9 Months Old Already!

It is amazing how quickly the days turn into months!  Our little baby Cole turned 9 months old on July 12th.  It's hard to imagine he will soon be one.

Cole is as busy as ever these days!  He's constantly squirming this way and that.  It used to be a challenge to get him to roll over onto his stomach (he's never been fond of tummy time, and typically after 10 seconds on his tummy, he'd be rolling over onto his back.)  Well, these days, he's the complete opposite!

We'll lay him down to play or sleep and within minutes, there he is, sunny side up!  The only problem is he still hates tummy time and now he can't remember how to roll back over!  So after a few minutes on his tummy, Cole is quick to yell out "WAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" (which translates into "HELP!  I'm on my tummy and I can't get up!!")

He still loves jumping up and down and up and down in his exersaucer.  He really gets into it with both feet and arms flailing about and a big smile across his face.  He's also quite the little sitter, although the feat is still a bit of work for our little guy.  When he first gets into the sitting position, he'll get a pretty serious look on his face and clench both hands and stiffen his arms as he concentrates on staying upright.  Once he's nice and sturdy, he grabs the nearest toy and gets to work playing.

Cole's big smile and adorable giggle are contagious!  You just can't help smiling or giggling right back at him.  Although you can count yourselves one of the lucky few to see these sites.  No matter how hard strangers try to get him to laugh, he won't even crack a grin for them.  He saves these moments for the ones he knows best.

He gets a kick (literally!) out of bath time.  He loves splashing the water as high as he can with his legs.  He must think it's funny when Mom gets wet!!

Unfortunately, Cole is not much of a napper.  He prefers to catch 20 minute cat naps here and there.  Although daytime napping isn't going the best, Cole more than compensates for that at night.  He'll sleep 13+ hours a night, waking up usually once for a late night snack, then he's back to counting sheep!  Life is great with a good night's rest!!

Cole has quite the appetite - it seems as though he is constantly chomping away on something!  His favorites include macaroni and cheese (which must have rubbed off from Owen!), bananas, and peas (a love of which Owen does NOT share!!)  One of Cole's new tricks is feeding himself - he loves picking up his puffs and shoving his whole hand in his mouth in a very determined attempt to get that little puff out of his grip and into his waiting mouth.  And boy, does he love to smack those lips of his, especially after a bite full of one of his favorites!

Cole still loves his hands.  He loves looking at them, chewing on them, and grabbing everything in reach with them!  He's a good little Catholic and often found "praying", gripping his little hands together...

And if you hear a "click, click, click!", that's my boy making one of his favorite noises!  He LOVES to click his tongue over and over again!  He just can't get enough of that noise.  And he thinks it's the greatest thing when you "click, click, click" right back at him!  His one and only word so far is "Mama".  It just melts my heart to hear him babble "ma-ma-ma".  Of course he doesn't know what he's saying yet (but I like to think that he does!)  And who can resist that big pouty lip of his!  He sticks it out and bats his big baby blues and can pretty much get anyone to do whatever he wants!

Owen is quite the big brother to Cole.  He loves talking to him and reading him stories.  Owen even helps Mom make Cole's cereal in the morning.  Owen has started looking out for his little bro too.  If Cole is stuck on his stomach, Owen will quickly let you know (although sometimes he's the culprit pushing Cole over onto his belly!)  Owen's typical response when he sees someone holding Cole is "Lay Cole down!", but he recently started saying "Cole's crying.  Pick him up!"  What a great big brother!

I got your back, bud!

Don't mess with my little bro!