Nine Months!

Let's take a moment to cheer as we ring in the new year. Because as soon as that clock struck twelve, Carson was finally a fully insured little boy again! I made him a doctor's appointment first thing on January 2nd, so we finally got some stats on our little man!

 Here's what our 9-month old did this month:

• Stood without holding onto anything for several seconds a handful of times.
• Decided he hates baby food one day and now completely refuses to eat it.
• Loooooves to climb the stairs...consequently...fell down a few stairs twice this month. :(  It was even while I was standing right by him both times, but he still took the plunge. No harm done though. He's a graceful faller.
• Buckled down on sleep training. We started consistently doing a bedtime routine. I got him a new "comfort blanket" like I did with Eli. We had him used to his sound machine. Then the crying began. There were several nights of shushing and drowsy singing, but we finally got him to sleep all the way through the night a couple of times!! That's huge improvement, and I feel like a new woman with a full night's rest! Fingers crossed he keeps it up.
• He usually takes two naps a day, but a few days he only took one afternoon nap and did totally fine. 
• He loves bananas, cheese, blueberries, pancakes and macaroni and cheese.
• He hates Cheerios, applesauce and raisins. 
• He copies what we say on certain words! I know it sounds nuts but it sounds like he says, "All done" every time after we say it to him. He also seems to repeat "Eli," "Uh-oh," and "Ni, ni" for night, night. He regularly says "mama" and "dada" though I'm not sure he connects that he's saying our names. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't hear it for myself, but I swear the boy is already trying to talk.
• To go along with the above bullet, I started trying to teach him sign language and he looked at me like I was a moron, then he would mimic the words I was saying. It always gets a laugh out of me and Jeff.
• Wears 9-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• Waves at people when they say "hi," waves a different wave for goodnight, and can clap his hands.
• Dances like you wouldn't believe. Pump some tunes and he goes wild.
• His favorite toys are cars, the dishwasher, and anything that makes noise.
• He's a goof and we all love the little guy!

 We're seeing more of this lately! Yipee.

 New comfort blanket that helped big time with sleep training.

 Insists on feeding himself. Still hasn't learned he can't digest food through his eyes.

Happy nine months Carson! You're growing up too fast.