Life Within the Cuckoo's Nest: Milestones: 9 Months Old

Eating Mom's fortune cookie from the food court at the mall

Oh Austin, you are so loved. Is it because of your chubby cheeks, squeezable legs, or the little dimples in your bum? Or how about your loud voice, happy screams, and your ability to mimic things people do around you?

You turned 9 months old a few days ago and as I look back over the past month, I don't know where to begin! How do I describe how cute you are when you take your much loved bath time? Or how cranky and clingy you have been since your two top teeth have been coming in? You have such a unique personality and I have no idea how to describe it in words. You are so determined. You don't give up and it's almost always something you shouldn't be doing in the first place. That worries me, I'm not going to lie. But I also know that with strong will and determination comes an inner strength that many lack nowadays and I am so proud to see that you have that in you.

You are so handsome. Many say you and I are twins and I have been able to find pictures of myself at your age throughout your development that prove you are definitely my child.

Whenever you are ready to play, you say Da-Da over and over and look around for your Dad. He is definitely the fun one in your life and you get so excited when he walks in the door because you know it is time to play! You have established a game of him crawling/chasing you around the house and you crawling/running away from him and you absolutely love it! I have so much fun watching you scream and crawl away as fast as your fat little legs can take you as he chases you around the island in the kitchen. He hides around the corner and you carefully peak around, trying to figure out where he went and then he jumps out at you and you scream and off you go again as fast as you can! Seeing your special bond makes me tear up as I contemplate how grateful I am that I chose him as my eternal companion and your father.

Although Dad is the fun one, whenever you are tired or don't feel well and are ready for some cuddles and loves, Ma-Ma is the word you say. You get really mad and frustrated if I don't respond right away and you follow me around whining and saying Ma-ma over and over again until I finally pick you up. My favorite is when you say "Ma-ma Bubba!" (Bubba is your nickname). That's how we know you are really needing some loves.

As of today, your top two teeth have officially popped through! I hope that means we are past the whiny/painful stage for a little while. It was rough having two teeth come in at once. You also added dancing to your repertoire just a few days ago! I die, it is so cute! Any time you hear music on the TV you start bouncing your little baby bum (whether you are sitting or standing). Your favorite is the music from the Gilmore Girls TV series I am always watching. Whenever you hear the song at the beginning of the show, you stop what you are doing and your eyes remain glued to the TV no matter what is going on around you until it is over. You also started clapping a few days ago. I think you must have picked that one up when we were staying with Grandma and Grandpa Porter for the Fair. So now whenever you do something cute, we clap together and you get really excited :).

You LOVE attention as long as it is from people you know. In fact, you seem to thrive on it. If there is a second throughout the day when you aren't being paid attention to, you let us know about it! You are so interactive and you mimic everything we do so you make it easy to play, but hard to get things done. However, if a stranger is giving you attention, you stare at them with a blank stare and you don't show any sign of emotion. And trust me, they try! Everywhere we go there are women, Grandmas, and little kids cooing and aweing over you and you keep your poker face on the entire time. I try telling them that you are normally a very outspoken, full of energy baby but I'm sure they don't believe me. That doesn't stop them though. Papa LaFeber used this to his advantage and tried using you to pick up a date! The crazy part is it worked like a charm!

You have decided that you love yogurt and Cheerios and nothing else. I have been worried over the past month that you aren't getting proper nutrition but the books say to just go along with it. You are still nursing as long as it is before/after you go to sleep and in a quiet room where there is nothing to distract you. I figure you are probably getting enough nutrition from that to not worry much about the lack of food variety. I'm sure it's just a phase. You seem to have a lot of those.