Nine Months... NINE MONTHS!

I cannot believe I am the mother of a nine month old. Mom pointed out that he's officially been alive outside of me as long as he was alive inside. That made me smile.

I've been exceptionally sappy lately and every little thing he does gets to me. That is in large part due to the fact that he finally prefers me over anyone else. Of course, if daddy or Gigi is around, he wants to bounce back and forth between us, but he's the most clingy to me. He hugs and loves on me all the time. I love it.

His well check is next week, but for now here are some unofficial stats about our boy.

He has started the army crawl scoot number. It is not pretty, and it is certainly not fast, but he can get from point A to point B if he really wants to and you give him a good five minutes.

He's as inquisitive as they come. If you push a button, you might as well hold him up to it because he won't let it go until he touches it. He's always trying to look under and behind everything. He has to be able to see anything or anyone he hears. He likes to pull things apart and dump things out. Gigi says he's just like my brother, but hopes he figures out the putting it back together part a little sooner than B. I grew up in a house full of disassembled electronics.

He's still a super sleeper, and is enjoying his newly lowered mattress. He sits up and pulls up all the time. He's still napping 3 times a day sometimes, but is down to two naps for the most part. Sleeping is always accompanied by Bunny and Doug. Doug is the not-stuffed lamb given to him by Beth, and Bunny is the long eared bunny with Hardin embroidered on his ear given to him by Katie (his personal shopper).

He LOVES to eat. His favorites are chicken, yo baby yogurt, blueberry bagels, fruit, and his all time favorite is whatever-you-are-eating. He's getting less and less interested in his formula, and it is all I can do to get the squirmy boy to concentrate on a bottle. Six ounces tops, 4 times a day. He drinks a good bit of water out of our cups, but is not crazy about the sippy cup.

He laughs and talks all day long. Every time I call to check up on him during the day it cracks me up. For a while it was the standard dadada, mamama, gagaga, etc. Now it is full blown conversations with himself including laughter. After talking for a while he'll squeal and crack up. That involves a cough like "kak" noise over and over. If you do it back, it's a full blown giggle fest.

He has six teeth, four on top, two on bottom. The first and fourth were the only ones that gave him real trouble, that he let us know about anyway.

He loves watching older kids, but does not like them touching him. He loves watching dogs, but does not like them licking him.

He is physically strong and quite rough sometimes. He will pinch and push you playfully, but dang if it doesn't really hurt sometimes. We'll be working on gentle a lot in this house.

He's a total mess and we are all in love with him. I know it's cliche, but I really can't imagine life without Hardin. He brings so much joy to our home and makes us all strive to be better people!

I know he just wore it, but Gigi requested this outfit. If she could, she would dress him in all white every single day.