James is 9 Months Old and Walking 2012!

James at 9 months and his first day stumble-stepping day

James is 9 months old as of last Friday and 40 weeks as of this Wednesday! That means he's been out about as long as he was in. James acts like he has a copy of our baby book and suddenly springs to action checking off milestones at the end of the month. A lot of the interesting changes happened starting on his 9-month birthday and the days following, so they should technically go in my next update, but I'm going to cheat and tell you now.

Moving- James is walking! It all happened much faster than I imagined it would.  One moment he was lunging from furniture to furniture ("cruising") just like he has been for a month, and then he's stumbling around on his own. He stumbled forward a few steps Saturday night, then repeated his trick all day Sunday, going just a step or two before falling. By Wednesday he was walking the short length of the kitchen without falling. Wednesday night I got him on video walking down the hall. I love his little zombie arms.

Wednesday evening before bed

Sleep- Guess who's sleeping through the night! This has also been going on for less than a week, but in the name of positive thinking I'm calling it a done deal. James sleeps in his crib from 7:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. He had some really bad nights a week ago, and bringing him to bed was not helping so we made sure he ate a lot and Ferberized him from about 4 a.m. to 4:45 a.m. and since then he's just needed one little pat down about every other night. I'll take it! Now he just needs to start napping in his crib. Up until now we have to hold him while naps otherwise he cuts his naps short and is super grumpy all day. Well, more so.

Co-napping at 38 weeks + 5 days

Eating- James eats anything you give him, and doesn't let anyone eat without sharing with him. His favorite foods are apples, bananas, oatmeal, wheat bread, and sweet potatoes. He also eats green bean puree, bits of egg or chicken, bean soup puree, and anything else we share with him. He still doesn't know how to feed himself from the bottle, but he seems totally uninterested in learning.

Growth-  He didn't have a doctors appointment this month but when I measure him, he's about 28.5-29 inches tall. The doctor said he was 30 inches tall last month, but I had him at about 28 then. Measuring him isn't really a science though, it's more of an interpretive art since you can't make him stay still and straight, and he grabs for the tape measure.  He's still wearing 9-month clothing, so he's probably about average in size for his age. James top two teeth are about halfway out now.  He has those and the two bottom ones.

This was 3 weeks ago, the teeth are past the gum line now 

Social- Nothing much has changed here. He wants constant attention, and prefers that I sit on the floor with him.  If both Kevin and I are with him, he wants constant attention from both of us.  It drives him particularly batty when one of us leaves the room because he can't figure out how to be where we both are simultaneously. Usually he chases the one leaving the room.

James playing with his dad (37 weeks + 5 days)

Language- James seems to understand some simple stuff I say to him in Spanish, and seems to understand less in English, but it's not entirely clear what he does or doesn't know since I'm pretty sure sometimes he gets it but ignores me. Especially if I'm telling him he's not supposed to do something.

He still says zero words, but sometimes he seems to be trying to copy the sound we're making. That might be in my head because he almost never gets close to the word.

He enjoys being read to a little more than he used to, and he'll sit through short books to the end. I trace the words with my finger as I read to him so he gets the idea of what I'm doing, and sometimes when I'm done he traces words with his finger.  He even looks at his books on his own sometimes, occasionally turning the pages. I make him wear his pacifier when he's doing this because his favorite thing to do with books is try to eat them.

James looking at his books on his own (37 weeks + 5 days)

Games, Toys, and Trouble-making- For Christmas, James got a bunch of toys that teach cause and effect.  These are mostly his favorite because he can get them to play music. At first, he'd accidentally make it play music and then freak out when the music stopped.  We'd reach over and put his hand on the button or lever that made music and guide him to push it.  Now he can handle all the toys himself: a music box, his work bench, a little orange monkey, a play kitchen, and a shopping cart. Kevin sings all the songs as well.

James playing with his work bench (36 weeks + 6 days)

He also likes trying to pass a ball back and forth.  I roll it to him, and he either drops it in my general direction, or sometimes, not quite understanding the game, he crawls over and delivers the ball to me personally. It's cute.  He also hits the ball around with a mallet in his own made-up version of croquet.  If the mallet can't be found, the toy hammer does just as nicely.

With all his new freedom of movement, some of his games involve systematically destroying the order in our home. He's discovered we own hundreds of books, and likes to pull them off the shelves. He opens drawers and starts emptying the contents onto the floor. He walks overs to our television and circumvents the many obstacles we've set up so that he can try to pull all the wires on our electronic equipment.  Freedom is great, isn't it James?

James pulling all our books off the bookshelves (37 weeks + 6 days)