Joel and Jaime: 9 Months

Well, we've flown through the last few months and now our baby is 9 months. The past few weeks have been full of developments and fun! Ben is becoming so much fun to play with! He gets so excited when we chase him as he crawls around, or if I hold him and we chase Emma together. He squirms, squeals and bounces with delight as we chase around the house. Every night before bath, I carry him up the stairs and Joel chases us. Now, even when Joel isn't chasing us, Ben gets really excited on the stairs and looks all around for Joel, expecting him to come chase us. It's pretty cute.

That's another thing that's been a lot of fun this month...Ben is starting to anticipate things and expect certain things. For examply, after he wakes up from his nap, my mom or I will read him the same book (the "Heads" pop-up book). He'll wave at the book sitting on his dresser when we get him out of the crib and he anticipates the actions in the book.

It seems like every day my mom tells us of a new skill that Ben is learning. It's so fun to watch him grow and develop. Even the smallest achievement is fascinating to watch! Today he watched me put blocks into a box and he came over and put some blocks in, too. I was so excited! His vocabulary continues to expand and he's added combinations of Ga, La, Da and to his Ma and Ba. He's starting to associate sounds with certain things, like "ba" for "bottle".

It's been fun to watch him observe things and figure things out lately. For a few nights in a row, he was using his shaker egg to knock a block out of Joel's hand. Everytime he knocked it to the ground, Ben would laugh. It's like he was just starting to realize that the block was falling as a result of his action. He also thinks it's really funny when we roll the soccer ball to him. I sure wish I knew exactly what was going on in his mind!

I marvel at his personality. It's hard to describe it in words. I just know in my heart and mind exactly what it is. He's so easy going...nothing bothers him. Of course, he has crabby moments, but the majority of the time, he's so mellow and chill. He just motors around, checking everything out in his own quiet way. He sure likes his independent time and spends a lot of the day checking things out by himself. But then he also loves chatting away to the people he's familiar with and playing lots of games with us. I already mentioned that he loves to play chase. He also likes to play a game where he drops something and we swoop him down for him to pick it up. As soon as we swoop him back up, he drops the toy again and the swooping continues.

Before bed time every night, we plop Ben in our big bed and we take our time getting his PJ's on and play with him and tickle him. Then, if he's not too cranky, we read "Lullaby Moon" a few times before I take him to his room and nurse him. Tonight, he was a happy camper, so we read the book like normal. But, this time, he was extra snuggly with Joel and just laid there snuggled up next to Joel, even after the book was over. He was chattering away and nuzzling Tucker (his lovie). I loved seeing him so content to lay there between his parents. Aaaaaahhhh. The sweetest moments.

When I checked on Ben before I went to bed the other night, he was even more precious than usual. I wanted to freeze the image in my mind. I took a picture, but of course, it didn't capture the sweetness He was laying on his back with his head tilted slightly back and his mouth was closed. He looked so peaceful, secure, serence, comfortable....Of course, he ALWAYS looks precious when he's sleeping, but there was something extra serene that night. I put my head down close to his and just listened to his breathing for a while. My heart could literally explode every night when I go check on his sweet, sleeping self....Sigh. I love snapping pictures of him when he's sleeping. I wish they came out clearer!!

And now for a gazillion pictures!

Cousin Eli and Lucas came for a visit. Cousin bath time!

All the cousins going to the mall to play:

He gives the biggest smiles when we come to get him out of his carseat!

Stuffing his face with food! He loves his finger foods!

This is right after he spit up all over Grandpa's brand new shirt.

His face kills me in this one!

We didn't stage this picture, I swear!

I can just hear his squeals of delight. sigh.

He loves to chug around the house with the bulb from the turkey baster in his mouth. It fills with spit and catches his spit-up and we have to empty it regularly. Grosss!!!

Mmmmm, Berries!

You are my sunshine!

At the indoor gym with Grandma

This was taken in our dark room in the morning. They were so cute snuggled up together...I took their picture, and these are their faces when the flash went off. Sorry guys!