Nine Months

Where did the time go?

How did this guy turn 9 (cough, almost 10, cough) months old?

Teddy's no longer a docile little nugget, trapped in whatever position I place him.

Nope.  He's all over the place.

What with sprouting 5 new teeth, pulling up to standing, and begging for food, our Mr. T has had a lot on his plate lately.  

Abandoning purees completely, he eats anything that we eat, a feat that no other child in our household has ever accomplished. In fact, I feel so guilty not sharing certain off-limits foods with him (like shellfish, honey, etc.) that I have to sneak around to eat any granola bars or shrimp.

And he'll tell you what he wants. 
When I picked my little bear up from school one day, his teacher told me, "I hope you don't mind, but I gave Teddy some of my pizza today." Of course I didn't mind, he'd been eating pizza with us for the last 2 months.  But why?

"Well, he scooted right over to me, sat up and started clapping and cooing and growling at me.  I just couldn't say no!"

 It turns out, his teacher had Jet's pizza that day, and our little Bear is nothing if not a pizza connoisseur.

Favorite Foods: pizza, mashed potatoes, green beans, ravioli, chicken, hamburger, apples, cantaloupe, avocado, carrots.  You name it, he eats it.   If he weren't burning so many calories getting into EVERYTHING, I might be worried about him becoming as wide as he is tall.

As I mentioned before, he's quite the communicator. 

Clapping is his preferred way of telling us he wants something, but he also finds grunting, growling, and yelling quite effective.

Or, if he's within striking distance of an object he wants, he'll just steal it.

Though he continues to battle teeth and ear discomfort, T's a pretty happy guy.

He flirts with anything in a skirt and is working on blowing kisses.

Hair-pulling is still a signature move, but he's added eye-gouging and kicking to his repertoire.

And it's really no wonder: every time I turn around, he's being tackled or wrestled by a territorial older sibling protecting turf or toy. 

This guy is gonna be tough.

But the sibs had better watch out: Big T is pulling up on ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING.  Drawers, legs, the dishwasher, Sarah and Will, the man wants to stand, and he is relentless.

Not only does he want to stand, Teddy is starting to cruise.  He'll go from leg to table, drawer to outstretched hand, often with a tumble along the way.  Like I said, he's tough, so he doesn't usually cry, he just looks surprised and then gets back into the fray.

Now that he's more consistently crawling on all-fours or cruising,

 I call him my Bulldog, since he's got the build and the mentality of one.

 So, what makes this guy tick?

Turn-ons: taking off his socks; no-handed pant-removal; swinging at the park; power naps; eating books; drinking out of a real cup.

Turn-offs: naps; sippy cups; wearing hats, shoes, or socks; solitary confinement (the exersaucer, high-chair, or crib).

So, here's to a new year and the countdown to the big 0-1!

No more Christmas music for a year!

Woohoo!

He's Happy...

...and he knows it.

Except for this month.  October was pretty crummy for Teddy.  I'm actually writing this two months late because of just how rough it was on all of us.  Sleep was lost, never to be recovered.  Various ailments visited in sundry forms, all of which resulted in turning my laid-back, up-for-anything baby into a total fussbudget. 

 Now, fussbudget by Teddy's standards is still pretty easy. 

 But, c'mon - we've got 3 of these boogers now.

 So, with all of the drama and unexplained night-waking, there must be some new teeth, right?

Wrong.

 Nonetheless, homeslice loves him some table food.  He's totally over purees, grabbing at anything we eat.

Faves? 

Pizza, bread, celery, apples, and crackers.  And leaves.  I'm not gonna lie, this man has had some roughage, because, hey, he's #3 and sometimes he's plopped in a pile of leaves while I'm trying to break up a fight or help somebody ride without training wheels.  For some reason, he loves a water bottle and will snatch it right out of his unsuspecting victim's mouth.

He's quite opinionated and enthusiastic all around, in fact.  He claps when he hears his jam ("If You're Happy and You Know It") of course, but also when he sees his favorite peeps or a toy he wants.

Young Teddy has also mastered the stair down to the den and aspires to climb to greater heights as we've caught him eyeing the steps to the second floor. 

There are no cute pictures of our little Harold and the Purple Crayon on Halloween, because, well, our Harold was not up to taking any moonlit strolls.

Or trick-or-treating. 

Turns out, basing your family costume around an infant is a pretty dicey business. 


Teddy and the family had a blast in St. Louis, and we had fun celebrating Mike's birthday!

Arch-car simulator.  We didn't drag the little one up to the top of the Arch.

Down by the Arch

Best zoo ever.

Eight months are in the bag, and we can't imagine life without our littlest!

We are really looking forward to the excitement of the holidays as a family of FIVE.