Robbie is 9 months old!!!!!!!!!

Robbie is 9 months old today. I have been thinking all day about how pregnancies are supposed to last 9 months, but mine (Robbie's?) only lasted 8. Robbie has been a great addition to our family. He smiles all the time and loves to play peek-a-boo. He can pull himself up in his crib. I had him sitting in his crib the other day while I put away his laundry and I turned around and he was standing up! I keep telling Matt that we need to lower his crib mattress, but we still haven't done it yet. He loves the exersaucer and jumperoo because he can stand up. I'll put toys on the couch and sit behind him while he stands and plays with them, too. He will take a few steps if you are holding his hands, but he's definitely not ready to start walking. Robbie still isn't crawling, but he gets around. We have talked about moving him up into the next classroom at church, but our friends have advised us to wait until he's better at getting around. I'm fine with leaving him in the nursery and they like him in there. Robbie's new thing to do is scream. He does it when he's happy, though he did it randomly in the car the other day. It's cute and I'll get a video of it soon.

Robbie eats 3 solid meals a day. We usually do cereal and fruit for breakfast and then a veggie for lunch and dinner. We are going to talk to the doctor Thursday at his check up about adding dairy and meat. He would probably have a larger palate if I were better about starting new food with him, but I'm not. He likes bananas, peaches, applesauce (though Matt questions if he likes it), carrots, peas, butternut squash and sweet potatoes. We gave him yellow squash a few times, but he really doesn't like it, so we've taken it off the menu.

It's crazy, but Robbie has 5 teeth now and he just got his first tooth on his 8 month birthday. Four of them are top teeth and one on the bottom. The bottom one is my favorite because you can see it when he's smiling. You can also see it when he's crying, but it's not that cute then! I did see that his other bottom tooth is almost ready to come out. He has had a rough few nights lately and we know that means he's teething. I wish I could say that he's sleeping through the night, but he's not. Now that we are giving him formula, Matt can get up with him at night. That has been a huge help to me! I also have not slept through the night, but at least when Matt gets up I go back to sleep quicker.

I've taken Robbie to the pool a few times this summer and we've gone to the beach a couple of times. Matt said that Robbie is starting to get a pretty good tan. I didn't notice it until a play date with our friend's baby and Robbie is definitely darker. Target had summer stuff on sale, so we bought a little pool, a sprinkler toy and beach toys. Obviously he's not ready for them yet, but it's nice that they will be on hand for next year.

I can't believe that he's lived 3/4 of a year already. We'll be planning his birthday party soon. I have seen birthday boy outfits at Target and Babies R Us, but I've been good and not bought one yet. I don't want to rush these next few months thinking about his birthday. We're loving having him around and watching him grow.

Monthly pictures:

A few more pictures we took: