9 months!!!

Ben is 9 months old as of yesterday! This month has been challenging since he's been sick a few times and has gotten a some teeth (two over the holidays and two now). He weathers illness/teething pretty well, though - just gets a little grumpier than normal when he's hungry or sleepy. He weighs 24 lbs, is wearing size 12 mo onesies, and is still sleeping and eating well despite the illnesses. He's enjoying trying all kinds of food - he's getting much more adept at using his pincer grip to get tiny pieces of food (like grains of rice) to his mouth.

Ben is now able to pull himself up to his knees. He still mostly rolls around and pivots on his tummy to get where he wants to go, but can also scoot on his butt while he's sitting up. He also goes from a sitting position to all fours, but then decides he's okay just laying on his belly instead of crawling :). He's really coming along in his conversational skills. His favorite sounds to make right now are "dee dee dee" and "da da da". Seems he might be learning some French because every once in a while he likes to bid us "adieu". He surprises us with new sounds almost every day - I will try to get a video for the next post.

Ben still likes to read with mom and dad - he LOVES the new books he received for Christmas (Beep Beep Robot especially!). Seems like he's started some interactive play since he likes to hold things up to our face for us to "eat". He's also learning sign language - he can't sign yet, but he recognizes at least a few at this point. The sign "eat/food" is his favorite (of course!).

This month we drove home from LA after visiting with family for the holidays, visited with our friends Austin and Cara at our favorite brunch place, visited with Aunt Debbie and Uncle Joe from Tucson, and had a southern-themed bbq with Craig's colleagues. Ben also went on his first geology field study and watched an octocopter drone take pictures. Sadly, mom & dad don't take nearly enough photos :(.

Impossible to get him to look at the camera. Lol.