Sweet little Clay at 9 months

Clay is 9 months old! (He's been 9 months since Jan 25th, so it's been a while since I've been meaning to do this! Better late than never they say.) 9 month stats: 19 pounds 2 ounces. 28 inches long! Here's an update on our favorite little buddy:

He learned to crawl at the end of December. He loves to play and explore constantly. He's going through cupboards, and finds anything and everything within reach. He is always on the go when he's awake. Always looking for something new to investigate. Although our house is baby proofed pretty well, he still finds trouble (cords, toilets, small toys, etc). I have to be vigilant, and since he's awake for about 10 hours every 24 hours I feel like I am on my toes a lot!

Diaper changing is interesting nowadays: I put him on his back to change his diaper, he flips to his tummy; I put him back on his back, he tries to flip, and soon I feel like we're wrestling! Good thing he is easily distracted with a toy.

He is starting to sit on my lap and look at books (for maybe 1 or 2 minutes at a time). Since as soon as he could reach he would grab the book away from me and chew on it (so we didn't do much reading!). But, lately he is starting to let me turn the pages and listen to my voice. I LOVE it!! He pinches at the pictures in books almost like he's trying to pick them out of the page. His attention span is still really short so we get through one, maybe two board books at a time. I have been trying to take him to baby time at the library every week. He LOVES baby time!!

Clay is already starting to hold onto the edge of things and stand. Maybe he will start walking soon...I think he wants to keep up with Miles and Hailey!

Clay says babble sounds. When I feed him at his booster seat and ask him if he wants a drink of juice he will look over at his sippy cup on the table every time!! I know he understands a few things because he will look at what I say--such as "Where's Dad (Hailey) (Miles) (the ball)?" Today he even put a vowel and consonant together--he was saying "aaaa-da!" over and over. And when I gave him a cookie yesterday I said, "Look at your cookie!" while he was snacking away and he held his cookie up in his little fist in my direction with a big smile on his face. Did he understand "cookie"? I like to think he did. But I guess only he knows for sure and he's not telling!

This afternoon Miles and Hailey played outside together. I took Clay out for a little while, but then had to come in to make dinner and since Clay is still too young to be outside without me (at least I think he is) I took him in too. He did what he always does when the kids are out and he is in, he crawled to the window and watched them while patting his hand on the glass. I hope he doesn't feel left out...Maybe he needs a playmate/sibling closer to his own age---what do you say Joey? ;-)

I love you Clay!