Happy 9 monthday!

Dear Colin,
It seems like just yesterday I was writing about you turning 8 months old. But with all of the hustle around Christmas and New Years, that time seems to have flown by.
(The book was the only way I could get him to sit still for justonesecond).

You have proven to be quite the little explorer. You like to open cabinet doors. You even climbed and stood on a box yesterday because some cabinet doors were blocked shut and you couldn't figure out how to open them, so you figured you needed to get a closer look. You are obsessed with the vacuum cleaner. If the closet door is opened a crack and you get just a glimpse of the vacuum, you make a beeline for it and summon it out with your bouncing dance. Many times, we get it out and vacuum the rug or the bedrooms to entertain you, and, well, we can never vacuum enough, right? You also found the doorstop makes a really cool noise when you bend it. (Please excuse the horrible paint job. I painted this room 3+ years ago, and Kev said not to worry about the trim, because we'd get new trim. As you can see, that hasn't happened yet.)

You crawl very quickly, and you move from butt to crawling to standing quickly too. You love the TV remote control. We'd let you play with it, but for some stupid reason, if the batteries fall out and we don't get them back in within 30 seconds, Daddy has to reprogram it, and that's no fun. So we hide it from you and you hate that. Sorry. You love playing the piano and hitting your hand on things.

You're eating a lot of different foods now. You still eat puree baby food, but you've also ventured into pancakes, waffles, bread/toast, Grandpa J's plum jelly, peas, green beans, carrots, peaches which you seem to LOVE (frozen in your mesh feeder or diced), and frozen blueberries. You're still drinking breastmilk, and Mommy is determined to make it to your first birthday. We got you a new type of sippy cup, and we're hoping you take to this one better than you did the other. So far, you seem to understand it a little better. There are no teeth in sight yet.
You and Rocket are buddies. When he has his rope or his stuffed dog, you pull on it, and he pulls back. He's gentle with you. I think he's finally realizing that you are a playmate, not just a noisemaker and attention stealer.
You still fit into most of your 9 month clothes, but we do have the 12 month wardrobe washed and on reserve. Sometimes Daddy digs into it, even though I insist you get a few more wears out of your "little" stuff before we move on.
You still don't sleep through the night consistently. We've gotten a few tastes a couple of nights, but you've also had a cough, runny/stuffy nose, and ear infection going on, so lately you haven't been able to. Mommy knows you'll get there. Someday.

You talk a lot. Among your baby words, you say "momom." Does that mean mama? You seem to know exactly what you're saying. We'll figure it out soon.

You give slimy, wet kisses sometimes. These days, they're mixed with boogers. I love them.

You are becoming such a little boy. We can't wait to find out what new adventures this month brings!

Love,
Mommy.