Joshua is 9 months old today! He's sleeping soundly now, and looking at these pictures from this afternoon I'm so tempted to go in there and wake up the little guy to snuggle! But... 5 years as a mom is enough to know better :)
At 9 months old Joshua is full of laughter and little toothy smiles. He has two teeth on the bottom and the beginnings of two on the top. He thinks his brother and sister are almost the funniest people on the planet, second to their Daddy. It seems his very favorite thing is running around in David's arms chasing Jonathan and Abby for games like "Blind Giant" (what, doesn't every dad play that?) and Hide and Seek. He gets SUCH a squealing kick out of watching them shriek and laugh and run, with his arms and legs flailing around and his head thrown back laughing while he rides around in his Daddy's arms.
When Daddy's not around to rough house and run around the house, Joshua's preference is to ride on my left hip, or on my back in the Ergo. The Ergo a friend recently gave me has been a life saver for this little guy who's quite attached to his mommy. Joshua has yet to stay in the church nursery, or the nursery at Classical Conversations class, for more than 5 minutes without bawling, but he happily rides and naps on my back while I teach the 2's and 3's Sunday School... and vacuum, and mop, and teach phonics and geography, etc, etc. It's been a lifesaver for me, and a nap-saver for Joshua. When we're at other people's homes or out and about at naptime, he takes his naps on my back in the Ergo and falls asleep in under a minute.
Our front window is among his favorite places to play, and he loves playing in the curtains and then peeking out at me, laughing in his own version of peek-a-boo. He can spend quite a while crawling around behind the chairs and curtains looking out the window but is understandably upset if Pepper gets to barking too loudly beside him. At other times he'll enjoy playing with toys in his room for a while, though he finds his brother and sister's room much more intriguing. Unfortunately, the "big kid" room is stocked full of choking hazards and requires super close supervision, so he's rarely there for more than a few minutes while I'm helping Jonathan find a specific Lego or we're playing doctor or such with Abby.
The little guy keeps me on my toes, as he's crawling fast enough to get himself where he wants to go, from room to room, under tables and desks and into all kinds of messes. He'll stand holding onto anything available, climb onto the fireplace if left unattended for a moment, and cruises quite competently around the coffee table and couches. Much like his brother and sister at this age, he's entirely driven to stay busy every moment, turning over the smallest of finds with his little fingers, and investigating anything that catches his attention. He's quite social for such a little guy and absolutely loves it when we have visitors over, alternately exchanging huge grins and burying his face in my shoulder with a squeal of delight before whipping his head around to smile again and his new-found friend.
His favorite things at the moment are music and water. He lights up when he hears music and thoroughly enjoys the music class he attends with Abby and me. For a full hour he crawls and bops around, shaking and mouthing little instruments, cooing on key now and again, and generally enjoying himself. The moment we hear music at home he goes into full-body wiggles with his arms and legs going, or begins waving his right hand back and forth, another favorite move. He's similarly wild about water ahnd baths. In fact, any time ANY kid takes a bath Joshua ends up getting a bath. He's so thoroughly disappointed if I walk into the bathroom and turn the water on for his brother or sister that I feel badly and end up running a bath for him as well, or letting him join his siblings for a while. The three took a bath together earlier this week and it was so gosh darned cute to see them all splashing together! I realize that season will be short-lived, but oh, it's so cute and they have so much fun!
He also enjoys coo'ing and "chatting" back and forth, and I'm amazed at how much he'll echo me back saying "bababa" and "mama" and "pffffffffff" at this age. His latest antic is blowing on people to make the funny gas noises that crack kids up. He gets no end of laughs out of going "thrppppppp!" on our arms!
Joshua didn't take to eating solids / baby-foods as enthusiastically as his brother and sister, primarily because he doesn't seem to be a huge fan of being spoon fed. He'll still only rarely finish a serving of pureed foods, but he now eats a good meal of finger-foods to keep up. Of course, Cheerios are a staple, and it seems mac and cheese is still a favorite. Despite his aversion to being spoon fed, he remains around the 90th %ile for length at today's 9 month check-up, so he's growing more than just fine! Last night he blessed me with a full night of sleep, though he's usually awake once or sometimes twice in the night. Here's to hoping this is a new trend!
Joshua is so much fun at 9 months. I could enjoy him right at this stage for a good long while, but it's a delight to watch him learn and grow. I am loving getting to know my sweet son more every day and look forward to this last quarter of his first year! And now, I think I hear the little guy calling from his room for more snuggles.
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