Max - 9 months old

My baby guy is 9 months old!
He had his 9 month appointment last Friday and here's how he measured up vs. how Lucy measured up at the same age:

Max's weight -  22.31 pounds (75%)
Lucy's weight - 19.16 pounds (59%)

Max's height -  28.5 inches (56%)
Lucy's height - 27.0 inches (34%)

He has some new tricks up his sleeve -
First he started by pulling himself up on anything and everything:

  

This car he got for Christmas used to be a "baby cage" but now that he uses it to pull himself up, it's lost its Max-containing function.  He still loves it but he definitely can't "drive" without close supervision anymore.  Just last night Dave was playing with him on the outside of the car and he pulled up and leaned in...he didn't quite face-plant into the car - he just kind of balanced with his feet off the ground...silly baby.

He finally mastered the art of crawling and has become pretty quick and pretty sneaky!  He started out just kind of pivoting - he'd get into the crawling stance but would basically just turn himself in circles.  Next, he perfected his backward crawl and could back into any location he wanted to...one day he even crawled backward under the jumperoo, against the wall:

So by about 8 months, he was doing the pivoting and backward crawling...within a couple of weeks after that, he'd mastered a real crawl. 
As a comparison, Lucy didn't crawl until 10 months, but she only crawled for about 5 minutes before she realized she'd rather cruise around the furniture and then just go ahead and learn to walk (at just over 11 months).  This guy seems to love crawling and it's so funny and strange to see him crawling around our house since we never had that with Lucy.  She was obsessed with walking and always wanted us to hold her hands and walk her around...

He finally got his first tooth last weekend!  Just over nine months...Lucy had two teeth at 7 months...

He has moved on from simply purees and milk - he's added in some finger foods...he's eaten green beans, peas, strawberries, grapes, blueberries (his favorite), turkey and cheese.  And who-knows-what-else-my-mom-has-fed-him.

Someone wanted to see if she still fit in the high chair...

Max loves playing and is pretty independent about it a lot of the time.  He loves balls and has gotten good at throwing them and "playing catch."  If we ask him to hand us the ball, he'll comply!  Dr. D was really impressed at his appointment when, while sitting on my lap, Max looked over to the diaper bag and spotted his B - then leaned over, grabbed it and put it in his mouth!

He loves his big sister and is obsessed with her - and her toys.  She can no longer sit and play peacefully in the living room...he's all over her as fast as he can be - climbing on her, tugging on her hair (not so funny anymore), grabbing at her toys. 

These two are best buddies, though.  She frequently asks to feed him and she likes to make him laugh.  She's been watching Peppa Pig lately and in that show, the brother and sister pig share a room and sleep in bunk beds.  She keeps asking if she and Max can have "a step up bed" when he gets a little bit bigger.  She even drew a picture of the two of them in one - with her on the top bunk.

He hates having his nose wiped and he hates having his face cleaned.  When he's ready to eat, he hates waiting.  Other than that, he's a pretty good and happy little (big) dude!

Passed out on our bed for a nap one day

 

Hoot hoot, he's so cute!


He got to play in the snow for a bit last Saturday.  Dave wasn't home and I kept trying to decide if it was worth bundling them up for such a short time because I knew I couldn't keep Max out there long...but we decided it was worth it and we headed out.  I'd purchased the snowsuit while pregnant with Lucy because the baby "needed" it...and I took the tags off of it the other day to shove Max inside (it's a 6-12 months but he was a tight fit!).

We did some sled-riding in our driveway!  Max sat on the orange slide and watched me and Lucy build a snowman.  It was snowing so hard and so non-stop and Max just kept looking up, blinking a million times as snowflakes landed on his face.  When it was time for him to go in, I stuck him in the exersaucer in the door so he could watch Lucy and I play a little longer.



Snowman family!  I brought out yellow Pez for the noses since she doesn't like yellow Pez. 
Turns out, all she had to do was see me using it for snowmen to want to give it another try,,,
We used Twizzlers for the mouths and that reminded her that she really wanted to eat some Twizzlers...

 

Num-num-num!


As I've mentioned, Max inexplicably stopped drinking milk from a bottle just before Christmas and we haven't been able to get him to drink from one again...
We've tried several different cups - hard spouts, soft spouts, with straws, without...he was only interested in nursing. 

Ms. Shelly noticed him grabbing for Leo's cup recently and offered him one of theirs...suddenly he's not only drinking milk from the cup, but doing tricks with it as well!

This crazy baby sure is cute and sweet!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This little sweetie had a lot of fun making valentines for her classmates and her family.  She had to write out 24 valentines for her school friends so we did it over a few days, but she did so well.  She insisted on writing out everyone's name and I am very proud of how well she's writing.  She had fun getting creative with the glue and stickers and little drawings she drew on many of the cards.



She made this card for Max - she said, "Look, I drew Elmo!"



She was very excited to open a little Valentine's gift from mom & dad - she got some York Peppermint Patties and a "Ball Pet" - an As Seen on TV item she spotted and really wanted...

Next, she helped Max open his gift - he got some Gerber snacks and a toy tow truck and car.

They had fun playing with his new toy together!

Lucy and I went to another Frozen party at the library...this time, she was NOT too scared to have her picture taken with Anna and Elsa!  She even gave the queen of Arendelle a big hug!



Writing out more valentines



It's impossible to get a good pic of these two fools...



We hung out at GranJan & Grandpa's house on Sunday and Lucy was excited to see her buddy "Lutey."  At dinner she even told me he's her best friend.  She loves chasing him and encouraging him to chase her.  She even knows to be gentle with him and pretty good about sharing with him...she's very sweet with him and he's very silly and funny with her...I love watching the two of them play (and eat mini ice cream cones!) together and look forward to Max joining in on their wacky fun as he gets a little bit bigger.