9 months old

Doesn't that sound so old? 9 months is 3/4 of a year, and he's now spent as much time in the outside world as he did in Mommy's belly. This is a pretty big milestone, as far as I'm concerned. Jacob could probably not care less. He is a boy on the go, and will hardly sit still long enough to get a diaper change anymore. Any time he's on the floor, he wants to crawl. More specifically, he wants to crawl to the most dangerous spot in the room. If there is an uncovered electrical socket, he makes a beeline for it. If we don't have the gate up at the bottom of the stairs, he climbs them immediately. (He is actually getting very good at climbing stairs, when he is well supervised by an adult.) He loves to stand, and is really good at pulling himself up. He can walk along furniture, and has also figured out how to safely get back down on the floor from standing up. We think it's only a matter of time before he gets brave enough to try walking. He seems very determined.

He visited the doctor last week for his 9 month check-up, and all went well. He weighed in at just under 20 lbs., which was a bit of a surprise. We think he must be burning a lot of extra calories with all of his moving around, so he hasn't gained as much weight as he did in the past.

The good news is that he can eat many different foods, so we can bulk up his diet a bit and maybe get in a couple of snacks. He is still tall for his age, and according to the standardized skill chart that the doctor has, he is developmentally and socially at a 10+ month level. Those charts obviously don't take sleep into consideration! He has been going backwards with sleep again lately, waking up 5 or more times in 10 hours. On the positive side, he seems to have settled into a regular bedtime of around 10pm, and a regular waking time of around 8am. Just a few months ago, I was having troubles getting him to bed before midnight, so we're making some progress! They say that babies wake a lot when they are learning new skills. Maybe that's part of it, and teething is probably contributing as well. He has 6 teeth now (3 on top and bottom), and 2 more are getting close. I've been watching them for a couple of weeks, but they are taking their time coming in. I think Jacob would like a break from new teeth for a little while.

I'm currently working on his 6-9 month slideshow. Hopefully I can get the pictures uploaded soon and get it looking the way I want. Keep an eye on the slideshow section at the left, as there will be a new addition soon! I'm also going to keep trying to add more video clips. He's doing so many cute things these days!

Happy Mother's Day!

It's been a busy weekend. On Saturday, Jacob and I went to Rochester to visit while Daddy did some yard work. We thought we were going to see Grandpa and Grandma Boyum and Aunt Jena, but when we got there, Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Kuehn were there too! They were excited to see how big Jacob has gotten, and he showed off his crawling, climbing, and singing skills. We stayed there all day, and went out for dinner before heading home. When we got home, some roses in different colors had magically appeared. I was confused, because Jacob was with me all day. When did he have time to buy those?

This morning we got up bright and early to take part in the Race for the Cure at the Mall of America. We did the 5K walk, which is just over 3 miles. The course took us on the streets all around the mall. We got some nice weather for the walk, even if it was a bit windy. Tom's company had a tent that we were able to visit afterward to get some nice food. We had worked up quite an appetite. Jacob did really well on the walk. He looked around at all the people, and even snoozed for a little bit. He really seemed to like his cool new blue stroller. We had a great time, and plan on making this a yearly family event.

Tom and Jacob crossing the Start Line

The Finish Line! We made it!

New Website Feature

I figured out how to put a list of Jacob's videos and slideshows on the left side of the webpage. In the future, instead of putting video in a post, I'll just add them to the list on the left. This way they are easy to find and won't get moved to the next page. It will take awhile to get more video put up, but I'm going to work on it!

Jacob Standing 5/4/07

Standing!

Crawling stayed interesting for less than 2 weeks. Now all Jacob wants to do is stand. He is figuring out how to pull himself up on most anything, whether it will support his weight or not. It's amazing how he can zero in on everything that will get him into trouble. He has almost the whole family room to roam, but he likes hanging out by the computer and the rolling chair. Go figure.