Brendan at 9 months...

9 MONTHS?!?! I can't believe he is 9 MONTHS old right now...9 MONTHS has gone by since this wonderful little man came into our lives and graced us with his effervescent personality. Our lives have truly been blessed tremendously by him. Even when he doesn't sleep through the night and then decides that he is done sleeping at 4 a.m....even then we love him oh so much! I mean...look at his beautiful, happy face! Who couldn't melt at the sight of his chubby, dimpled cheeks??? Oy...I love this kid way too much!!!

So, Brendan at 9 months...

*has both the top 2 teeth and bottom 2 teeth...he loves to feel them constantly with his tongue!

*is wearing 9 month, 12 month and now even some 18 month clothing; size 2 shoes, size 3 diapers, 18-36 month socks

*continues to have some issues sleeping, but we are working on remedying this...he does not, however, have any issues napping during the day, which this momma is very grateful for!

*independently plays with his toys for long periods of time (sometimes up to an hour) while sitting up.

*He does not crawl at all...he is still scooting and rolling to get around; he can push up onto his knees and hands and looks like he'll crawl, but quickly pushes back down to his belly.

*LOVES to walk around the house...both in his walker and hanging onto our hands. We did have to buy a gate in order to save Mr. Pibb's sanity as B figured out how to go and explore Pibb's food bowls. Anyone who know Mr. Pibb knows that he guards his food with a vengeance!

*Continuing on the subject of Mr. Pibb...Brendan LOVES his puppy so much and especially enjoys climbing over his back and petting him. They are sometimes impossible to get apart...Mr. Pibb showers B with kisses and B in turn grasps his hair and does not let go. They have started to play outside together this week and Brendan infectious laugh sounds loudly as Pibb jumps at thrown snow.

*His language skills are heard throughout the day in gaahs, babababas, mamamamamas, sssssssss, lalalalalas, and high pitched squeals.

*has started to show his independence from us in pushing off of us to get at things that look interesting. Case in point...he has fallen a few times over the last couple of weeks...1 time resulting in a head x-ray (we were already at the doctors office waiting for his 9 month appointment when he fell and hit the back of his head hard on the ground) and a brightly color bruise on his forehead when he bumped his head on his exersaucer. Oh and he fell off of our bed onto the ground as well...this has been the most scary time for me, but he is weathering it pretty well.

*eats "big boy" food. No more baby food for this one...he enjoys feeding himself toast, waffles, small pieces of cut up fruit (blueberries, mangoes, bananas, pears, peaches, nectarines, cantalope) and veggies (peas, corn, broccoli, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, soy beans), gerber baby fruit puffs and cheese puffs, and Japanese rice crackers. He sometimes still likes to eat oatmeal cereal and has even tried some yougart with fruit mixed in...but let me tell ya, this boy loves to eat!

Well, I think that that is about it for right now...I just love writing down what he's up to each month and am planning to add this to a baby scrapbook in the future!

I leave you now with a little video that I shot this morning showing you Brendan eating and talking!