At nine months, James is crawling all over the place and getting into everything! He loves to hold and explore new objects, turning them over and over and chewing on them. He has one tooth--bottom right--that came in around July 11. He doesn't suck his thumb anymore, which is a complete change from a month ago. He stopped around the time the tooth came in, so we're not sure if it started to hurt his thumb or if he was only doing it to soothe while the tooth was coming in, but either way he kicked the habit pretty quickly.
James is very clingy--especially with me. If I walk out of the room, he will go into a full-out wail. It's even worse if I walk into the room and don't immediately pick him up. He will play very happily by himself at times, as long as I'm sitting on the floor with him. He has a great smile and giggle; he also continues to be very ticklish. He loves any toys that he can dig through and chew on--especially the tub of blocks and the tub of play dishes. He loves being around Claire and is interested in anything she is playing with. Often James will find a little toy and crawl all over with it. This was particularly funny when he had a toy knife in one hand and a toy fork in the other and was chasing Brooks across the living room. James has learned his first "trick" this week and will raise his hands up for "How big is James?" He knows he's doing something special and will grin and raise his hands multiple times after we've asked him to perform just once.
Nighttime is still unpredictable with James. About half the time, he makes it until 5:00 and then I'll nurse him and he'll sleep another hour and a half or two. The other half of the time, he still wakes up crying for long periods of time during the night. Naps are also inconsistent, but a normal day would include three 45-minute naps. It's rare that they last much longer than that.
Added to James' food list this month were green beans, cantaloupe, blueberry, corn, yellow squash, broccoli, mango, baby "Mum Mum" crackers, cottage cheese, and cheddar cheese. He really doesn't like peach or mango and almost seems offended when we try to feed him those. He loves the baby crackers and sometimes they are the only thing that will calm him down when he's really upset. We've been working on getting him to eat more finger foods and have tired banana and watermelon pieces and cheese shreds, but the crackers and puffs are by far his favorite.
To say that James loves bath time would be a big understatement. We put away the baby bathing chair and have given him free range of the tub now--and he is all over it! He crawls and splashes and laughs and is difficult to bathe because he just won't sit still! Claire on the other hand, stays in her little corner and plays with a rubber duck (taking it to the "museum" or "park" for example, which are designated spots on the edge of the tub) or some of the little people that have become tub toys. She seems a little shocked by James' enthusiasm in the bath tub.
It's hard to believe Claire will start preschool in a few short weeks. She seems to still be so little, yet other days she seems grown up. Her imagination and pretend play are so fun to watch. She takes care of her babies and is very sweet with them, especially as she feeds them. She has a new doctor's kit and likes to see if everyone is "hel-fee" by using the "stethescote" and checking their ears and looking in their mouth and seeing if they have a "beaver" with the "momiter". She also often removes splinters from hands with the tweezers and gives everyone medicine. Claire also plays for long stretches with her dollhouse. Playing alone in her room while I'm downstairs with James is a new and special privilege, and I can hear all her talking and playing over the baby monitor.
We've been doing a little potty training, but nothing intense. Efforts were pointless for a long time, but for the last several days, she's asked to go before naptime and bedtime and has been successful. After each success, we let her watch a little kiddie music video on a DVD we got free from Pull-Ups. It has songs like "The Potty Dance" that she just loves. They are only a minute or two long and seem to really please her.
Claire has become quite the little backseat driver. After several days of her saying "I want to go! I want to go! I want to go!" every time the car stopped, I have started explaining traffic lights, stop signs, waiting our turn, etc. Now, every time the car stops, she wants to know if the light is red, which light is red, why other cars are going, which light is green, whose turn it is, if the light will turn green, if they will all turn green, or why there is a red/green arrow. By the time I finish explaining the situation best I can, we are in another scenario that she begins to question.
James is in size three diapers and twelve month clothing. He will go in for his checkup and immunizations next week. Claire is in size 2T clothing and size 5 diapers.
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