9 months old

This little man is keeping us busy these days. He's turned into a very efficient crawler, and can zip around the house and get into something faster than I can catch him! No matter how much I try to keep out of his reach, he still manages to find something new to tear apart! He crawls after the cats (mostly Grady cause he's the slowest) and gets to them, pulls their tail till they run away and the cycle continues. Poor kitties! He loves taking books, magazines, or any papers and spreading them out all over the place. Also a new trick is pulling to stand, and the beginnings of taking a few steps while standing. Luckilly, he is very chatty and is hardly ever quiet so I always know where he is even if I can't see him. I will hear him babbling away while investigating a cell phone or the remote. His favorite word is Dada, and it now officially means Dada. He will yell it with authority "DADA!!" if Johnny doesn't immediately acknowledge him. Mama is less common, but we tend to hear that one much more when he is tired or cranky (go figure). He will wave hello and byebye now, and a new favorite is "high fives". I've been introducing sign language to him and he pretty consistently does "all done" and "up" for me. I am thrilled that he is starting to communicate with us! His favorite song is still "Wheels on the Bus" and he immediately starts with the hand motions once we start singing. Not only does Hank enjoy singing about wheels, he is very intrigued with any toy that has wheels on it right now. He will push his stroller over just so he can investigate the wheels.

We've been having a great summer, lots of trips to the pool which include the splash fountains-a huge hit! He will stick his whole head in the middle of a sprinkler and just laugh and laugh. He's certainly not afraid to get his head wet! It's been a very hot summer ( as you can see from the pictures we have lots of "diaper days").

Hank has 4 teeth now-2 on top and 2 on bottom. He still eats some baby food, but really eats mostly table foods now. We've been working hard to get him to eat some of what we eat each night. We all sit at the table every night now for dinner together. He's a huge fan of cheerios, green beans, and oyster crackers right now :) He loves feeding himself (which is clear from the state of affairs on the floor under the kitchen table).

Never a dull moment in our lives! Happy 9 months little man!