At 9 (+1/2) months, Caedmon is still not crawling but is quite adept at pulling himself up on furniture and is becoming more and more stable and confident in cruising, walking along while he holds on to furniture. I've heard of babies who skip the crawling stage completely; maybe Caedmon will be one of them! He's also figured out how to get into a sitting position from his tummy. My mom was actually the first to witness this. While she was watching him one day, she turned on the monitor at the end of his nap and found him just sitting there quietly, staring at the door, waiting for her to pick him up!
With these new skills, Caedmon loves practicing whenever he can, even at nap/bedtime. Especially at nap/bedtime. The other night, I woke on my own at 4AM, and I checked the monitor, because that's what moms do. I expected him to be lying there peacefully, but instead, I found this! (Or something like this, as I was NOT about to reach for my camera at 4AM.)
Caedmon was sitting, standing, rolling about. And he had turned on his mobile by himself... you know, just hanging out in his crib, listening to music. :) I chuckled, and since he wasn't in any sort of distress, turned off the monitor and went back to sleep. Who knows how many other times he does this during the night! (I do love that video monitor, as it allows me to sneak a peek into his little world!)
Also, Caedmon's first tooth came in! It must be the same one that caused him so much pain earlier, and has only now erupted! This new tooth is already proving to be an asset during meals. While I'm tearing bite-sized pieces of food onto Caedmon's tray, he almost always will reach for the larger piece in my hand. He LOVES big pieces of food (mostly bread). Before, he would just gnaw on it, but with his new tooth, Caedmon is able to rip off chunks! I'm sure Caedmon is grateful for this new asset, as well.
Size-wise, we have ourselves a little guy. He's still wearing 6-month clothes very comfortably, and at his 9-month doctor's appointment, he weighed in at only 16 lb. 11 oz.--with a diaper. He's now dipped into the 8th percentile, but I'm not concerned (and neither is the doctor). Neither Wayne nor I are giants, so it only makes sense that Caedmon would be smallish, too. He's strong and developing right on track, so I'm thankful for my healthy, active little boy!
Okay, he's waking and sure enough, standing up. Perfect timing! Happy 9-1/2 months!
I'm outta here!