Ben: 9 months

We're a little off center this month. The sign juuuust got in the picture. It's either put it far away and hope he doesn't reach for it or put it close to him and have a drooly crumpled up sign, so I take what I can get these days! Mr. Ben is into EVERYTHING now. He's crawling and pulling himself up, so we now have to keep the bathroom door shut and put the untouchables up high. He's opening drawers and cabinets and has mastered the "dump and run."

He "talks" to us by mimicking. He'll make a noise, we'll repeat it, he'll make another, etc. etc. Or we say his name "Be-en" and he responds with a sound like "Wha-at?" :) He also says "uh" (half of "uh-oh") in context.

I love picking him up from daycare, because he gives me an honest-to-goodness genuine bear hug and then he "kisses" me by sucking on my chin, and then he sucks on my shoulder. If I pay too much attention to Colin first when I pick them up, he won't forget to be shy to yell at me.

He had some separation issues happening the last few months (as is the protocol for babies around this age), but seems to be over it for the most part now. He sat on someone else's lap in church last weekend, and my friend's lap yesterday. He's a bit shy at first and rests his head on my shoulder, but after he surveys the situation, he's, once again, easy going.

Ben is sleeping pretty well. Still not through the night, but he'll wake up once (sometimes twice). Now that I'm back to work I really, honestly don't mind it because it's one more chance to nurse him. Those days are numbered and I want to soak them up! If I didn't nurse him at night, I'd probably only do it twice a day (morning and bedtime) and I'm just not ready to give it up yet.

And these curls! They get curlier in humidity.

Ben weighs about 31 lbs now. His 9 month appointment is in a few weeks, so we'll get the official stats then. Hopefully now that he's reached the weight of a 2 year old his weight will slow down like a 2 year old's. It seems to be slowing. Although we're going to have to figure out a diaper solution because once he hits 35 lbs, his cloth diapers may not fit him anymore. He's wearing 18 month size pants and 24m/2T/3T shirts.