Nine Months

Since Levi is almost ten months old, I should probably give you all a nine month update! At his nine month checkup, Levi weighed 16 pounds, 5 ounces, and measured 28 inches. He's getting to be such a big boy, and he didn't even cry when he got his vaccinations. This is Levi's nine month picture with Tex:

In the last month, Levi started using the 'big boy high chair', as I like to call it. He is now feeding himself part time; only about 60% of what he picks up makes it into his mouth, so we always spoon feed him a little bit to make sure he's eating enough. He's eating several fruits, vegetables, cheeses and some occasional meats for meals. He usually has Cheerios as an appetizer or dessert at each meal, too. God bless the person who invented Cheerios! They can keep him happy in restaurants when no other food or toy can. I know I'm in for it when I check his diaper bag and realize that I forgot to pack the Cheerios. Here are a few pictures of our proud self-feeder. The first, is of course, before the feeding:

And during:

Yes, that is a carrot cube stuck to his chest. Look how proud he is to have it there! Then there was the time he was managing carrots and Cheerios and got a Cheerio stuck to his chin:

He's still not aware that it's there.

He's still not aware that it's there.

He's STILL not aware that it's there. Oh, well.

Levi sprouted his two upper, middle teeth (which are about a mile apart), and just yesterday got his fifth tooth - one on the bottom right. All these new teeth explain the runny nose and the buckets of drool we've wiped for two weeks straight. He's been a little cranky, too, but we can't figure out if it's due to the teeth or a transition in his nap schedule.

Levi's learned to do so much in the last month or so. He graduated from the army crawl to the traditional, straight-arm crawl over the last week and a half. His Grandma and Pop Luttrull visited last week, and in that one week he learned to stand up in his crib, play peekaboo, wave, drink from his sippy cup, and say his first word: "oh!" (as in uh-oh, said when he drops something). Peekaboo is my favorite new skill; we can sometimes initiate a game by asking, "Where's Levi?", but mostly we realize that he wants to play when he's gotten very quiet and he's covering his eyes.

Levi and I spent some time in Texas last month, visiting family and friends. We went to meet my best friend Stephanie's newborn, Clint, and my grandmother (who goes by 'GG'). Stephanie and her husband Craig are wonderful parents, and I love how intentional they are about Clint's routines. From the start, they've practiced the same bedtime ritual, which includes a prayer and a special song that Craig wrote and plays for Clint. Their intentionality inspired us to start a bedtime routine for Levi when I returned home. Somehow, I got away without a single picture of the boys together. Shame on me.

Levi loved meeting GG. He smiled and laughed any time he heard her talk or laugh. They have quite the mutual admiration society.

One last picture...this is Levi in his new kicks. Lest you think we have more money than sense, we bought these shoes at the Nike outlet store for a super-low price, and we also bought them a size too big so that we'd get our money's worth out of them. Besides, it would be impossible for us to have more money than sense. We're very, very smart. He looks so grown up in his tennies!

For fun, you should go back through the pictures and observe Levi's nose. Does it look a bit orange to you? I noticed several weeks ago that his nose looked a bit yellow...then a bit orange. I said something about it to Rob, but forgot about it once I reasoned that it probably had more to do with the lighting in the room than actual skin color. I could not deny it once I began to notice it in pictures, though...I asked our pediatrician about it, and he said it's quite common for babies who eat plenty of carrots, squash and sweet potatoes to acquire an orange nose. We're trying to vary his diet a little more now.

We are midway through our final week-long family camp. We have a short family camp over Labor Day weekend, and then just a few weekend conferences. I can't believe how quickly this summer has passed! Over the last couple of weeks, we lost so many staff as they returned home for school that I found myself back in Kid's Club. I forgot what hard work it is! In the off-season, I'll be busy trying to write or adapt a new curriculum for next summer, then I have several little projects I want to finish, like Levi's Christmas stocking, birth announcement cross-stitch, nursery curtains, and room decorations. Something tells me that if I don't get them done by next summer, they'll never get done. I'm going to be a busy mama...

Lynda