Nine Months!

In three short months, Sammy will be one!  Ahh! I wish I could put this year on repeat and live it all one more time!   

Sammy at Nine Months:

I just have to start off with my FAVORITE milestone ever.  Sammy is officially giving kisses on demand and at random.  There is absolutely nothing better than a slobbery, open mouth kiss from your baby, especially when you ask for it!  The best part is that he’ll respond when you ask for a kiss OR when you ask for a beso, which means kiss in Spanish.

I've already mentioned this on Facebook, but the best news we received this month is that we don't need to worry about his heart murmur.  The ultra sound went exactly like we planned and the doctor was really surprised that Sammy didn't have to be sedated.  I knew my instincts were right. ;) 

He weighs 23 lbs. & is 29 inches long.  In height, he went from the 23^rd percentile to the 79^th, so that made me feel better.  The doctor said he doesn’t think they measured him correctly last time. 

At nine months old, he had six teeth!!  (He’s gotten two more since then.)

He is army crawling everywhere now.  He can crawl on his hands and knees, but he doesn’t go very far.  I’m still okay with this!  We have to be really careful because he loves to get into cords and he always tries to stop at the outlets. (Baby proofing is on my spring break to-do list.) 

He took his first steps this month!  Right now, he can take about 7-10 steps without falling.  He doesn’t really try to walk without us yet.  He’ll walk from end to end on the edge of the couch and will sometimes get really frustrated because he can’t just let go and take off.

In my last blog, I mentioned that he wasn’t pulling himself up yet.  Well, he is now! As a result, we’ve lowered his mattress.  He used to love to sit and play in his crib, but now he'd rather hold on to the sides and walk all around. 

He’s in size 4 diapers and still wearing 6-9 month clothes.  He is moving into 9-12 month stuff though. 

He’s awesome at getting dressed!  When I put a onesie on him, he knows exactly where to put his arms and can put them through the sleeves on his own.  It might be normal at this age, but it still impresses me every time!

He loves shaking his head no.  We asked him once if he wanted to go to Nona’s and he started shaking his head no. haha! The timing of it was really funny.  But, we know he loves his nona! 

He is also a good imitator.  If we shake our head, he’ll shake his.  If we say certain sounds, he’ll repeat them.  He’ll repeat “mama” and “dada” and will sometimes say them on his own as well.  We are trying to teach him some signs, but I’m not sure if he’s understanding them or not. 

His absolute FAVORITE song is This Wheels on the Bus.  He will usually give the biggest smile and will even start giggling as soon as I start singing it to him.  If he’s ever fussy during a diaper change or just upset in general, that song is enough to temporarily calm him.  He loves being sung to, so I sing a lot.  He’s going to grow up thinking life is a musical!  It’s a good thing he doesn’t know or care about how terrible mama’s voice is.  ;)

We’ve noticed that he’s attracted to things that are red, so maybe that will become his favorite color.

Recently, he’s developed a little temper.  He will make a whiny scream when he really wants something and it drives Bruno and I crazy!  We are working on it… Bruno’s mom is really good at teaching him how to be nice, so I’m learning from her. J 

He is very much a home body.  He is happiest when he’s home or in a familiar place, like Grandma Clarke’s (Bruno’s grandma) or Nona’s (Bruno’s mom).  When he’s around people he doesn’t know well, he gets pretty shy.  He won’t smile or be very social.  He’ll still let other people hold him, but he usually doesn’t react or get excited like he does at home. 

We are currently trying to teach him to clap, wave, and give high fives… it’s still a work in progress.

In other news, Bruno got his student teaching assignment this week!  He’ll be teaching at a middle school up in Alpine.  He’s heard tons of good things about the school and students there, so he’s really excited.  We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!