Happy 9 Months, Collier!

Our sweet little Collier turned 9 months old while we were on vacation!  I can’t believe he has officially been in this world longer than he was in my belly.  This past month has been a big one for Collier.  He has begun pulling up and cruising!  He uses push toys to get around and will walk back and forth while holding onto the couch.  He loves being on the go and it’s only a matter of time before he becomes an independent walker.  As exciting as it all is, I’m not quite ready for my baby to be a walker just yet.  Collier has also begun talking in the past few weeks.  At 8 ½ months he said “mama” and “dada” on the same day (however he said mama first… but who’s keeping up?) :)  Since then, his favorite words have been “dada”, “yaya” and “baba” and he has forgotten about “mama!”  I keep trying to get him to say it again, but he’ll respond with “dada” instead!   To be honest, it doesn't matter what he says, I just love hearing him say these little words.  He has started waving his sweet little hand for "hi" and "bye bye" and is also reaching for us when he wants to be held.  I really thought he would cut a tooth this past week.  He began running a low grade fever for no reason so I assumed he would get a toothy while we were out of town, but once again, I was wrong.  However, that's okay,;I love his sweet little gummy smile!

Collier did wonderfully on our trip to the beach.  But thank goodness for the DVD player and Baby Einstein!  He has never been interested in watching tv at home, but while we were on the road, he wouldn't go to sleep and began fussing.  I pulled out the DVD player and he was glued to Baby Einstein and happy as can be!  He only slept for about an hour TOTAL each way, to the beach and back home but at least he was content.  He loved the water, both the pool and ocean, and even took naps out by the pool each day.  We were able to stick (very loosely) to our schedule and Collier took naps each day and things were great.  In fact, it far exceeding mine and Jamie’s expectations of how it would go being that the kids were sleeping in the same room as us (when they are used to napping in their own rooms, with the door shut so it’s super quiet.)

Collier is weighing right under 20lbs (around 19lb 13oz the week before he turned 9 months).  I’ll find out his official weight when I take him in for his 9 month check up this week.  Now that he’s on the go so much, I’ve noticed that he’s beginning to slim up and is reminding me more and more of the physique Noah had as a baby.  He loves playing with his brother and follows him around like a little puppy.  But at the same time, he does very well entertaining himself and playing independently.  He’s still a very happy, social baby and just an absolute joy. We are so in love with him and adore how he completes our family! We love you Collier and thank the Lord for allowing us the priviledge of being your mama and dada.