9 months old.

Today is Joel's 9-month birthday.  3/4 of a year has gone by, and I am in complete disbelief.  This month, Joel has celebrated his first New Year's.  Birthday party plans are in their beginning stages, thanks to Pinterest :)

His hair is too funny!

Joel finally has one pearly white tooth after a week of teething and crankiness.  We found that he loves yogurt bites {mixed berry & strawberry}. His favorite food, hands down, is still yogurt.  He can eat a whole container in about five minutes flat!

silly face.

Bedtime was quite an issue for about a week.  Joel decided he doesn't really like it.  I'm not a fan of crying it out, but that's what we've been doing, because nothing seems to work.  He wanted to be up and playing, and at 10pm on a school night, that's not something I'm willing to do.  We all need our sleep.  He usually only cried for 5-10 minutes...I'm not even sure this is truly CIO because it's such a short amount of time, and I think that's an okay amount of time for him to cry...I definitely wouldn't let him in there for hours on end, but he needs to know that he can self-soothe, as he's been doing for the past several months. We're back on track now :)

Joel has lots of new tricks up his sleeve this month.  He finally lets me hold him and rock him to sleep, which I love {Sunday afternoons are my favorite}.  He loves going to the nursery at church.  He has a couple friends, and they just sit and smile and giggle back and forth, reach out and touch each other while they play with separate toys...too cute.  Last weekend, he woke up screaming during his afternoon nap...I went in to find his leg stuck in the crib rails {up to his thigh}!   I immediately put the bumpers back in... I've walked in to find him on his belly sleeping in his crib {with his head turned}...We let him sleep with his blanket and monkey now - I am much less paranoid than I had been..  I normally have to wake him in the mornings before school, but on weekends, he wakes up and plays in his crib until we come to get him.  He also pulls himself up and stands in his crib, peeking over the top...too cute!

I couldn't find him anywhere, then I found him peeking from my closet.

Joel learned how to clap, so whenever he really likes something, he gets really excited and starts to giggle and and clap...so funny.  He went crazy at Daniel's soccer game yesterday!
He's starting to interact more with his toys.  His favorites this month are his phone {from Gee & Pappy, Grandma & Grandpa - they each got him one}, gumball machine {from Santa}, and activity lion{from Aunt Maggie, Uncle Jake & cousins}.  He is so funny with his gumball machine.  Instead of taking the gumballs out, he closes the lid every single time we put it up.  Daniel tries to get him to understand, but Joel just wants to keep closing the lid.  He is curious & is seeking out more cause and effect toys, pushing buttons, moving toys back and forth to see them light up and play music, rolling balls, etc.
He giggles at the lion when the lights flash & it sings and plays.  He pulls himself up on his knees and then into the standing position.  He's getting stronger and is able to hold himself up for quite a long time for a little guy.   We are noticing that he isn't quite as chubby because he's always so busy when he's awake.  He can move from his belly to the sitting position like nobody's business, and he scoots in reverse {too cute!}   All of the sitting, rocking, and scooting has transformed into a full-fledged  crawl, and nothing is safe!  I am definitely busier than I was when he stayed in one place, but we're all enjoying his new-found mobility.  We are currently shopping for baby gates, and Daniel is getting used to keeping his toys with small pieces out of reach.

He had just been laughing, not sure what this face is about...but these two are still best buds :)

Joel's nine-month well visit is this week...I'll be back to update with stats.  Oh, time, where have you gone?    Happy 9 months, Joel :)
23 lbs, 29 1/4" 

our little buddy :)