Brooks is 9 Months Old!

This Big Man is 9 months old already!

A new accomplishment this month: Pulling up to his knees.

Brooks' current favorite position: Downward Dog so he can look at everything upside down!

(Notice that the doll is also doing a downward dog...Thank you, Kylie!)

Brooksie Boy turned 9 months old on August 27th. He is continuing to grow and change every day in every way! He is reaching lots of new milestones, and developing some cute traits! I love his fun personality. He's really becoming a little spit fire! For the most part, he is a sweet, happy boy, but he has a bit of a hot temper when he's not getting his way! As long as he is well rested and has a full tummy, he smiles and "talks" constantly. If he is tired or hungry (or not hungry, but can see food/milk), he will whine/scream/cry at a piercing decibel until he gets what he wants. And it's an immediate flip of the switch. One minute he is giggling and ga-ga-gaing, and the next minute he's wailing! It's not pleasant, but it is pretty cute. Especially when he is blinking hard to force out the tears. Yes, he is already manipulating me! :) He is also constantly on the move. I am not exaggerating when I say that as long as he is awake his arms and/or legs are always moving. He kicks, flails, twirls, twists, crawls, rolls...You name it, he does it! I wonder if this is a difference between boys and girls or if, like my mom says, it's because he's a King babe!?! Hmmmm....

Brooks clearly has some favorite things and activities. He is a lover of the pacifier. He likes buttons, and things with buttons or beads, such as necklaces, sweaters, remote controls, and the musical table. He loves anything that makes loud and obnoxious noises like Kylie's toy stroller, the cash register toy, and (again) the musical table! Another new favorite is playing with the toilet paper roll. It hangs from the wall at just the right height for him to reach it from a sitting position, and he will unroll that whole thing whenever he gets a spare moment! Ha! He is also loving to open and shut the kitchen drawers lately. This has led to a few tears from pinched fingers, but he keeps coming back for more fun! Brooks likes to be lifted up, tossed around, tickled and spun in circles (carefully)! Those are most of the times when we get to hear his big belly laughs! He adores attention from anyone. He lights up and shows off for anyone who will get down on the floor and play with him. On the same note, he really likes to be near people...Not just in the same room, but actually physically near them. He follows Kylie and me all over the apartment all day long! He enjoys going for walks/runs in the jogging stroller. I think it's because he likes to look around. He prefers to be held facing outward so that he can see everything. The boy L.O.V.E.S to eat. He eats anything and everything I put on his plate, but some of his new favorites are peas, cheese, mandarin oranges, bread, and green beans. He also really likes bath time and swimming!

As for things that Brooks dislikes right now, I'm going to stick with being tired, hungry, and alone. Those are the times when we are most likely to hear his piercing scream. He also does not like loud/scary noises or being scared in general. He hates when other people are eating and he is not. This has led me to put him in his booster seat at the table before I actually put the food on the table. At least he's predictable!

This month has been a fun one as far as milestones go. Brooks is officially crawling exclusively! He's been army crawling for a couple of months, and taking one or two crawling steps (before dropping to his tummy to army crawl) for about a month. On August 17th, he decided it was time to just crawl, and that's how he's been getting around since then. He is also pulling up to his knees and lifting one leg up. You can tell he's working up the courage to try to pull up to a stand. :) I'm sure it will happen before we know it! If we help him to a stand and prop him against the couch or toy box, he will attempt one or two cruising steps before he falls down. My favorite thing that he does right now is his downward dog position that's pictured above. He does this about a hundred times per day, and it's hilarious to see in person! He's not clapping or waving yet, but we're working on those two skills! He does, however, like to smack his hands against the table/floor/counter as loud and hard as he can! Typical boy! :) He's getting pretty good with his pincer grasp. He is mostly using it to pick up food rather than the whole hand grabbing method. His language is coming along as well. He is saying more consonant sounds such as, "da," "ga," "ba," and I think I have even heard, "la." Of course, I'm still waiting on, "ma." I'm sure that will be a while still! He definitely tries to mimic sounds. He will make his voice rise and fall like the person who is speaking to him. He also tries to "sing" when we sing to him! That is super cute! He definitely knows his name and almost always looks at us when we say it! We are working on some sign language too, but none of that has stuck with him yet (though Kylie has started doing some of it again!). Brooks is wearing size 9 month and 6-12 month clothes, and he has moved up to size 4 diapers. He also FINALLY popped through his top two front teeth. They both came through last week, about 2-3 days apart. Lastly, he had his 9 month well child check last week at our new pediatrics office (which is only ONE block from our apartment...AWESOME!), and he did very well! He weighed in at 20 pounds, 3 ounces and was 28 3/4 inches long. She didn't give us the exact percentiles, but said he was between the 50th and 75th percentiles in both. That's right about where he has been since he was about a month old. The pediatrician also gave Brooks my new favorite compliment! She said, "Well, he is just all eyes, isn't he!?." I love that! He IS all eyes...and I LOVE those big, blue, beautiful eyes!

Brooks is such a joy! I love spending my days hanging out and playing with him. He is just an amazing, wonderful, little blessing!