Noah is 9 Months Old!

I have always thought of a 9 month old to be a "big kid" to some degree. I suppose a better way to describe it is, I have always looked at a 9 month old as not a baby. How silly...Noah is still a baby! He will always be my baby I suppose! But, I will admit, in the last month I have had a dozen or so moments of, *gasp* what a big boy *gasp.* With each of those, moments, my lip pouted out a little bit, and despite the utmost pride and joy I experience when watching him master new skills, it made me a little sad. At the moment, I can't put my finer on what exactly makes me sad about him growing, but there is something. Maybe that's just it, he's not my tiny tiny little baby anymore!

Noah has grown leaps and bounds in this last month. I can't believe how much he has learned, mastered and accomplished. This last month has been an insanely busy one and I wasn't as good about keeping track of all his "firsts." After a week or so, Noah new skill seems to be a common activity, so I am struggling to remember what he could and couldn't do a month ago! I do know that in the beginning of his 9th month, Noah said "DADA" loud and clear. It was quite an entertaining event. He was lying on the floor playing with his toes and babbling all kinds of insanely cute noises. His tongue was in and out of his mouth. On the roof of his mouth, tucked in to his cheeks and behind his bottom gum. The noises coming out of his mouth were hysterical, and then a faint "da." Then some more crazy tongue stuff and some more crazy noises and again, "da!" Slowly but surely Noah worked it out and was saying, "DADA" like he always knew how. How often do you really think about what you are doing with your tongue to get a specific sound when you are talking? NEVER! That's all Noah does!

In the last week or so though, Noah has resulted to simply keeping his mouth open and resting his tongue on his bottom lip at all times. When he is crawlin, standing, sitting, playing, typing, clapping or cruising around...mouth open. Sooo funny. I ask him, "are you catching flies?" He usually responds with a crooked smile and continues on doing what ever it was he was doing before I got in the way!

The other activity the marked the beginning of Noah's 9th month was sitting up all by himself. The day we got keys to our new home, we were loungin' around on the living room floor, trying to let it sink in that we bought a house, and Noah was busy crawling all over. Then, without warning and without any real struggle, he simply pushed up with his hands, tipped his bottom to the side and sat right up! Jason and I were shocked, and our overenthusiastic clapping and woo hooing startled him a little bit. Over the next few days Noah would get half way to sitting, and then fall back to his belly, and then randomly, I would look over and there he was sitting up! Now a days it is old news and a regular event...he is on to bigger and better things.

Like PULLING HIMSELF UP ON EVERYTHING!!! It is not enough to crawl all over, sit up by himself or clap his little hands. Nope, Noah insists on standing! He pulls up on the couch, the chairs, the ottoman, the coffee table, the tv stand, his crib, a box, the window, the cabinets, the drawers...my leg!!! He managed to pull up on Jason tonight and nearly pulled his pajama pants down :) The other half of the pulling up on things is not so fun.














The falling down is INSANE. I hate it! I wish the whole house was one big padded room and all his toys were soft and squishy. Instead, we have hardwood floors (beautiful floors, I must add) and wooden/plastic toys all over the place. I will set Noah up on the rug and even strategically place some pillows around in anticipation for the fall, but somehow Noah manages to land with his body on the rug/pillow and his little head smack dab on the wood floor. It makes an absolutely awful noise and is followed by an equally awful cry. There has been a few times that I was able to talk him out of the huge cry fest by clapping, cheering, shouting, "your safe!" and generally swallowing the *gasp* and not letting my face show my fear! So far we have gotten by with a shiner under his left eye for week, a lump over his right eye, and random red spots scattered around his little head. No hospital trips, or band-aids thankfully, I don't think I will be able to handle blood or gaping wounds anytime soon.

The battle on the food front though is, for the most part, easy going. Noah is eating like a champ. Still refuses fruits...no blueberries, no applesauce, no pears, but is still eating bananas, and cantaloupe, and will accept an apple slice to suck on. Carrots, Green Beans and Peas though go down faster than I can get them in his mouth. (these pics are of him demolishing a broccoli tree) Noah has also significantly increased the amount of food he is eating...he is eating 4 food cubes and 2-3 tablespoons of rice/oatmeal at breakfast and dinner and 2 food cubes mixed with cereal at lunch. After he eats the main deal, we offer finger foods that he gobbles up too. I suppose all this crawling and standing requires more fuel! He is also still nursing 4-5 times a day!

Finger Food...what a cute skill and what a mess! We have been offering Noah teething biscuits and large chunks of rice cakes which he absolutely loves to feed himself. Without any teeth he spends quite some time slobbering all over the food before managing to get a chunk in his mouth, but when he does, he just chews away like he has been doing it for years. His all time favorite though is cheerio's...even if he is having a complete throw down fit, Noah will pause long enough to pick up a cheerio. Getting the cheerio in his mouth though is quite an entertaining act.

I never thought about how complicated the pincher grasp is. Let alone, how difficult it could be to get it in your mouth successfully. Little Noah works so hard to get those o's (or any other small food) in his mouth. He misses 70% of the time. 20% of the time he manages to get a different finger in his mouth and with some maneuvering (think smearing your palm all over your face) he manages to get it in his mouth. The other 10% of the time, Noah places the cheerio directly on his tounge and lets go successfully! My favorite part of this whole process though is that Noah practices the pincher grasp all day long. He looks like a little zen baby, or a yogi or something. His posture is perfect and he is sitting there with his thumb and forefinger pressed together and looks like he is deep in meditation. I love it!

I also LOVE that Noah is starting to play peek-a-boo! Of course he thinks it is hilarious when i hide and pop out...has for months, but now he is doing the hiding! He only does it in his high chair after he is done eating. I clean him up with a warm rag and then let him "clean up" himself. Over the last few weeks he has been pulling the washcloth up onto the top of his head and letting out an "ahhhhh" noise, while giving a silly grin and looking the other direction before making eye contact. SOOOO CUTE! On occasion, Noah actually places the washcloth over his eyes before pulling it up onto his head, but either way it is totally peek-a-boo, Noah style!

Jason and I have also started hiding behind a chair, or a box or whatever, and peeking out just enough for Noah to see us, and then ducking back again. Now Noah, comes looking for us. He will pause about half way there, tip his head, or his whole body to one side in an attempt to peek around the corner. All with a HUGE grin, and eventually he "finds" us and we take off to hide again. Noah thinks this is great fun, but is only good for about 2-3 hides!

I think i have written enough, and my dysfuntional, sleep deprived brain can't think of anything else to share. I will end by saying that Noah has developed quite a sense of humor, and like his daddy, Noah loves attention, and knows how to get it. He is an insanely big flirt and still is a pretty happy easy going little man. But he still wakes up a zillion times a night! (we are trying to squash that...updates soon!) Happy 9 months Noahnator!












Climbing the window...and tasting it too!












Noah is great at helping me clean up!












Hard day at the office!

Stink Face!
Silly Baby!

Noah is loving trains! Except when they tip over. He cries until I put it right side up for him again!

and yet another one of his new favorite games...
opening and closing everything!