Nine Months Old

Today Ian is nine months old. He has changed quite a bit in the last few months. He is very mobile now, capable of crawling super-fast when he wants to, and able to stand with support and play. He likes to walk across the room pushing his wagon. He's very vocal, babbling away in syllables ("dada", "ma", and more recently, "ba" and "na" - "ma" is the only one he seems to use with any meaning), and also in other sounds ("eh", squeals, buzzing his lips and tongue).

Ian's favorite activity is definitely banging things against other things. He does this most with kitchen implements of various sorts, banging the pot lid against the floor, the ladle against the pot lid, the whisk against the table, etc. He likes to make very loud and varied noises by doing this.

As he gets older, Ian exerts his will more. He protests if I take a something from him that he wants (like the dogs' bones), and pays attention to where I put it so he can go looking for it (which he does with persistence). He struggles against being changed or dressed when he doesn't want to, and definitely has a cry/screetch of frustration that is different from other cries. No doubt this trend will continue.

I am very proud of Ian for learning how to get himself to sleep. He still sleeps in our bed much of the night, but from 7:30 to when I go to bed he sleeps in his crib. Around 7, we change his diaper and dress him for bed. Then we go upstairs and read books until he gets restless, indicating that he's tired, or until it's 7:30. We sing him his "little boy" sleeping song for a minute or two, and he relaxes and puts his head on my shoulder. Then I can put him down on his stomach in his crib, and cover him with his blanket. He often cries until we get to the bottom of the stairs, then settles down. We can hear that he is sometimes still awake for a while, but he stays calm until he falls asleep. If he wakes up before I go to bed, he can get himself back to sleep without much crying, although it can take a while. Eventually, we will need to transition him to staying in his crib all night, then to sleeping in his own room. But for now, this is working for us, and life is much easier now that we can count on Ian going to sleep without a battle!

It seems to me like Ian is on the verge of many things - walking, saying meaningful words, and understanding more of what we say. We sometimes have trouble thinking of interactive activities to do with him, but I think that will change soon as he can do more "organized" things in response to what we say and do. For now, he's content to roam the loft, looking for interesting things to bang together, with our encouragement and supervision.

Happy 3/4th birthday, Ian!