Emerson at 9 Months!

My two front teeth!

Emerson has certainly been busy growing and changing over the past month. We've been off the blog for a number of weeks because we have been out of the country, back to work/school, and busy trying to get Emerson to learn how to go to bed before 11.

Right now, Emerson has 5 teeth with a sixth popping through. Both middle bottom teeth can be seen in his pictures now, and his top middle are just making their appearance. The two adjacent top teeth are out, and look like fangs from the right angle. I'll have to try to get a picture somehow.

I got this, mom and dad.

Emerson has started to move a lot more. He isn't fully crawling, but he recently started to pull himself up and over toys, people, and anything that he can get a grip on. He gets on his hands and knees often, but then doesn't know what to do next. He can scoot backwards on his tummy, and this leads to much frustration as the toys continue to move further away instead of closer. Last night, he successfully got himself from his tummy to a sitting position, and then up onto his knees while grabbing the couch. He would have made it all the way to his feet if he had a good grip. He likes to stand, and can turn around when in a standing position if holding onto someone or something.

Waving to you!

Apart from movement, Emerson is also still very vocal. His favorite past time is using his maracas and "singing" into them like microphones while shaking his head and them at the same time. It is pretty loud. He also talks regularly, seeming to have conversations with us when we are doing things and he is happy. He mimics sounds like tongue clicking and lip smacking. He also likes when we use our hands while he is talking to pat his mouth and make that, excuse me if this is totally politically incorrect but I have no other way to describe it, the "Indian" call.

Emerson is also getting much better at recognizing signs that we've been practicing with him. He knows "milk" and occasionally does the sign on his own. He also seems to know the signs for "food" and "more" and "all done". I want to teach him "diaper" and "tired" next.

Emerson likes to eat a lot. He seems to enjoy all the food we've given him so far. I am making most of his baby food, but he does get oatmeal and rice cereals. We have just transitioned into "chunking" his food and not just pureeing it. He seems to be doing fairly well with cooked and soft foods and only gags once in awhile. I hope this is a step in the positive direction so we can stop having 6-7 daily feedings and focus more on 4 or 5.

I like to pull all my toys out of my toy bucket.

Lastly, Emerson waves at people, usually just randomly, but he is getting pretty good at it. He also gives a low five, especially when his dad holds out his hand.

On the bad side of things, Emerson has learned how to play a game called "bite my mom while I am eating" to see what he can get away with. This has left his momma with some major soreness and has left his little belly a bit hungry a few times! He also likes to stay up WAY too late, with an average bedtime of after 10:00 p.m. We hope this starts to taper off as he has to get up earlier once again for daycare. He also won't go down without a huge fight. He likes to scream, even after falling asleep while rocking, if he is put down in his crib. We read books, rock, sometimes we even eat, and still, he fights it. I think it is F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out). But it could also be our fault for taking him completely off of a schedule while we jet-setted around the world.

9 months in the womb, 9 months out. Crazy how the time has flown. Another new school year has begun and many, many more changes are to come soon, I am sure.

All smiles for the camera, always.

My best Elvis impression

See ya later!