9 Months!

9 months! Wow! I can't believe my baby is 3 months away from being a year old!

To celebrate Tucker turning 9 months we played peek-a-boo (among other things!) in the morning...

built tunnels in the afternoon.... (Even Lacy enjoyed the tunnels!)
and had Tucker's favorite food for dinner....SPAGHETTI! He LOVES spaghetti!

We also had his 9 month dr appointment today too. Tucker weighs in at 19 pounds, 4 ounces (30%) and is 29 inches long (75%). Mommy was a little concerned that we dropped from 55-60% in weight to 30%, but our pediatrician assured us that she is not concerned and that it is not at all unusual for breastfed babies to level out in the pounds department. That coupled with the fact that Tucker is a non-stop (I mean NON-STOP) mover!

At 9 months, Tucker, you are:

* Refusing baby food. I mean spitting and gagging if it is snuck in your mouth. You HATE it! We had about 4 good weeks of you eating baby food. Now you will only eat table food. And even then you have your good days and your bad days. Sometimes you'll eat and eat, other days you don't have much interest in food period.

* You still LOVE to nurse. I think that's why you're not that into food. You are perfectly content to just nurse away!

* You love to drink from a cup. You've mastered a sippy, including the kind with a straw, and you LOVE to drink from a big boy cup (with help of course). Daddy and I cannot take a drink without you insisting that we give you some. You LOVE water! You drink it like it's seriously going out of style.

* You wave bye-bye and give high fives (the high-five thing you've been doing, but since Mommy is so bad at doing these "monthly updates" we'll include it!).

* You clap, especially when we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It". You also clap when you want us to say "YAY!" You'll do something, like throw a ball or knock over a tower of blocks, and then look at us expecting us to cheer for you. If we don't you start to clap as though you're saying, "Hello?! I, TuckerBug, just threw the winning pitch, you're supposed to cheer!!!"

* You dance when we say, "Go Tucker, Go!" You'll kinda throw your hands in the air and bounce. Other times, you get on all fours and rock. I'm not sure if that means we have a future break-dancer on our hands or if Aunt Rachie will be teaching you the 'worm' one day...

* You have 4 teeth, 2 on bottom and 2 on top. The bottom two you got at 6 months and 6 1/2 months and they were no problem. The top two you got at a little over 8 months and they were HARD!

* You typically get up once through the night anywhere from 3:30-5:00 to nurse for a few minutes. I've gone back and forth on whether I should try to break you from this habit and have decided you'll out grow it soon enough. I'm not really worried about it right now. Sometimes you sleep through the night. You're still taking 2 naps a day, one in morning about 10:00 and one in the afternoon about 2:00. Each one is about an hour and a half, sometimes two.

* You are great at going down for naps and for bedtime.

* You LOVE water. You put your face in the water in both the pool and the bathtub, then you just come up, wipe your eyes and do it again. You try to drink the water too, almost like you're licking it up like your doggies do! (I told you, you LOVE to drink water!)

* You rarely take your paci other than for nap time. You made this decision on your own. About the time those top teeth cut threw you decided you didn't want it. Mommy still puts it in bed with you during the night and sometimes you'll put it in your mouth if you wake up.

*You HATE getting your diaper changed. That's just way too long to be still. As soon as I began to lay you on your changing table you start to fuss.

*When we are carrying you, you reach for where you want to go or things you want us to let you touch. Let me rephrase that, you reach and make this groaning sound urging us to take you in the direction you want to go or let you touch what you want to touch!

* You LOVE balls! When you see one, you almost scream with excitement, make your groaning sound indicating you HAVE to have it, and then grab it and almost kiss it! Then you push/throw it away and want someone to pass it back to you. Daddy and I are hoping this is a sign that you'll like all things sports, especially basketball! ;)

*You are crawling and getting into everything! Your favorite thing to get into are the dog dishes. At first it was easy to just put them up on something that you couldn't reach, but now that you're starting to pull up, that's not so easy!
* You understand "No" and already I see you challenging me when I say it..... And you remember what I've said "NO" to. For example, you will crawl at lightening speed toward the dog dishes, stop right before you reach them and turn around to see what I'm going to say. Of course, I say, "No, no, Tucker" and you try to hurry and get your hands in them before I grab you up.

* You are definitely silly! You do things just to make us laugh :)

* You love to be read to. Your favorite books are still touch and feel books. (As a matter a fact, sometimes you have to lick the books, touching them just isn't enough!) And we HAVE to let you be the one to turn the pages :)

* No matter how many toys Daddy and I buy for you, you would much rather play with the dog dishes, electrical cords, cell phones, doors and door stoppers, magazines, the laptop, the little stones in the fireplace, and of course, anything else that you're not supposed to.

* You LOVE to be outside. If we walk pass the door while holding you, you will start to kick your legs and reach for the door. You crawl to the doors and look out, banging on the windows all the time. I definitely see you as one of those kids that stands at the door and cries, "Out! Out!"

* You no longer are content to ride in the car. Now that you can move, you would rather be doing just that. Car rides are better if planned around your nap. Thank goodness we got our trip to Florida in before this hit. I'm not looking forward to our Hilton Head trip in October....

* You are a Mommy's boy. If I'm around, you usually want me. This was especially the case when you were cutting your top teeth. It won't be long before you realize just how much cooler your Daddy is....

* You are SO observant! You have to look around no matter where we are and take inventory of everything around you! The other day I hung the cross that Aunt Holli and Uncle Mikie got you for your baby dedication in your nursery. The first time we went in the nursery after I did so, you immediately noticed that I had put something new up (even though it's not that big) and you just stared at it. Then, of course, you reached your hand out, did your groaning thing and insisted that I take you over there to touch it! I don't know why I was surprised that you noticed it....

Maybe if Mommy was a little better about getting these up on time, there wouldn't be so many things to list once I finally get the chance to "publish" them!

At our doctor appointment, Dr. White asked us what has gone by faster, the 9 monthe of pregnancy or the past 9 months.... DEFINITELY the past 9 months!