nine.

 He is too busy to lay down for pictures now, so I gave him a wipe for entertainment.

^^ He just kills me! ^^

At nine months old Uriah is now crawling! Everywhere, all the time! He is getting faster and faster by the day and is no longer just coming to mom or dad, but exploring every nook and cranny of the house, wondering off without us. I love to watch him crawl and experience this world in a new way. October was a rough month for us with all the changes we made in his routine, plus teething and a cold that is still lingering, finally being able to crawl has made him so much happier! He tries to pull himself up on every toy, shelf, wall, piece of furniture... If it's just the right height he can get to his feet, but is now a pro at getting to his knees and balancing without holding on. He loves to stand and loves to walk holding our fingers. He is so busy and curious that I don't think walking will be too far off - he loves it!

Uriah has three and a half teeth now, the second top one just barley breaking skin. I love that you can see them all in his goofy little smile. And I think he's starting to notice they're there - grinding his teeth, playing with them with his tongue, and most recently and the funniest of all, he breathes through his mouth all raspy like. Maybe he can feel his breath going through his teeth and thinks it's fun? We don't know! But he flattens out his mouth and chin and crawls around the house making these funny noises. Our little mouth breather.

He is starting to eat more solids, usually at least three times a day, still nursing in-between. It's not hard to tell if he's getting enough food, but too much food. He is so interested in eating that even after a four course meal, if he sees it or smells it, he has to have it. We can't eat in front of him without sharing half our meal - he's not the easiest baby to take to a restaurant. He could eat constantly! Which is awesome because we've never had to worry about weight issues, nor is he a picky eater, but trying to convince him he doesn't need dad's dinner after he just ate his own isn't easy. The boy's got a one track mind! He'll go about two hours after nursing and three after eating solids. His favorite foods are still the sweet ones, fruit and sweet potatoes, but he loves his veggies, too! We most recently introduced beans, but still not meats.

Even though he's still in size 4 diapers, 6-9 month pants, and 6-12/9-12 month tops and onesies, I can tell that his body is changing. He is slowly getting taller and his belly is slowly thinning out. He's still got plenty of chub and a few rolls, all of which I am hoping stay around for as long as possible!

Uriah was sleeping through the night in Boise, waking up just once for about twenty minutes and was able to put himself back to sleep. Since we've been here, though, his schedule has slowly gotten worse and worse. Wether it's the new house, new bed, teething, cold, we don't know, but because you can hear him crying almost anywhere in the house, we couldn't let him cry it out for my parents' sake, so we regressed back to getting up twice a night. He still goes to bed around seven (I can't extend his bedtime to save my life! And the few times I have, he still gets up at the same time in the middle of the night and in the morning, so it didn't do me a lot of good.) He's up and midnight, again at four, and up for the day around seven. I used to get up with him five or more times a night, so I guess I can't complain, but I am already looking forward to getting back home at the end of December and getting him back on a normal schedule!

He's made the transition to three naps a day, sometimes still snagging a fourth. His afternoon nap is always at least two hours long, the others one hour. Now that he's crawling and even busier than before, he gets tired really quickly and at least once a day, usually in the morning, wants to lay down for about a half an hour. He doesn't sleep, I can always hear him in their babbling quietly and then he lets me know when he's ready to get up and play again. He likes his quiet alone time and I think it's so sweet that he takes that time to recharge.

Uriah said his first word, too! ...Sorta. A couple weeks ago Uriah spent one hour being hyper. Can babies be hyper? He was smiling and laughing at everything and crawling all around, rolling over, babbling like crazy. It was the happiest I've ever seen him! In all his babbling that evening he said "dada" abut four times! I loved it and was so excited! But, he hasn't said it since ;)

Outside is still his favorite place to be. He loves watching and intreating with other kids. He loves bath time and chasing the cats around. His favorite movie is Pocahontas (I put in Disney movies during the day to keep me company when the house is so quiet and it's the only thing that will ever draw his attention to the tv!) His favorite toys are currently my empty mint container, a Bitty Bear book from my old American Girl Bitty Baby, and balls, preferably ones small enough for him to carry.

He is truly a joy and this age is so fun! Everything is new and exciting and I love getting to experience it all with him!