It's begun.The crawling, the cruising, the bruising... Micah is officially on the move. Not that he wasn't crawling last month, because he definitely was. But it was more of a crawl, crawl, fall rhythm. Unlike now, where we can't get him to stay put.

Last summer, my husband and I had an ongoing debate over whether we should get a coffee table or ottoman. And I mean, ongoing. He wanted something to put his feet on and I wanted something to put drinks and ya know, cute little decor-ish stuff on. :) Well, we compromised and got this leather ottoman that has a reversible top that can flip over to place drinks, etc on. Let's just say... this was the BEST decision we ever could have made when it comes to having furniture and a baby. Micah loves to hold on and cruise around the ottoman and the two little smaller ends (pictured above) are just his size! They are super baby-friendly. When he falls, we never have to worry about him bumping his head against something hard. Good decision, hubby. 

There are definitely places in the house we still need to baby-proof. When Micah is roaming around, Josh and I are on high-alert! One of us has to watch him at all times. It makes it a little difficult when I'm home by myself with Micah during the day. Carrying him in a Moby is becoming increasingly more difficult on my back. It's funny to think he weighs less than the amount of weight I gained during pregnancy! It just feels a lot heavier OUTSIDE my body! haha.

This is the view I get these days.

A little help, mom?

I had to ask his daddy to come in the room to make him laugh, so I could catch at least a few pictures of that big 'ole smile! :)

Notice the bruise on his left arm? No idea where that came from. But I'm guessing it came from one of the many falls he's taken doing crazy things like standing up in his rocking chair (don't worry, I put the camera down in a snap after I caught these photos!)

One of the things I forgot to mention last month, was that Micah has started feeding himself! In fact, he would much rather feed himself than let me give it to him on a spoon. He also has 6 teeth now, so he is getting great at chewing (+ biting, ouch!)

Let's talk about how much food he's eating... Breakfast: oatmeal cereal mixed with yogurt (the only way he'll eat it!) Lunch/Dinner: fruits + veggies, bread, and little bits of whatever we're eating He snacks throughout the day. He really really loves the Lil Crunchies (veggie dip flavor!) Still exclusively breastfed, and today at our checkup the ped. said I could start cutting back to 3-4 times a day. All that eating... and he only weighs 18.4lbs! Looks like he may have his daddy's metabolism. ;)

And his daddy's expressions... I mean, look at that face. ;)

(this is when I know it's time to put the camera down!)

 Other 9 month highlights:

- Gives high fives - Plays hide and seek - Learning to wave - Gives "kisses" (aka bites my face) - Speaking of, biting is a new bad habit - Loves the pool and the beach! - Enjoys walks outside (usually falls asleep) - Understands "no, no" - Says "dada, baba, yaya" pretty much everything but "mama" - Has a little bit of separation anxiety (noticed when I leave, or someone else holds him) - Still sleeps great! Takes two naps around 9-11am and 2-4pm, and goes to bed around 7:30-8pm. Wakes up bright and early at 6:30am!