9 months

A few highlights of Dylan's 9th month...

* Added more new foods to the menu including prunes, cantaloupe, rice, millet, kiwi, butternut squash, etc. Definitely prefers self-feeding and has switched to using his right hand.

* Can pull himself to standing very easily. "Cruises" while holding onto furniture. Has learned how to squat to sit back down:

* More chatty. Frequent sayings are "ma ma ma ma" and "ba ba ba ba." He'll occasionally throw a "da da da da" in - that used to be his most common phrase and I'd hear it typically while he was chatting to himself during car rides together.

* Started going to nursery during church service.

* Met 5 of his buddies at the mall for a photo with the Easter Bunny. Then all 6 babies & mommies enjoyed lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Dylan & his buddies were each presented with their own little plates of bread & banana slices - so cute!

* Celebrated his first Easter.

* Has become a pro at using his sippy cup for water. Now if we could just figure out how to get him to stop tossing it across the room when he's done. Take a sip and *wham* it hits the floor. LOL

Enjoying a sip of water while at a friend's birthday party:

* Finally sleeping through the night (well, from 7pm to 4 or 5am and then back down until 7am after a diaper change & feeding). Around his 8 month birthday, it looked like I might be heading back to full time work in May (not now, but that's another story) and I knew we couldn't continue getting up multiple times a night. I had procrastinated long enough. I literally just woke up one morning and said, "we're starting sleep training tonight." It took 2 rough nights and then we pretty much rounded the corner. We knocked out the 11pm and 2am wakings.

* Loves books. Will grab and look at them on his own:

* Wears clothes ranging in sizes from 9 months to 18-24 months depending on the brand & style.

* Enjoys swinging at the park:

* His eyes were navy blue at birth. Dark brown around 4 months. And now are hazel.

Dylan's 9 month well baby check is coming up on Thursday. It will be interesting to see how much he has grown since his 6 month appointment.

** ETA: Dylan's 9 month checkup went very well. He's grown to 29 inches and 18 pounds 9.5 ounces.