Kai is Nine Months Old!

I thought I would write a little about what Kai is up to at his 9 month mark. As you can see from the video below he is working on walking. He has taken steps and can stand pretty well by himself if he would let himself...the problem is, that would mean being in one place for some amount of time and he is not into that. What he is into is everything else:) He moves very quick crawling and pulls himself up on everything, your leg, the fridge, the toilet (gross), pretty much anything higher than him he will grab onto and hope for the best. Due to his unwillingness to stay still I am no longer able to get those cute photo shoots I used to do...instead I have to get action shots!
Kai is talking up a storm lately...not that we know what he is saying but he seems very adamant that we listen. He has been saying a lot of Dada's lately and something that sounds very much like "Hey baby" but I'm pretty sure he's not trying to pick someone up...just figuring out his noises. He has become quite the Daddy's boy this last month. I don't know if it is just that new phase where Mommy isn't the center of his world or if it is all the additional time Tyson has been able to spend with him but it is a definite change. Not at all to say that Tyson didn't spend time with him before...he has Kai all day on Monday and they have always had a great bond...but the college group hasn't been meeting which usually takes him away at least two nights a week...plus we have had many full days together as a family over holidays. Anyway, he now will often reach for Tyson when I am holding him, (a little *tear* but not really) it is fun to see their new bond.

Kai is also just more into other people in general. Over Christmas he started this short little shout he would do to get some one's attention across the room. Then at the mall this weekend he did the same thing to a random lady in the store. Of course when they look at him he gives this cute little shy smile...it is funny. He also does a fake cough when Tyson and I are talking to get our attention...it is definitely different than is real cough that he has had for the past month (praying that is over now). We are getting to see his little personality and he is quite a social little boy:)

Decisions! Kai gets to decide where he wants to go, what he wants to play with and what he wants to do (with boundaries, of course). It is so fun to see what he likes now that he can pick and watch him process decisions. A month or so ago when he was first crawling we witnessed one of these decisions. Tyson was sitting on the couch and I was on the floor and Kai was in between us. He would start to crawl to Tyson and then stop in the middle look at both of us, then crawl towards me, then sit up, crawl towards Tyson. He seemed so confused. It was the first time I realized that he was having to make a decision...and it went on for a good five minutes. It was so funny but also reminded me that he gets to make decision and we get to help guide him to make good ones...what a privilege...and a challenge.

We have dealt with sickness for this past month off and on. When he came down with a cough again at Christmas I took him to the doctor and we found out he had an ear infection. We also found out that he was 18lbs 14.5oz...he gained a pound and a half in less than a month so he did pretty well despite the illness:)

This was much longer than I expected but the last few weeks I have been thinking about all that he is doing and knew I wanted to get it down so he can read it later...and this is where I do that. I look forward to the New Year ahead and all that it will bring!