Grant is 9 months old today!

I can't believe Grant is 9 months old! I feel like my little boy is growing up so fast.....I know everyone always says that they grow up before you know it, and I can see how it's true! Our screen saver plays a slideshow of pictures of him since he was born, and it amazes me when I look at these and I realize how much he has changed over the past 3/4 of a year.

Here are some of the things he's been doing over these past couple of weeks:

-Crawling....ALL OVER the place! He's gotten really fast, too....if I take my eyes off of him, sometimes he'll be around the corner and out of the room by the time I look back! He's also gotten really good at pulling himself up on furniture, and just in the past few days, he's even been able to pull himself up to standing at the dishwasher. I'm not really sure how he does it, because there's nothing really to hold onto! He likes to look at his reflection (and put his mouth up to it!) in the glass.

-He now actually pays attention to the pictures in his books. It was quite frustrating trying to read to him for a while, because he'd just try to grab the book and play with it (or stick it in his mouth) instead of looking at it! But this week, he seems to stare at the pictures a lot more, and he'll look at things I point at.

-I think we may have a strong-willed child on our hands! Maybe it's just a stage that he will pass through, but he has shown himself to be fairly headstrong about certain things. He's not afraid to throw fits if things don't go his way....I need to learn how to deal with that, now that he's getting close to the age where we'll need to start disciplining. And it's getting to be a challenge to take him to restaurants with me to meet friends for lunch. When Dean and I go, we can spend time entertaining him, giving him toys to play with, etc. But when I'm meeting someone, he's recently started being a little hard to handle. I think he just gets tired of being in the highchair and would rather be crawling around, and I guess I can't blame him!

-Although he's definitely got a strong personality and lets us know when he does and doesn't like something, he does have a really adorable demeanor. He loves for me and Dean (especially Dean) to play games with him, like quickly saying "boo!" and tickling him when he's watching us. He knows when we're about to do something funny and will even brace himself to get ready! And he loves when we "fly" him around the house, up and down the hallways....he just laughs and laughs, especially when we stick him next to one of the kitties. He gets such a kick out of them and loves to chase them and talk to them!

-He's always been a momma's boy and has always been very wary of strangers (starting at around 3 months), but he's even more attached to me now, probably because he's at the typical age where we should expect some separation anxiety. With all the sleep troubles we've had over the past couple of months (he slept great at night for about 4 months, then started waking up and has been doing so ever since), he always wants to hold onto me when I go into his room to console him. I try to leave him in his crib and not pick him up (I've figured out by now that he's NOT hungry!), and he's okay with that as long as he can hold onto my hand or arm as he's going back to sleep. Usually he holds on with both hands! It's one of the most precious feelings a parent can have. And in the morning when it's time to eat (or anytime that it's time to eat), he cries if I hand him over to Dean.....and he doesn't take his eyes off me the whole time, until I take him back! Daddy is a fun playmate, but sometimes he just wants to be comforted by Mommy.

- He loves showing off for people and looking at other people in stores. When our families have come to visit recently, I think he's tried hard to be extra charming! He'll make so many noises at them and he seems to be more excited than when just the three of us are home on a regular night. And he loves to go shopping....he'll make noises at everyone and he'll usually smile at ladies when they ask questions about him (which surprises me, given his fear of strangers). The other day, we were standing in Macy's trying to return a shirt, and there were SIX women at one point standing there looking at him and talking about how cute he was! Two were helping me behind the counter, and the others were waiting in line. Of course Grant LOVED that....he made his "bbbbb" sound over and over again, which they all thought was hilarious!

- Okay, I'm almost done. He has started to enjoy bathtime even more, and he even crawls towards the bathroom when he hears Dean turn the water on! He'll crawl in there and pull himself up and bounce up and down in excitement (even if he's just been throwing a fit a minute before!). He keeps trying to stand up in his bathtub, because he wants to reach the shampoo and other bottles up on the ledge. We really need to move him out of his infant bathtub and get a slip protector so he can bathe in the big bathtub (without sliding all over the place!). When he gets out of the tub, he loves to be held in front of the mirror.....in fact, he loves being held up to mirrors all the time! He bounces up and down in front of them and gets such a kick out of seeing another baby in front of him!

I know there were some other things but I cannot think of them now. Anybody still reading this is probably tired of reading it all anyway! More tomorrow about our not-so-stellar week we've just had!