William - 9 Months Old

William ~ 9 Months Old

• Pulls himself to a stand (crib, couch, chairs, bookcases, ottomans, whatever he can find!) and sit himself back down
• Crawling (and fast!)
• Feeds himself finger foods (although hasn't quite got the pincer grasp down) - favorites being bread, cheese, and Lil Crunchies (they look like baby cheese puff sticks)
• Prefers oatmeal to rice cereal
• Prefers fruits to veggies (who doesn't?)
• 3 meals and 2 big snacks a day - big bottle mid morning and at night, 2 smaller ones during the day
• 4 teeth and loves to bite everything (including his crib, so I had to sew up some teething guards for his crib rails)
• Prefers to chew on his books, not read them
• Favorite toys: O'balls, stack-o-rings, pull and go cars, vtech learning walker, yellow pirate sword, shape sorter blocks, Livi's green spatula and pink ladle from her kitchen, my orange slotted spoon and any spatula from my kitchen, the sunscreen stick
• Favorite toys he can't play with: cords, phones, remotes, chewing on Dad's new office chair, computer keyboards/headphones/mice, and wipes (he eats them)
• Almost always smiling
• Says "Mama" (as of 1/29/14) when he's sad, stuck, sleepy, or needing some kind of attention
• Tired cues: finds one of his blankets to snuggle into, sucks on his pointer finger, snuggles into your shoulder (or the floor, whichever is closest), tugs at his hair or ear.
• "Dances" by swaying side to side
• Waves (but never on cue)
• Claps when you say "yay!"
• Occasionally signs "more" by one fist into an open hand
• Loves to play peek-a-boo and "Where's Daddy?"
• Loves the wind
• Loves playing in sand, especially at the beach (eats it too!)
• Fastest growing nails ever - I can't keep up and he always manages to scratch himself somewhere
• Prone to head injuries - always bonks his forehead on either the left or right side resulting in huge goose eggs and bruises.
• Goes to sleep almost instantly once in his crib (has to have his quilt, blanket, octopus, noise machine and his wooden bird flying above him)
• Still loves Livi most - lights up as soon as she enters a room and crawls after her wherever she goes (even into the bathroom!)
• Favorite book: The Very Busy Spider
• Does not like yogurt
• Our neighbor Eve Ames has a huge crush on him (she's 18 months old)
• Also known as: "the perfect child", "baby perfection", a "melty baby" (snuggly), and "the embodiment of sweetness" (these terms are from friends and family that know him)
• Makes piggy noises - yup, snorts for fun
• Tries to strum his lips to make that funny noise we all do
• Gives hugs and an occasional open mouth kiss (reserved mostly for his mama)
• Obsessed with noses and eyes (watch out if I haven't kept up on cutting his nails!)
• Very ticklish - especially on his knees and thighs
• Chunky thighs, no longer fits in his Bumbo chair
• Sits in his booster chair at the table with me and Livi for meals (he's quite proud about that these days)
• Toothy grin that melts your heart (squinty eyes and chubby little jowls)
• Favorite songs: Apples and Bananas, My Marvelous Toy, Stay Awake (Mary Poppins lullaby), and My Heavenly Father Loves Me
• Sleeps an average of 12 hours a night (goes to bed between 7 and 7:30, usually wakes up once during the night around 11-12, and wakes up for the day between 7-7:30)
• Wakes up happy, will play in his crib with Livi playing in their room for up to 45 minutes every morning! (she'll often climb in bed with him to read him stories or play)
• Sweet, sweet, sweet. Seriously the best word to describe him.

William is a sweet boy who has brought so much peace into our home and into our family. We can't imagine our lives without him. I am grateful every day that Heavenly Father entrusted this choice child to our little family and to me as his mother.