Corey's 8 and 9 month Development Update

Here I go again.....  super late with my updates on Corey's development.  He's already 9 1/2 months old! Yikes! I am already in the mindset for thinking about his first birthday party that's quickly approaching.  Then I tell myself....slow down chickie...he's only 9 months.  Chill girlfriend, chill.....

So, on to the development.... (buckle your seat belts, it's a LONG post)

8 months old - December 1st, 2010

Just to compare how much bigger he is than the doggie!

 This month was hard keeping track of things because of the busy-ness of the holiday season, but I did my best to write things down.  We really started seeing his sweet little personality start coming out more and more at this time.  We started hearing him "talk" and make more sounds like "Gaga" "Gee gee", "RaRa" "Dada".  We thought he was saying "Dada" for Daddy but he uses that for just making noise.  Pretty soon though!  He did a lot of the "razz" sounds, and squealed more and more.(especially to his big sister)!  Ashley and Corey do this really funny thing back and forth, like for instance, Ashley will scream "GEEE GEEE" and then Corey will shout back "AHHHHH!" and they do it over and over and over.... after about the 3rd or 4th time, I am like "Alright! That's enough!" :)

During tubby time, he no longer needed his little seat and I started placing him in the tub right along with Ashley.  He really sat up well and LOVES to splish splash!

We started seeing the beginning stages of him crawling, like him rocking back and forth on his knees.

During meal time, we started putting some Rice Krispies on his tray so that he could start practicing the pincer grasp for picking up foods. He also started chewing on Biter Biscuits as a little snack while I would prepare dinner. I still continue to make his baby food, and in December he started having more meats, like ground up chicken along with his fruits and veggies. I started noticing that he was ready for meal time, when he started making the "Mmmmmmmm" sound to get my attention.  It usually means "Mommy, hold me and nurse me" or "sit me at the table so I can eat too". 

9 months old -  January 1st, 2011

 

Big sister tickles!

So far this month has been busy for his development! It was funny because as soon as the year changed a lot of things changed with Corey that first week.  We took him to the park for the first time .  He started cutting his top two front teeth at the same time and on January 4th he officially started crawling!  He is all over the place now!  He is at the point now when he would rather play on the floor then be held.  Which in turn is making Mommy sad. :(  I am just thankful for the times I nurse him because those are precious times that he only wants me to hold him.

playtime

On January 3rd, Corey starting feeding himself the little Gerber Puffs.  We couldn't believe how fast he took to it!  So now, you put anything on his tray and he starts feeding himself.  I have also noticed most recently that he doesn't like baby food as much.  He wants to eat EVERYTHING that we eat. So I have tested the waters with just about everything and he has done really well.  He's eaten a little of every meal, such as pancakes, tiny pieces of chicken, broccoli, pizza, pasta, tiny cubes of carrots, bananas, etc.  It's been really fun to see him pick it up and eat it.  Paul also went out and picked him up some new sippy cups (Super cute Cars themed cups) for him to practice with because before we know it, this little guy will be starting on whole milk.  Right now he just likes to bang it on his tray and bite it.  Ashley has tried teaching him to tilt it back and sip, so we'll see how quickly he figures it out!  I remember Ashley transitioned very well from formula bottles to whole milk in sippy cups.  I am just curious to see how Corey will do since he is breastfed.  I am definitely planning to ask his pediatrician during his next well checkup this month to see what she recommends on weaning.

He LOVES to squeal and is absolutely CRAZY about Ashley.  No matter what mood he is in, all she has to do is pay attention to him and he lights up like a Christmas tree. It's so adorable!  As you can see from my previous post, she makes him giggle all the time and his laugh is a lot "heartier" than it was just a month ago.  He loves to play little games with you too. Sometimes I will pretend to look away and then turn back to him real fast and say "Boo!" or "Hah!" and he will just giggle and giggle!

These two are just so close!

Almost the same expression...they are concentrating! (Don't you love Ashley wearing my shower cap?!)

I love this.

Ornery little stinker!

He also is very interested in what you have in your hands.  He loves to grab books and the most popular one is the REMOTE CONTROL! Just like a man....  In turn, he gets VERY mad when you take something away from him that he is not allowed to have.  I swear, he cries such a river!  It's almost like he's saying "how dare you take away what I wanted!" Speaking of his little ornery side, he doesn't like to sit still for diaper changes.  It started in December and now it's getting worse. It's like he's doing crunches!  Or he just tries to roll over. It's very frustrating! Especially with the gDiapers.  It takes a couple more steps to put those on than just taking out a disposable and plopping it on, so I am trying to streamline my process the best I can. It certainly makes for an interesting diaper change, and lets just say that I haven't come away from a diaper change or two without any "poo" battle scars.  I look down at my shirt and I am like "Ewww!"

Corey is such a sweet little guy. He almost ALWAYS has a smile on his face and very rarely cries. He is great with sleeping, unless he is sick or is teething.  But even then, he's only up maybe once or twice.   Corey doesn't talk nearly as much as Ashley did at this age, but I can see it in his eyes that he is very focused and is trying to figure everything out. 

I don't want to forget how cute his dimply/chubby hand looks holding the side of car seat in the backseat of the car, or how calming it is to sit at stoplight and look back at him staring out of the car window watching the world go by...just taking it all in. I don't want to forget how much I love his soft hair and how it feels when I brush my cheek along the top of his head.  Our sweet little Corey Michael.  We just love you soo soo much!