9 months old

I'm not going to start out with my usual "oh my goodness, I can't believe he's already 9 months old, where has the time gone" speech. I still feel that way of course, but I've said it every month so far and I'm starting to realize that it's never going to change....he's just going to grow up faster than I would like and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I have, however, learned to fully embrace each day, each stage and each milestone and I've got plenty of photographic and video evidence to show me each and every magnificent moment.

So, here are 9 fun facts about 9 months old:

*We are starting to move further away from actual baby food and into more table food. He still prefers most baby foods but I think it's more of a texture issue, not taste. To date Austin has had baked potato, mashed potatoes, french toast, cheese, pancakes, spaghetti, banana, pears, carrots, bread, pudding, yogurt, cheerios, goldfish, sweet potato, mandarin oranges, and several other things I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention. I pretty much let him try anything that I eat myself. Today, in fact, he tried part of my oatmeal cream pie. It was a big hit!

*Austin is an absolute pro at crawling. He can crawl so fast now that I have to put him in "baby prison" (aka jumperoo, pack n play or exersaucer) sometimes just so I can go to the bathroom. He can get into anything within the blink of an eye and especially loves trying to get the dog/cat food, trying to climb the pet stairs onto our bed and trying to climb the actual staircase. In fact, he can climb all the way up the stairs by himself really well but he doesn't know how to get back down. We've now barricaded the stairs off for a little more peace of mind even though you could always tell when he was headed that way because he would start screaming in excitement once he made it half way down the hallway without being pulled back into the living room.

*Pulling up and standing are some of Austin's favorite things to do. He can pull up on anything and everything but his favorites seem to be his crib, high chair, the entryway wall, the coffee table, entertainment center, bathtub and sofa. He probably spends just as much time during the day standing as he does sitting or crawling. He's got really strong little legs and as soon as he learns to balance himself, I think he'll be walking with ease.

*Austin is still on a wonderful schedule. He wakes up around 8am each morning and takes two naps at around 10:30 and 2:30 for an hour and a half to 2 hours a piece. He goes to bed between 8 and 9 after our nighttime routine of bath, lotion massage and bottle and we usually don't hear from him again until the next morning. How did I get so blessed with such a fabulous sleeper?!

*In addition to shoes, Austin loves books and especially his finger puppet book, Little Duck. I read to him everyday and now he will go to his bookcase, pull out a book, open it and sit on the floor and "read" or babble to himself while he turns the pages. It really is one of the cutest things to watch!

*My sweet baby just loves to give his mommy big, slobbery, wet kisses all the time now. He leans in and plants one right on my lips and I love to give him one right back! Another imitative behavior that I absolutely adore!

*As you all know, Austin enjoyed his very first beach trip this month and we can't wait to go back in 2 weeks!!! He's such a little water baby!

*Austin is really talking up a storm but we haven't distinguished any new words lately. The only thing he'll say consistently is "mama" but he's getting much better at saying "dada." When I ask him where is dada or where is lulu (Lucy) he will look around for them, so I know he understands. He also seems to know what baba means (bottle) and gets pretty excited when he hears that particular sound. The boy loves his bottle and I'm terrified of starting the weaning process.

*And while I try not to linger too much on the developmental milestones chart since every baby develops at his or her own rate, I do want to mention that Austin has mastered the pincher grasp, object permanence and loves to play pat-a-cake. We're working on waving bye bye now but he just grins every time we do it.

Finally, Austin goes back to the doctor on Friday for his 9 month visit and we'll get updates weight/height/percentiles then (as well as a few more shots...boo).