Happy 9 months, Andrew!

Yesterday on July 4, 2011, we celebrated Independence Day, 3 years of owning and living in our house, and Andrew turning 9 months old :) He is now 2 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 19 pounds 12 ounces. That puts him in the 41st percentile for height and 37th percentile for weight... he's slowed down in the past few months! His head circumference, however, is still in the 91st percentile!


He's still a very happy baby... especially when he wakes up in the morning and after naps.

Good morning, Momma! I'm so happy to see you!

I like sleeping with my feet sticking out :)

(Naps are fun times to stick feet out too!)

We're both really enjoying having James home from school this summer! He's had a few weeks on and off of working so it's been a great combination of time at home and additional income :) Andrew really loves having both parents at his beck and call ;)

Playing with Daddy on the blue couch.

Andrew finished cutting two more teeth about 6 weeks ago (so he has 8 now) and now he's working on his canines now so EVERYTHING goes in his mouth.


Uncles Kevin and Kirk came to visit 2 weeks ago. It was fun to finally have Andrew meet the man from whom he got his middle name! We had a great time spending time with them and they were great with Andrew - all very comfortable with each other and a source of continual entertainment.




Like I said... everything goes in his mouth. Laptop wires (and Nintendo wires, while the Hellers were here and it was set up) and shoes are the ultimate goal... neither of which are we thrilled about :-/

He's doing a great army crawl now... our new game is to build a tower across the living room with his stacking cups and watch him crawl over to knock it down and then repeat ad nauseum. (Sadly, I don't have any photos of this...)

In his efforts to increase his mobility, he's starting to rock back and forth on his hands and knees. He can crawl for real if we help move his knees but he hasn't figured that part out on his own yet. He's more concerned with trying to stand up... except he tries to do it from lying on his belly and only succeeds in doing some funny yoga-style moves.

(Daddy thinks I look like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant when I do this, but Momma just rolls her eyes at him)

One of the fun things to watch Andrew do now that he's a little bit mobile is playing with the toys that roll. Except they usually end up under the futon and he gets stuck under there when he tries to go get them (it's high enough to get under but low enough that he bonks his head when he tries to look up and turn around). This results in Momma rescuing him many many many times during the day. We're working on coaxing him out and teaching him how to get out without our help :)

(I'll smile for the photo, Mom, but I'm really not happy here and you really should come help me before I get all the way under!)

This weekend he actually took a book to James, handed it to him, and then lay still while James read it to him! We don't know whether it was intentional or not, but it sure was cute :) He loves having books read to him right now! His favorites are Moo, Baa, La La La (Sandra Boynton) and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes (Mem Fox, Helen Oxenbury). He GRINS and laughs when we start reading (or reciting!) them. He smiles and likes to help turn pages (making sure to taste them while turning) regardless of which book we're reading. (side note - Sandra Boynton has a huge series of baby board books that would make great grandparent gifts!)


He's been eating a wider variety of things now. He likes yogurt and apple sauce and Cheerios any time we give them to him and baby puffs are always a good snack or dessert too. Other baby foods (carrots, sweet potatoes, garden vegetables) are usually acceptable if mixed with apple sauce... otherwise they earn a "this is DISGUSTING!" look and lots of fussiness. He has successfully eaten pasta with tomato sauce, chunks of raw tomato (skin removed), bits of bread, potato, and tortilla. Most recently added to the "I think this is yummy and will keep eating it until you say I'm done" list is mango! Berries he likes but only gets occasionally, he still isn't a big fan of bananas, and cheese is definitely a NO for now.

I'm happy that he's learned how to drink from his sippy cup by himself (instead of requiring us to hold it up at an angle to get the water down in the nipple) but he drops it off his high chair frequently... we're trying to figure out how to teach him that when he drops things he doesn't get them back without unintentionally teaching him that when he's finished with his cup he should drop it on the floor.

Bye for now!