Stephen at 9 months

Stephen was last weighed about a 2 weeks ago, at almost 9 months he weighed 20lbs. 10oz.  and was 28 inches long.  He is wearing size 24 mo on top (shirt size) and 12-18mo for pants.

Eating:
Stephen loves to eat!! He eats 3 meals a day of table food.  I can't even pick a "favorite food" for him- he eats everything offered.  He is really good at feeding himself but also will eat from a spoon if I am going to feed him yogurt/soup/cereal etc.  So far I have not held back about what he can or can not eat other then peanuts, honey, eggs, strawberries and milk (not dairy in total, just milk.) He has shown no reactions or sensitivity to anything- YEAH!  I am still nursing him full time, and he has gotten over the biting phase for the most part. 
He has 4 teeth on top and 2 teeth on the bottom. 

His schedule:
5:30-6am: Wake up, nurse and snuggle
8:30am: Breakfast  (oatmeal, fruit, cereal, breakfast meat, toast, yogurt, etc.)
9:30am If we are in the car driving, he will take a morning nap....  Otherwise, he will just play all morning with his toys, crawl around, sing and snuggle.
10:30am: Nurse
12pm: Lunch (Deli meat, fruit, veggie, crackers, pasta, soup, beans, etc.)
1pm: Nurse him and then he takes a nap
3:30: wake up and nurse again.
5:30/6pm: Dinner  (meat, veggies and grain)
7pm: Bath time and then snuggle and nurse.
8:30 bed time!! :)

Sleeping:
Stephen sleeps in his swing at night and is pretty good about sleeping through noise and light.  He really likes to sleep with
 a blanket.  We wrap him up and then he holds onto the edge of the blanket almost white knuckled! haha
We don't let Stephen sleep with us ever, he is super mobile, and I am so tired that I need to sleep when he is.  It wouldn't be safe, even though John was still sleeping with us at this age.   I must not have been as exhausted when I only had one babe... because, now when I lay down to sleep I am instantly sleeping!

Movement:
Towards the end of February Stephen began to pull himself up on me but it quickly progressed into standing up at many things.  He is crawling everywhere!!   However, sometimes he will still do the "belly crawl" (it kind of looks like an army crawl.)  Luckily, he hasn't been interested in the steps.  He usually crawls right past them and hasn't yet given them a second thought.  (BUT, it won't be long until he is interested....) 
Stephen used to be stuck when he was sitting up.  I loved this! haha  But, now he can go from sitting to being on his stomach to crawling all in the last couple days.  If he pulls himself up to a standing position, he is stuck there.... he needs help getting down- obviously!

Stephen almost never ever cries!  He only does if he is poopy or  hungry.  Go figure!  He has an infectious laugh and dimples on both of his cheeks.  He says, "dadadada"  and  "mamamama"  and babbles and sings a ton! 

When I asked Jana about what Ryan's temperament was as a baby she once told me that Ryan was the kind of boy that would sit and play with a wooden spoon for 4 hours on the kitchen floor.  I used to think this must be an exaggeration.... Let's just say, I believe her now!! haha  And, on that note... Stephen definitely gets his temperament from Ryan! :) 

9 months.... where has time gone?!!!!!!!

I couldn't resist!  Here is Stephen with his first sucker!  He loved it- 

When we were at the MOA today, I bought John a sucker but he didn't like it.... so SJ wanted it when we got home.  I really didn't think he would like it because it was sour raspberry!   He cried when I took it away, I know... MEAN MOM. :D