are slowly working on training him which things are not mouth worthy.

Most of the time he is a pleasant, happy little guy, especially when he has had a good nap. We are enjoying more laughter, papa chasing him, more understanding of words and just more fun all around as he grows up. It is a joy to have him as our son. And here are his nine month pictures from today. Like I said last month, this paper sign thing is not working out so well!

He does this a lot with his arms. Either he is praising or he is saying "all done!"

Before the sign is spotted...

Spotted! "Give it to me mama!"

"How fast can I get this in my mouth?"

"Success!"