9 months

Our little Guns has hit the nine month mark.  We just got home from his check up, and his measurements never cease to surprise me.  This time, after 4 check ups where he had grown 3 inches and gained 3 lbs each time, I was fully expecting the same results.  He did gain his standard 3 lbs (topping out at 22 lbs 10 oz) but he only grew an inch.  Making him a solid 31 inches tall.  Which is still of the charts, but he seems to be leveling out.  No doubt he'll still be a giant (just look at Dad), and he is still bigger than the average 1 year old.  Just that much more of him to love!

This month has been extra work fun because he has been SO much more mobile.  He is crawling everywhere, and it's all he ever wants to do.  I can't hold him out in public anymore without a carrier, he just wants down.  He is cruising (for a bruising), and for those of you non-parents out there that means he pulls himself up and walks around holding on to things like the couch, chairs, tables, etc.  Which is especially fun with his height since as we speak he is ripping things down from the dining room table.  Just the other day he discovered the stairs and decided to climb them.  He did pretty well too!  But clearly we will need to ge a gate up soon, it's only a matter of time until he figures out he can crawl under the coffee table to get to them.

We have retired the walker, since they say you shouldn't have them in it once they can crawl.  And we are retiring the jumper any day now since he tries to launch himself out of it.  Which is a shame, because out of it he seems to be quite the path of destruction.  But we love him for it.  SO much so that we got him a super fun baby pool!  Complete with palm tree, and sprinkler elephant slide!  Although he didn't like the slide too much the first time...

He still says "mama" all the time.  Along with lots of "b" and "g" sounds, and the occaisional "da" thrown in there.  He also took a break from blowing raspberries, but he's back on that.  Especially in the car, and at dinner time.  A new noise he has been making is a lip smacking sound.  He cracks himself up doing it.  It melts my heart.

Other big things include:  His third tooth has broken through the surface of his upper gums, but there's not much of it yet to do much damage, chewing (food) or biting (me).  That will change as the fourth one is not close behind it.  He has stood up completely unsupported on his own a handful of times now.  It only lasts a few seconds, but he knows he's pretty hot stuff because of it.

And now that I've bored you with all of these updates I'm sure you care so much about (really it's my way of keeping up with what he's been up to - so thanks for indulging me)... enjoy these photos of our goof: