9 months and counting...

Leo turned 9 months old Wednesday, October 26th. We celebrated by flying home from our vacation (more on that later) and seeing Daddy...Leo was thrilled! He really does love Nick and is happy to see him and play with him as often as possible. Friday was our well-check and everything went great! :)

9 month stats

23 lbs 1.5 oz. (85th percentile)

29 inches tall (75th percentile)

He wasn't supposed to have any shots this time, however we got him his flu shot while we were there so he endured one little prick after all. He happily showed off lots of his skills to the doctor and nurses...clapping, waving, saying "mamama" and "dadada", pulling to standing, etc. They were amazed that they hadn't seen him since his last well check back in July and deemed him as healthy as can be; we sure have been lucky up until this point, knock on wood, to have a healthy, strong boy.

His feet are way too fat for most shoes, but I finally found these ones that I can get on. Most of the time if he needs his feet covered he just wears socks! Leo has his two bottom teeth and his two top ones are visible so they won't be long. He doesn't get a fever or anything when he is teething...not even red or swollen gums...so it is hard to tell when his teeth are going to come until you can see little white tops just under the gum.

Leo was getting too big to lug around in his infant seat, especially now that he is mobile and just wants out anyway. After a little research online and such, we picked out a new convertible carseat for him and he likes it so far. It is much easier to get his arms through the straps!

Leo is definitely a good shopper and likes HEB because he gets balloons. He smiles and waves at everyone and we count how many "he looks just like the Gerber baby" comments each trip. It is kind of funny who stops to talk to him or waves as he goes by.

Leo is increasingly mobile...sometimes much to our dismay. It is nearly impossible to get a diaper on him by yourself and it is a bad day if I have to tackle the bath alone. Nearly every week in church I get a comment on how "active" he is...I think that is just a nice way of saying he is pretty cuckoo!

Leo likes to help with chores such as the laundry and unloading the dishwasher, however he hates hats and won't keep one on.

Leo is still an excellent eater; he usually eats just about anything from pumpkin and peas to toast and mangos. He loves to self feed now and really likes to suck the puree out of the on-the-go pouches. One interesting bit about his eating is that while he will self-feed any cracker, puff, basically any grain, he is not interested in picking up grapes, peas, peaches, etc. He gladly eats them if I feed them to him, but he isn't interested in picking them up yet...? He loves a sippy cup too!

He is an excellent crawler, can pull up to anything, and has even started "cruising" along furniture recently. Today he made it from the ottoman to the rocking chair to the changing table all by himself. Occasionally he lets go and is standing alone for a moment...but as soon as he realizes it he plops down.

He loves wheels of all sorts and his stuffed animals. He really loves his non-stuffed animal, Koshka, and gladly chases after her. She isn't as thrilled about him but tolerates him pretty well. He still likes to watch Wheel of Fortune too.

He has started waving...kind of on command...and clapping. And he is learning what "NO" means. Earlier today he was playing with the nightlight plugged into the wall and I told him no a few times- he kept playing with it so I said no one more time as I unplugged it and took it away. He gave me the biggest frowny scowl and let out one big whiney yelp...this definitely confirmed to me that he is now capable of understanding "NO" and I need to use it more often.

We love you buddy!