Jack is Nine Months

Jack turning 9-months old seems extra special. It took 9 months in my womb for him to be ready to enter this world and now that we have reached the 9-month mark on earth, it all seems very surreal. Those first weeks when his life was taking form, we were completely unaware that this little guy would enter our lives or that he would change us in such a profound way. It took 9 months to grow him and for the past 9 months we have felt like scientists who have been given front-row seats to observe the awesomeness of an infant growing into a child. It fills us with wonder and amazement every day...

At the beginning of the month, Jack got his first tooth. One of his bottom front teeth. It was a tough couple of days, but thankfully we all survived. Within a week, his second bottom tooth had broken through.

His newest food experiences include: Chicken, Grilled Cheese, Peaches, Ham, Rice, Quinoa, Mashed Potatoes, Black Beans, Green Peppers, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Grapes, Noodles, Blueberry Puffs, Yogurt Bites, Bagel, Strawberries, Olives, BBQ Pork, Pancakes and Oranges. Our little munchkin loves to eat.

Jack continues to make a variety of sounds. This month he picked up the "fa" and "goo" sounds. He seems to latch onto a sound and will say it repeatedly for days. So far he consistently says, "ma ma ma, da da da, fa fa fa" and "goo goo goo." He also started to make gurgling noises and has really been chatting up a storm, trying his best to talk. There are some other random babbles he makes that combine different sounds, but ma, da, fa and goo are the most common.

Jack is officially a crawler.

Another milestone is that he learned how to sit up from a laying down position. A few days after he started crawling, I went into his nursery when he was supposed to be napping and found him sitting up in his crib. It still takes me by surprise when I see him sit himself up. He is also pulling up like crazy on everything, using whatever he can get ahold of.

Separation anxiety was a new thing at the beginning of the month. I have a feeling it was connected to teething. Thankfully he doesn't have it all of the time -- we can leave him in Bible class at church and he is fine. But occasionally we have experiences where he just wants Daniel or me to hold him. The funniest experience to date was at Target: Daniel was pushing Jack in a stroller and whenever Jack could see me {i.e. if I walked in front of the stroller} he would cry and fuss. But if I stayed out of sight, he would be fine, even though he could still hear my voice.

This month we saw many of our relatives. Grandpa Moore continues to come and visit us every other weekend. 

We made a special trip to middle Tennessee to visit Jack's Great Grandmother and her husband, Mr. Ralph as well as {surrogate} Great Aunt Thula and Uncle Bubba. 

We also saw Jack's Nana, Great Aunt Trine, Aunt Amy and Aunt Emily.

Grammy and Grandpa Voyles came to visit us in Alabama and then we went to visit Uncle Mark, Uncle Robert and Aunt Angela and cousins, Izzy and Levi, in Nashville. 

We continue to feel tremendously blessed that we live close to both of our families.

Jack got to go on his first swim when we visited cousins. Sadly Daniel missed out on this.

The last week of the this month, we went to Charlotte, NC so that Daniel could attend a conference for work. Having a baby {and dog} in a hotel room for a week was quite the challenge, but we all survived. 

Jack has a thing about sticking his little tongue out. He has done this since he was born – early on it indicated hunger, but now it accompanies his grins and smirks. It is a little pointed at the end and so sweet, especially when he appears to be concentrating on something.

Jack is proving to be quite the little flirt. He will smile at anyone and will typically grin and bury his head in my shoulder when girls smile at him. Perfect strangers talk to us all of the time because of this sweet little trait. He will also let just about anyone hold him. On our visit to Charlotte, he went right to many of our old friends. He also likes to play the game where he lets one person hold him for about 10 seconds and then he wants to be passed back and forth between two people.

Jack finally figured out how to wave to people. He loves to wave at everyone. People love to wave back to him. Anywhere, everywhere, Jack now waves. 

One thing we are discovering is that Jack is truly a people person. Daniel and I often discuss whether or not this is a trait inherent to babies or if Jack is truly a social butterfly in the making. Daniel and I have a tendency to go about our lives, generally ignoring the world, in an effort to accomplish the tasks at hand. Jack forces us to slow down and interact with perfect strangers on a daily basis. We are learning that engaging with people, even strangers, is a good thing. We are trying to get better at it.

End of month stats:

Height: Don't have numbers but he is getting really long.

Weight: As of today and he is 22 lbs.

Clothes: He comfortably wears size 12 month clothes {and some 18 month stuff} and has been using size 3 diapers for awhile now {whenever we use disposable}

Foods: We continue to introduce lots of different foods.

Words: He continues to make lots of different sounds.

Movement: He is definitely crawling now. Baby proofing is our top priority.

Teeth: Two bottom ones have broken through.

*I will be writing monthly updates of Jack with pictures of Jack and the Tonka truck on the 11th of each month. One Month Old. Two Months Old. Three Months Old. Four Months Old. Five Months Old. Six Months Old. Seven Months Old. Eight Months Old.