9 Months Old!

Can you believe it?  Another month has passed already.  We are all starting to settle back in to life in Texas, though we're finding ourselves very jealous of Connecticut summertime weather.  I keep reminding myself that I will be thankful in the winter, but right now the months of 100+ degree weather are getting old!

Tommy and I are both adjusting to our (semi) new jobs.  Tommy is enjoying Microsoft and learning that, unlike in the past, he isn't always the smartest guy in the room.  I'm sure this won't last for long :)  It isn't busy season yet, but I'm trying to find that elusive work/life balance.  I find myself alternating between feeling guilty for not spending enough time with Jack and Tommy and stressing out because I'm not putting in the same hours at work as some of my colleagues.  Slowly, I'm learning what works for me and my family and finding that I have great support, both friends and family and at work.

I can't believe Jack is nine months old already.  We have a baby on the move!   He's an expert speed crawler now and follows mom and dad all everywhere, getting upset when he can't quite go fast enough.  He pulls himslef up on whatever he can and is able to walk by himself as long as he's holding on to something.  He takes Mom and Dad's hands and stumbles all around the house.  I don't think it will be long before he's walking on his own, but he isn't quite there yet, although he sometimes likes to think that he is.  In the past couple of weeks, this sense of invincibility has led to 2 forehead bruises and one bloody nose.  He's definitely all boy!!

Here he is walking with Mommy:

We're continuing to wait for that elusive second tooth.  It really looks like it should be poking through any day now, but so far, he still has the one lone bottom tooth.  You can see it pretty well in these pictures:

This single tooth is becoming problematic when it comes to eating.  At his 9 month appointment last week, Dr. Nguyen cleared him to eat pretty much anything, but that isn't easy when you have only one tooth!  So far since his appointment, we've learned that he likes dill pickles, mashed potatoes, goldfish crackers, rice pilaf and bacon.  He's now eating "school food" at daycare, which is basically most of what the big kids eat for lunch and snacks chopped up really small.  So far, so good.  Tommy and I are going to attempt a baby meat and veggie recipe from one of my sister's baby cookbooks tomorrow - I'm interested to see what he thinks!

He continues to babble all the time, but nothing that you'd really call talking yet.  Twice in the past couple of days, I could swear that he has been "singing" when we've had music on in the house.  The two-handed wave is his favorite way of greeting someone and showing excitement.    He's learned how to "give me five" and gets the biggest smile on his face when Mommy gets excited about it.

His nine month appointment went well.  Dr. Nguyen says he's perfectly healthy and right on track developmentally.  He continues to be on the small side, not surprising I guess, and nothing to be concerned about.  Here are his measurements:

Height: 27.5 inches (25th percentile)
Weight: 19 pounds, 2 ounces (25th percentile)
Head: 18 inches (75th percentile)

Here's the infamous car seat picture for this month - I think we're getting close to outgrowing this one!

And finally a few bonus photos - I thought they were too cute not to include:

Jack's First School Pictures

These pictures are a little old, but with getting them mailed from Connecticut and getting our scanner set up to put them on the computer I am just now getting to posting them.  The second to last day Jack was at his daycare in Connecticut in late May, they had professional photographers come in to take individual and class photos of the kids.  I'm so glad we decided to order them because I love how they turned out!   I can just imagine them sitting him down on the blanket and posing him like this:

Here he is with his other classmates, Abigail and James:

More to come later, but I had to share these!