9 Months

Owen is 9 months old already. What an amazing and exciting 9 months it has been. We couldn't have lucked out any more with such an adorable baby who is now this little guy with a happy temperament and wonderful emerging personality. I like to say he's easy-going and mellow. I just love everything about this little guy.

Owen's 9 month milestones are:

• He's crawling everywhere. He doesn't sit still anymore. With this crawling comes lots of exploring which full of new surprises.
• Owen can pull himself up to a standing position. This is also a fun and new way to explore and get into things that he shouldn't. We've started to be really mindful of what we leave lying around. He is cruising around everywhere! One tiny problem is that now he pulls himself up in his crib and can not get back down, yikes!
• Owen is sleeping like a pro. Bedtime is usually around 7:30 and most nights he sleeps straight through until 6 a.m. when I'll nurse him back to sleep for another hour of sleep. He still does three short naps a day at daycare, but at home he naps much longer so he usually only needs two.
• Owen is starting to understand a few words. Besides recognizing his name, he is catching on to words like "No" and "Look". I think he's also figuring out what "Up" means since I use it a lot when I pick him up. When I say it he ususally holds his hands out for me.
• He officially has 3 teeth (2 on the bottom and 1 on top) with the second top one that seems like it'll be in anyday now.
• Another achievement is the use of his fingers and thumb to poke, pry, probe and pick up smaller and smaller objects. We've been giving him little fingerfood to try. He has a hard time getting the food from his hand into his mouth but he is almost there.
• Owen is really babbling a lot now. Sometimes I think he knows when you are asking him a question because he'll start to "talk" back to you. I've noticed that giving him a book or the phone results in his adorable babble.