9 months

Benjamin James - 9 months old!

This has been a fun month to watch Benjamin James learn and grow!  His most exciting new trick is Crawling! Well, kind of. It's more like an army crawl, because he doesn't use his legs at all! It's so funny and cute to watch. He begins by interlacing his little fingers and gripping his fists together, and then plants his hands down into the carpet and drags his body forward. His little legs just drag behing like deadweights!  Haha, it is slow moving, but he is thrilled to be mobile and to be able to decide where he wants to go!



This little boy has also discovered that he LOVES cheese! He doesn't eat a lot of solids yet, but he'll finish a cheese stick in one sitting! It is definitely his new favorite food. He also has started to learn the art of teasing (maybe he is training to be an older brother!) and he loves to hold out his food for the dog, only to pull it away as soon as he opens his mouth. It makes him laugh so hard!

Fall has always been my favorite season, but I have loved it even more this year as I watch Benjamin James discover it for the first time. He is fascinated with the crunchy leaves all over the ground and loves to play with them! Last Saturday, Ammon and I raked a huge pile and set Benjamin down right in the middle. He was covered in leaves all the way up to his neck! I was a little worried that it would make him nervous, but he just got the biggest smile on his face and waved his hands excitedly while grabbing as many leaves as he could in his tiny fists. He was probably the happiest I have ever seen him!

Ammon and I also have been taking Benjamin on his first bike rides. We got baby seat that goes into between my seat and the handle bars and a tiny baby helmet. He looks so adorable! He loves it for the first little while, but I think it will take a little getting used to before we will be able to go on long bike rides. He doesn't like the cold wind in his face for very long!

I am amazed every day by how much this little boy is learning. He definitely recognizes the words "mama" and "dada" and looks to find us whenever he hears our names.  He also loves playing Patty cake with Grandpa Gee and will even do the "throw it in the oven!" action at the end. Great Grandpa Gibson gets the credit for teaching Benjamin how to give "high fives"!  He always calls Benjamin his "Grandpa-Pal" and is so great at playing with him and making him smile.  Benjamin also loves clapping along to "If You're Happy and You Know It" and gets so happy as soon as you start singing it! What a smart, fun little boy! I love you too much!!