Charlie- 9 months old

Not a cheerful picture- he was mad that I wouldn't let him stand up in the rocking chair

Charlie turned 9 months old on Christmas day! He's turning into such a big boy and I'm amazed at how quickly he masters new skills now. He weighs 24 lbs (almost exactly) and is 29 inches long/tall which lands him still in the 90's percentage wise. Here is what he's up to recently:

-Exploring new facial expressions, like this one:

... and this one, where he puts his eyebrows waaayy up when he's excited or interested or just being cute. I finally caught it on camera!

-He is officially crawling! He is quick and gets into everything! He does the hands and knees crawling but what he prefers most recently is one or two moves forward on his hands and knees with a little hop forward in between. It is so cute. It's like he has a little hitch in his giddy-up.

Daddy and Charlie putting together a new, super strength baby gate to keep our new crawler from taking a header down the stairs.

My brother, Steve, came to our sacrament meeting to watch Charlie while John and I were singing in the choir Christmas program. He shall now be known as the Baby Whisperer.

Charlie helping us do some shopping (his job was holding/chewing on my wallet)

Making some phone calls

-Can push himself up from crawling to sitting.

-He has begun to pull himself to standing. His preferred tool is the bathtub- it's just the right height for him to grab onto. He crawls over, reaches both hands up, pulls himself onto his knees then keeps pulling until his knees slide over then stands up. It's hilarious and very cute.



-Loves to dance (kicking his legs and bouncing his torso and head) when he hears music or when John starts drumming with him. He loves music of any kind, in the car, at the piano, on his toys, and at church... he likes to "sing" along.

-Loves to play the drums whether it's the RockBand set, John's drum kit in the studio or his little toy bongos, he's all about it!



-He loves balls (especially the big green yoga ball at Grandma and Grandpa T's). He is working on throwing the ball, too. Right now he throws his arm then drops the ball. Pretty good for 9 months, I'd say!

Playing ball with Grandma Bev

-He says "Da" for Daddy and "Hi". I think he says "Ba" for ball, but it's too early for a conclusive decision on that one. When he wants to nurse or he's sad he cries out for me by saying, "Ma" or "Mmmm" which is heartbreakingly adorable every time.

-He eats Cheerios (Grandma Sue got me to realize that he could do it one day) and Gerber puffs like a champ. He still loves baby food, his favorites being sweet potatoes and carrots. He likes noodles, too, and it pretty up for trying almost anything off our plates.

-Finally has a TOOTH! He has been working on it for a few weeks now and it finally has broken through. It's the bottom left middle one and the one right next to it is thinking about coming in as well. EDIT: Since I started writing this post a couple of days ago, the second bottom tooth has broken through and there's a bulge on his upper gum as well. Oh, mamacita!

-Drinks water out of a cup while holding it by himself. If we put just about a half an inch in the cup he doesn't spill or choke on it. It's pretty darling and impressive. He usually uses a plastic cup but when I help him use a glass, you can hear his little tooth clinking against the side of the glass.

-He loves to play Peekaboo and has started putting the blanket over his head on his own to play with us. He also gets so excited when other people are nearby when I'm holding him- he thinks everyone is playing "I'm gonna get you!"

-Loves to play in the pots and pans




-Likes to go sit in the car with Daddy while it is warming up.




He's a joy to be around, even when he's in pain from teething or bonking his head on his crawling adventures. We love this little guy!