I took this picture this morning (beach post coming soon) of our little Nine-Months-and-One-Day-Old baby boy.
Sam has so much going on these days – he’s almost not recognizeable from this little guy in the plaid overalls in these pictures from a few short weeks ago. He’s got so many things he’s working on (internally and externally) that he has a hard time sleeping – which has made for a hard month for us but not entirely unexpected.
Sammy is still not officially crawling – meaning that he’s been making a liar out of me for months now since I keep saying he’s going to start crawling in the next few days. It doesn’t seem to have slowed him down to much since his rolling and scooting got him into all sorts of trouble. He’s also figured out how to go from sitting up to going forward onto his knees, and then from laying down back up to sitting. He uses sort of a lay down, sit up, pitch forward, roll, (lather, rinse, repeat) to get himself around. It’s a lot of work but, like I said, he gets into all sorts of trouble.
However, in the last day or two Sammy’s figured out the going forward thing with a little more efficiency. He’s mastered a bit of an army crawl/inchworm maneuver that gets him forward. Which is good since we had plenty of situations like the one below where he backed himself into a corner and couldn’t get out.
Sammy’s milestones haven’t just been limited to gross motor skills. He’s been babbling and chattering constantly – Mamama, Dadadada, Blablabla, and now some more complex babbles with mixed consonants. He’s been responding to his name for a few months now, but I’m pretty sure he understands other things we’re saying (about diaper changes, baths, and, the all important, food) and knows when we’re talking about “Sissy” or Clare, Mama, Daddy, and the dog.
He’s awfully fun these days. He’s so curious about the world and approaches it with such a joy. Do all kids have this much joy in the world or just mine? When I became a parent I didn’t expect to rediscover the world again through my kids eyes, but it’s so rewarding. Sammy has just really noticed animals and he gets the biggest, goofiest grin on his face when he sees Sadie or birds outside.
All of this growing means that he’s eating very well. He particularly likes meat, but he’s not a picky eater at all. He’s fallen in love with Cheerios, sucks down cherries as fast as I put them on his tray, likes peaches, plums, bananas, peas and avocados and thinks toast is about the best things since… sliced bread. We’ve pretty much given up purees since he prefers to feed himself, but we do still spoon feed him some foods that he’s not quite able to feed himself (yogurt, oatmeal, lentils, etc.).
With all of his exploring the world these days he doesn’t have as much time for hugs and snuggles. He’s on the go and pushes me away with two hands if I try to hold onto him when he’s got something to do. That is, until bedtime, when my little goer still likes to rocked and snuggled to sleep.
Thanks for slowing down every now and then Son.
