Ari @ 9 months

Today Ari is 9 months old and has been with us for three months.  Here is what Ari is up to at nine months of age:

• two bottom front teeth
• gives open mouth kisses but not on command
• Knows how to "give me 5!" on command (so cute)
• is really mastering the pincer grasp and can feed himself Cheerios, cut-up squares of string cheese, Puffs, and now baby Goldfish
• Is able to stand unassisted
• continues to sleep through the night (unless he is sick or teething.  Ugh.)
• Participates in peek-a-boo with anything he can get his hands on
• LOVES to play "chase"
• Has just recently started bouncing when he hears fun music
• Is able to walk by himself if he is pushing something (i.e., music table)
• Can cruise along furniture
• Has started throwing little fits when he doesn't get to play with something (i.e., dog bowl or toilet or dirt in potted plants)
• Still does not like to crawl even though we know he can do it.  Prefers to walk EVERYWHERE with the assistance of mom and dad
• Points at things (and sometimes nothing at all) with his pointer finger
• Says da-da all the time for everything
• Has realized he has a say in dinnertime with spoon slapping and spitting of food.  Awesome.  For some reason that is incredibly irritating to me.
• Loves to play at the indoor kid playground in the mall.  Is a little too young yet, but loves, loves, loves to watch the other kids play around him.  Lots of delightful squealing when we are there.
• Loves to swing at the playground and at Grandma & Grandpa Wasson's house

Things we are working on:

• Waving bye-bye
• Clapping
• Getting into a sit position from a tummy position
• Pulling up from a sit position into a stand position
• Saying ma-ma
• Becoming less dependent on the (stupid) bink.  So far we are doing a pretty good job of keeping the bink in the crib.  As a result we are hearing a lot of incessant whining during the day.
• Learning the word "no."  I'm pretty sure he already has a grasp of the concept.  He hears "no" the most when he is playing with rocks and tries to put them in his mouth.  Today he slowly brought a rock to his mouth and immediately looked at me to see if I was going to react.

It's funny how little kids develop.  Last week was an explosion of a second tooth, real crawling, and an improvement in walking.  This week he has a double ear infection, has been incredibly whiny at times, and seems overall frustrated with life.  I suppose frustration is good; it means he's wanting to improve his skillz but just hasn't figured it all out yet.  Nine months is a lot of work, you know.