Happy 9-Month Birthday, Andrew!

Today is Andrew's 9-month birthday. He was busy catching up on sleep from his busy day yesterday, so this is the only good shot I got of him today. Here he's at the library, examining some of the toys.

Andy had his appointment yesterday. He did very well. He is growing and developing like he should be. Andy weighed 20 lbs. 8 oz., putting him in the 89th percentile, and measured around 30 1/8 inches, putting him in the 98th percentile. (His growth curves are pretty consistent.)

At nine months Andy is getting pretty quick in his crawling, standing unsupported with more confidence (as you may have seen from my other post earlier today), transitioning between different positions more and more easily, but not yet taking steps. He feeds himself with a pincer grasp, although he is still working on performing that set of motions with more finesse. He is eating a wider variety of types and textures of foods. So far (knock on wood!) he hasn't had any reactions to anything. He occasionally tries his signs (milkand some attempts at "all done" and "more"), but he prefers to grab, reach, or otherwise help himself. He has imitated sounds - Jon and Matt heard him say, "bump," one day when they were repeating that word to each other. But he's still not quite ready to talk.

Andy has six teeth (three on top, three on the bottom), with two more on their way. He is still currently in 18-month clothing, but he'll probably be in 24-month by the time summer is here.

A Busy April Day

We had a busy day yesterday. Matt had his last Mini Athletes class, Andy had his 9-month doctor appointment, and then both of them did a lot of playing at home. Matt has been busy building with his Duplos, and Andy has been busy working on standing unsupported. I finally got them both outside, where Matt demonstrated his increasing ability to make himself go on the swings and rolled his trucks down the slide while Andy played in the sandbox and tried out some of the backyard toys. Then Matt pushed Andy around in the blue car.

Matt receiving his trophy and certificate from his class

Goofy baby enjoying his snack

Andy standing

Videos of Andy's standing

 

Matt showing off his Duplo builds (first time putting this vehicles together, using just some pictures)

Andy in the sandbox while Matt and his trucks go down the slide

And there goes Matt down the slide

Matt has been working on making himself go on the swing

Swinging with an audience

Soccer baby

Bang bang on the basketball

Fun with hula hoops

Matt trying not to miss out

Two brothers playing

Andy looking to see what Matt is doing in the blue car

Beep, beep!

Matt pushing Andy around the yard

The New Family Member

This weekend we gained a new pet. One of Matt's buddies moved, and they were unable to take their gerbil with them. We agreed to give it a new home. Salt, as he (or she?) has been known, has been settling in well. Matt is enjoying having a gerbil, and he enjoys checking in and feeding "my new pet."

Here he is!

Reading a bedtime story to the new family member

The senior pet in the house checking out the new arrival

Andrew's Weeks 37 & 38

Andy has been busy the past couple of weeks. His fifth tooth (on the bottom) came midweek this past week, and he's working on two more (the one on the bottom, one upper). He has also demonstrated he is able stand on his own for a few seconds, and he is voluntarily letting go more and more. He isn't yet ready to pair that with stepping, but he is very active if he can hold onto something and cruise around. And he is starting to use a pincer grip and feed himself Cheerios, peas, etc.

Ooh, is the kitty really this close?

Grab that cat! (She doesn't like this and promptly ran away.)

Touching the touch & feel book

"Reading" with his brother 

Getting a ride from his brother

In the sandbox at the playground

Crawling through the grass at the playground

Yummy, messy meal

In the backyard

Figuring out how to dig in the sandbox like his brother

Being busy at storytime

Feeding himself peas

Popping bubbles

Checking out our bubble-making paraphenalia

More backyard sandbox digging

Taking books and magazines out of their bins is a favorite pasttime

Letting go and standing unsupported

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