9 Months Old

Benett just had his 9 month check-up. He is keeping with his former trend as far as his stats go (98% head, 42% weight and , <3 on height). The doctor said he is "doing his own thing" as far as his growth is concerned. She also commented on what a cuddle bug he is, probably because he greeted her with a smile and a hug when she walked in. What a cutie patutie! The doctor also predicted that Benett might be walking before he is crawling because he is already so strong and can pull himself up without someone holding his hands (he just learned how this week). Who knows what he will do, but now that the remodeling at home is finished, I am much more comfortable with him moving around the house on his own.
Benett has been surprising me so much this past week with all that he is learning. The first time he surprised me was when I was giving him a bath and he grabbed his wash cloth and quickly put it in his mouth to suck the water out of it. This is something that he always does except this time when he couldn't get any more water out of the spot he had in his mouth he dunked the wash cloth all the way under the water to "refill" it. I was so impressed that I sat and watched him repeat the process 6 or 7 times before I took the wash cloth from him and started his bath. He is such the little problem solver. I'm sure he gets this from his daddy and the engineering mind that he passed down to him.
The next surprise came when I was feeding Benett lunch the other day. When we were almost done with lunch, Benett reached up and grabbed for the spoon with both hands and helped me put the next bite into his mouth. I let him help with the next 3 - 4 bites before he lost interest in eating and all he wanted to do was bang the spoon on the high chair and make noise (typical boy thing to do). By the time we were done eating and playing, both Benett and the high chair were completely covered in garden vegetables.
Benett is not what you call a good sleeper. I have heard many moms say that their babies sleep through the night right from the get go. This has not been the case for us. Up until this week, Benett has not slept all the way through the night at all. He is a stomach sleeper and until this week he couldn't stay asleep when he wanted to change positions during the night. However, I think he is starting to grow out of this sleeping pattern because twice this week he has slept all the way through until 5:30 or 6 a.m. (Hallelujah!). When I check on him he as been either turned around or on his side sound asleep. I am so thankful that he is starting to sleep soundly on his own. I hope he keeps this up because it sure does feel good to get a complete night sleep.
Benett has also expanded his vocabulary this week. When I was taking a short video of him playing on the floor, I said "tell everyone bye bye," and he said "bu by" and rolled over. I wasn't sure if he actually said it because it was so fast, but I still had the camera rolling and caught it on video. I had to go back and watch it again to convince myself that he actually did say it. After several weeks of heavy coaching, Benett finally says "Dada." Mike is super pumped to hear Benett say his name and actually refused to believe that Benett said it until he heard it for himself. Mike is funny like that sometimes. I always joke with him that I have to back-up anything that I say with an annotated bibliography of my sources or else he doesn't trust that I have valid data (one of the many things I love about my husband). Nana has also recently taught Benett to scrunch up his nose and breath loudly just as I did as a baby. It is one of the cutest things I have seen!We love you so much little bugaloo. Happy 9 month birthday!