9 months out

It's hard to believe that our little man has now spent as many months out of the womb as he did in. Here is a Sammy giving him birthday kisses. The next two pictures show James's latest trick: pulling up to his feet! It's amazing to think in 9 months he's gone from a tiny newborn to a little person getting into all sorts of trouble! He's maintaining a good curve on the growth chart and the pediatrician is very happy with his health, though with his stats at 27 inches (~25th percentile) and 17lbs 14oz (~10th percentile) we were warned not to count on any basketball scholarships!

Highlights right now:
--His two top teeth just pushed through, bringing him up to 4 teeth!
--His hair is getting longer and starting to fall over his ears
--He shrieks excitedly when he sees Sammy or the cats, and often has "conversations" with them. They also play together. The cats like to chase anything that rolls, which James finds hilarious! James hasn't yet figured out how to throw things for them to chase, so it will be really funny when he gets to that point!
--When we hear the rattle of Mark's keys in the door, I ask, "Who's that? Is Daddy home?" and James breaks into a big grin as though he knows Mark is about to walk in. And he could be in a totally fussy mood, but as soon as Mark walks in the door he's all smiles and giggles!
--His favorite things to do are to pull books off the shelf and magazines out of the basket. The running joke is that he wants more baby gates because he keeps pulling out the gate brochure that came with his gate!
-- He is very interested in the stairs and loves to push to a stand on them. He also likes to pick dog fur out of the carpet (gross!) We do vacuum, but Sammy is a shedding machine.
--He's now enjoying chicken (he warmed up to it), but definitely doesn't handle anything thicker than a mashed-potato-type puree (he gags and spits it out). So we'll keep trying finger foods like Cheerios and cut up veggies and fruits, but we've read that some babies take awhile before they can handle "finger foods" and understand that they need to chew with their gums.
--He's starting to pay attention to bedtime stories. He actually settles down and cuddles while we read him a story, looks at the pages, and looks at us and smiles/coos as we read.

Happy 9 months, little man!