Que Pasa Calabasa? 9 Months

Wow another hectic month full of developmental leaps and bounds! As I watch you grow at the speed of light I am totally in awe of the miracle of life! So this month you had your daddy back, we took a road trip to visit family in Thunder Bay, and we moved from Sault Ste. Marie to Toronto. You are sooooo good on car trips, you are such a great little traveller! So here's what else you've been up to this past month:

• crawling - you are a complete pro now! when you crawl towards naughty items (such as plugs and cords), we call your name and you turn towards us with a mischevious grin and of course continue on your merry way. then when you hear us get up to come and steer you away, you start sprint-crawling away from us while giggling. it's so cute.
• walking - you're going to be an early walker, i can feel it. you are obsessed with walking around while holding our hands, or walking along furniture. the toes of your little sneakers are getting holes in them from walking outside so much! you also 'run' now and it is the cutest thing ever. we literally run behind you while you hold our fingers and your grin is from ear to ear!
• talking - you really say 'mama' now, especially when you're hungry or tired. you also started doing 'papapapapapa'. you also make tons of other babbling sounds. you also babble conversationally now. you can tell us when you're happy, excited, and of course, mad. i really should teach you sign language. you are so so smart, i know you would pick it up quickly.
• napping - aside from a few days of weirdness, you are napping great now! little to no crying at all, and usually 45 minutes to an hour, 3-4 times a day. ideally i'd like you to consolidate those into 2-3 longer naps, but i'll take what i can get!!!
• pointing - i don't know why but i have been eagerly awaiting the first time you point at something that grabs your attention. i just think it's so cute when babies do it. so first you started pointing with your whole arm and hand at airplanes in the sky, so i showed you how to do it with only one finger. then one day we were in line at the bank and you pointed with one finger at a bunch of colourful balloons! my heart almost burst out of my chest, i was so proud!
• swimming - you LOVE swimming. we swam in Omi and Grampy's pool every nice day in the Soo, and we recently discovered a great neighbourhood pool here in Toronto. You are part fish, i swear. here at the pool, several mommies were so impressed at how good you are in the water and that you don't cry. we even take you under this waterfall feature at the pool and you just grin and giggle.
• bathing - you sit up in the bath now and play with toys, but you don't really like it as much as you used to. now we have to distract you a lot and coax you to splash and play like you did before readily. also, you try to stand up and climb out to us and HATE when we lay you back to wash your hair. sigh. maybe i'll try taking you in the shower with me?
• video-chatting and talking on the phone - when you hear the phone or computer ring you get sooooo excited. when i hold the phone to your ear your face is so precious and you start 'talking' (i swear once you said 'hi'). when you're playing on the floor and Omi and Grampy pop up on the computer you make a beeline to the screen and grin like crazy.
• teething - still no teeth yet (yippee!), but as i've said for the past 4-5 months, you're teething like crazy and your gums are suuuuuper bumpy. we can also tell that your mouth hurts a lot at times. maybe we'll wake up one morning and they'll all be there at once?
• eating - the only time we spoon-feed you is at breakfast when you have real steel-cut oatmeal mixed with baby pears/peaches/some kind of fruit. The rest of the time we just give you tiny pieces of whatever we're eating and you feed yourself. your pincer grasp is excellent! you've pretty much tried everything now, all different meats, veggies, and fruits. you're not the most eager eater, even when we can tell you really like something, you're pretty much over it after a few minutes and won't eat anymore. you also drink water from a sippy cup now (and water bottles and regular cups) but if anything else is in there FORGET IT. we tried to give you formula (in preparation for when i'm back in school) and you hated it, which i can't blame you because i tasted it and it is disgusting. however, you also refused to drink my pumped milk in the sippy cup as well. you are officially a boob man, and will only drink direct from the source ;)
• being busy - you are GO GO GO all the time. you crawl here, there, and everywhere. you pick everything up that crosses your path, from the tiniest piece of fluff to any tools (we are helping the Bruni's install laminate in their basement) that are lying around. daddy and i are constantly chasing you around trying to keep you safe while still letting you explore your world as you wish. you like your toys but you prefer things that are NOT your toys, such as said tools, as well as shoes, cords, boxes, spoons, paper, etc.
• being a social butterfly - you still charm everyone you meet and show no signs of shyness. and everywhere you go people exclaim over what a beautiful, happy, and well-behaved baby you are. and it's true, there are very few occasions where you are whiny or crying, and even then you are just communicating to us that you are tired or hungry and usually as soon as we pick you up or feed you, you stop instantly and are back to your smiley self.

Well little boy, I hope I haven't missed anything. Every day you amaze me and every day I love you more and more and more! I can't wait to see what next month has in store for us! XOXO