Luke is 9 months!!!

no WAY has 9 months come and gone! and even 9 (ok, 10) months before that when he was hibernating in my belly. awww, my little boy is growing up so fast. too fast, especially, these past few weeks it seems. he's gone from sitting, to pulling himself to standing, to crawling, to sitting from a crawling position, to crawling to mommy & daddy, to crawling to every.single.thing he's NOT supposed to have (like paint buckets, extension cords, computer cords, storage totes, the kitchen trash can, the fire place cover - yeah, we desperately need to child proof this place!). ALL this within the past 2-3 weeks!! and the term crawling, yeah, i use that loosely. he really did first learn to crawl the right way (on all fours), and then something happened 2 days later when he plopped on his belly and found he could get there a lot faster this way. he still practices on all fours, though. i'm really in no hurry. believe me ;)

luke's also managed to develop a temper, and has lost all patience, in the past couple of weeks. man, try and take something away from him and see how loud he can get! it's the only time we can be sure of hearing his voice since he still is a pretty quiet boy.

these past 9 months have been pure heaven for me (i can defiitely speak for dh, too, when i say this), we are blessed beyond words and only God knows what we've done to deserve this life. every day with luke is a blessing, a gift that i treasure beyond comprehension. i hope this feeling never fades, i want to be in this state of awe and miracle forever! THIS is the life!!

So, here's the traditional monthly update (you know you're dying to know!!!):

• 23 lbs, 28.5"
• luke has his 2 bottom central incisors (his top 2 look to be making their debut any day now)
• sleep has been disastrous since the arrival of his first two teeth (almost 2 months ago!!), he sleeps a total of about 11.5 hrs every night if you count the 1-2 times he wakes to eat - and then goes right back to sleep, as part of the 11.5 hrs.
• he *usually* takes 2 good naps a day, a 2-hr a.m. nap and a 2-hr p.m. regardless, he gets about 4-hrs of nap time in daily, however he so decides to break it up.
• i have him on a 4-hr eating schedule, so nurses every 4-hrs during the day with solids (3 times/day) about 30-60 minutes after he nurses.
• i still make all of his foods, he's a GREAT eater and loves to eat finger foods! all his *purees* have tons of texture so maybe that's helped transition him, idk just a guess.
• iron test came back great, no longer deficient though i'm still keeping him on an iron-rich diet (lentils, beef, spinach, etc.) until his follow up next month.
• he's still not talking much but i swear, one day when dh got home from work luke looked at him, beamed, and said "daaaadaaa!" my hubbs practically passed out, lol. it was so sweet.
• loves army-crawling around the house and pulling himself to a standing position as often as possible.
• he clearly clearly moves towards what he wants now, most often it's the floor (while we're holding him) or our junk on our night stand while i'm nursing him.
• he's a nosy nosy boy, always distracted while eating so will delay that process as long as he possibly can.
• he sits up on his own now, so we're always pleasantly surprised when we go to get him out of bed and he's looking at the door, waiting for us. LOVE.
• i've never shared this, but it's hilarious. when he's tired and i nurse him, his eyes roll to the back of his head and he rubs my breast, lol, it's the funniest thing. i give him his burp cloth to rub because rubbing usually turns to pinching and yeah, ow!

this is all i can think of for now, lol, as if it's a short list! now for his 9 month pictures. i apologize in advance, i'm trying to work on quality vs. quantity but he's just so dang cute it's hard not to take 20 million pictures (but really, why do i need 20 pics of the same pose?!). maybe i'll have learned by baby #2 ;)

hehe, love this one.

and this one...

and the double chin in this one...

and the hair... well, you get the idea...

probably my favorite pic. too bad i cut off his cute little toes :(

the GREATEST assistant EVER!!

and then after, lol.

sorry daddy, but this is all luke!

ok, i just DIE at all his cute little faces. it's obvious.. i'm sure ;)

practicing his crossing guard skills :-]