9 Months Old

Everyone,

The boys are 9 months old now and getting into everything. Their favorite no-nos are the dog's food and water, Juice's computer, our tv (yes, they pull up on our little tv stand and tap their little hands on the screen), and any little tiny thing they can find on the floor. I try and keep plenty of toys out for them to play with but they have a system. This system, while it is driving me a little batty, is also fairly predictable so at least I can anticipate their destructiveness. First thing in the morning they play for about 2 minutes and then come into the dining room to see what I am eating and beg off my plate. They love waffles and bananas. Once they had some food, it's off to the dog bowls. Poor Soot...I've had to take her bowls off the floor when they are around. After the bowls, they try and chase after the dog. She runs outside and I take pity on her (and me, breakfast is never easy for me to eat anymore) and put them to bed as Butterfly watches a "show" so she will be quiet. (This is exercise, shower time for me.)

After their nap, I bring them downstairs and they both crawl over to the couch and pull themselves up. They terrorize Butterfly who has put toys up there that she doesn't want them playing with. They either loose interest in her screeching or I move them to their dinosaur. That's interesting for about 2 minutes, and they move on to our toy bins. They pull all the bottom ones out or find the puzzle pieces that Butterfly has tried to hide and chew on them for awhile. Most of the time this phase lasts the longest and they will be content there as long as Butterfly doesn't take their toys. After the bins, it's on to Juice's computer. They love crawling under the desk, pulling up on the chair, and trying to stick their little fingers into little holes. Most of the time I can distract them by playing with one of their toys. But if not, they move on to the tv, then into the entry way with the shoes and scatter them all over. Then it's back to the dog dish. Because I brought it back out for Soot during their nap and forgot to put it back up.

Together they really egg each other on. When one gets bored and moves away, the other follows. They want to play with the same toy, and be in the same place. It's very cute.

Professor is my mama's boy. He follows me around the house and wants to be involved in everything I do. If I leave, he cries the loudest. He is always the one that is checking in on me as he plays. He always crawls over to me to climb into my lap for a snuggle, or plays with my toes and ankles if I'm on the couch. The other day he bit my ankle pretty hard and we've been calling him our little ankle bitter ever since. He hates to be picked up by strangers, but will do okay if he doesn't see me leave. He needs sleep the most and fights it the hardest. He is also so loud and babbles all day long. He crawls very fast and can cruise on the couch just a little bit. He is serious about his food but eats in tiny spurts throughout the day. He weighs 16 lbs, 7 oz which is only up a pound since our last doctor visit. He is in the 3% for weight. The doctor didn't seem too concerned about it because they destroyed the exam room in short order. They opened the cabinets, pulled all the books off the shelves, tried out the trash can, ripped the exam paper to shreds and Professor alone went through at least 5 tongue depressors. He was also trying to talk over the doctor as we were talking about their development. The doctor stopped, said, "Well young man do you have any concerns?" and Professor chirped, "Huh? Mama?" and patted my shoulder. While the doctor was looking him over, he was screaming "mamamamamamama" and the doctor said, "At least he knows what he wants and can say it!" Professor is the more active of the two. He may be tiny, but he's got some power. He is 28 inches long (50th) and his head is 17 3/4 inches (75th).

Pirate is my little sweet guy. And boy what a smiler and a laugher. He may not be as loud as Professor, but his babble sounds more like adult speech and he talks if you take time to listen to him. He's a big talker in the mornings, but it dies out as the day goes on. He is crawling, although not as fast and furious as Professor. He still kind of hops around some days. And sometimes he crawls sideways. It's like he's trying out all different styles till he finds one he likes the best. He can pull himself up on things, but not very often. Probably because he still loves to kick his legs (think frog jumping leg kicks) when he gets excited. This he can't do while standing and he's taken a few tumbles trying it out. He does love to bounce though and Juice thinks it's fun to chase Butterfly with him bouncing along the floor. Pirate thinks it's pretty fun too. He loves his thumb but couldn't suck on it for a few days because his top teeth were coming in and it was just too painful. Now that they are both in (finally!) he's back to sucking just fine. He really loves to drum on things. I do have a little drum he uses, but he likes to drum on anything. The hardwood floor, the wall, the doors, hitting two toys together is the best it can get. He is 17 lbs, 4 oz which is up a pound and a half since last visit. He is in the 30th percentile for weight. He is also 29 1/4 inches long. He is so tall. I can't remember what percentage that is. His head is also 17 3/4 inches.

I did move them into separate cribs this month because they just kept waking each other up. They still play with each other through the bars of the cribs and that's fun to see. I almost always find them sleeping in the corners that are touching. They got 3 shots today (polio, flu #2 and Hep B) and also the TB skin test. (They put a tiny bit of fluid in their arms that has a reactor to TB in it...if they have it, they get a hard bump where the fluid is.) They have to look at their arms on Wednesday as a walk in check but still...it's getting hard to get out with them all by myself and I'm not looking forward to this "small" jaunt.

We had our first real snow today and I took the boys out in it to walk around. Juice was surprised that I didn't put them down in the snow to let them play with it but I'm not. Picking them both up, brushing them both off, getting them back into the carriers...what an ordeal! Nope, we let Butterfly do all the playing with her best friend Vinny. They both burned off some pent up energy. Yay!

Safire

PS- Better pictures later. We had one busy day today!