9 Months

I think we are definitely experiencing my favorite age up to this point.  8-9 months has overall been pretty fantastic with very little to complain about. We've dealt with a few nasty days of teething and a few days of sickness, but overall these past few months have really been a lot of fun.  I've loved him since birth, of course, but at this age we've really started to enjoy him, and he also appears to be enjoying us (which may be why it's become so great - the love is being reciprocated).  

At 9 months, Levi weighed in at 21 lbs 7 oz and 29 1/2 inches tall.  Believe it or not, this means our once chubby monkey is now charting out average for his weight! That's a change!  LOL. 
He's not officially crawling yet, but he's SOOO close, and has even crawled forward a few paces. Yet, it's amazing how mobile this kid can be without doing the classic crawl.

Here's a quick glance at "9 month old Levi" in a nutshell:

He loves to laugh, and loves to imitate people laughing.

Here he is laughing at his Daddy.

He has recently figured out how to wave, and gives big, slobbery, open mouthed kisses on command.

He is also a master tongue clicker.
He's still very social and loves the great outdoors.

See how happy eating grass and dirt makes him!

His favorite dinner is food (nothing specific so far, he just wants to eat), and he loves apples and applesauce.
 His favorite song is still "You are my Sunshine." (He literally lights up when he hears it.)
His current hobbies are drooling, chewing on his thumb, playing pattie-cake, and eating... (Did I mention that one yet?)

He has 4 teeth, two on bottom and two on top.
His favorite toys are remotes, cell phones, and anything else that lights up.
His short term goal in life is to become an efficient crawler.

He really is SO close to crawling!  I think he's saving it for a day when it's just him and his Daddy - he likes to do "things" first when it's just the two of them.

His best friend has four legs and also gives big slobbery kisses.

Levi and Kady, BFFs

And finally, we've known for a long time that he loves his mom, but this boy is really starting to show us how much he LOVES his Daddy.  He is one crazy, happy baby whenever Daddy comes home.

9 months of life, and oh what life it is.    

Quick! I need a tissue!!

*Caution, this blog entry is NOT for the weak at heart.  In fact, if you are currently not a mom, and ever intend to become one, it is strongly advised that you do NOT read this blog!  Consider yourself forewarned!

Well, what we thought was teething (over 2 weeks ago) has essentially turned out to be a little virus for our monkey.  This is nurse/mom-diagnosed, of course, cause that's just how we roll!  It's been a busy few weeks, full of extra cuddling, holding, screaming, crying, Tylenol, boogers and dirty diapers... LOTS of extra boogers and LOTS of dirty diapers.  Any time Levi has more than one dirty diaper within a 24hr time period, we refer to it as "Poop Day."  This usually happens once, sometimes twice a week.  However, we seem to have had 2weeks of non-stop Poop Days.  And we're not talking about your average, everyday, dirty diaper.  Nope, we're talking the pull your face back, scrunch up your nose, squint your watery eyes, cough and gag (while at the same time trying to hold your breath as the puffs of warm, moist malodorous air punches you in the face) kind of diapers.  I've actually had a few fears that I would come back to see a hole burned through the diaper pale. 

 Yuk!
  We've also had an excess of boogers.  In fact, I'm pretty sure this is the first time Levi has experienced eating his own boogers.  Try as I may, his nose is running faster than my tissue can swipe, so I'm pretty sure a tiny bit may have reach the upper lip/tongue area.  (I'm crossing my fingers he didn't enjoy the taste of them).  He's been waking up with crusties smeared from one ear to the other, and clogged nostrils that crunch when you touch them.  Today, he somehow figured out how to blow bubbles with his boogers.  That was fun.  For a moment I actually considered taking a picture of his booger bubble, but I decided I didn't want to become one of "those" moms. Figured I didn't want to cross that line.  =)
I'm betting all of you with children have had days like these, and I'm sure we will experience this many, many more times in our future.  He's already on the mend and I'm thinking we'll be done with this virus in no time.
So, I will conclude this awfully gross blog with a super cute picture of my little monkey.  No boogers, just peas and a whole lotta cuteness. 

Yup, this is the face that makes all the grossness of the past 2 weeks totally worth the disgustingness of it all. =)

The ocean meets Levi

About a month or so ago we made a spontaneous road trip to Ocean Shores, where the Pacific Ocean met Levi for the first time.

Okay, he doesn't look overly excited in the pictures, so you'll just have to trust me that Levi LOVED being there.  He is his daddy's son, so of course he loves the ocean! He was memorized.  The breeze, the mist in the air, and the sounds of the crashing waves seemed to put him into a trance.

He couldn't take his eyes off the water.


Both walks to beach he lasted only 15-20minutes before he drifted off to sleep.

This was actually the first time that even Moises and I had ever been to Ocean Shores (it only took us 5 years).  One crazy thing about Ocean Shores... you can actually drive your car up and down the beach.  Kinda cool!  Maybe that's no big deal to you, but it was a new experience for both of us.  A little eerie too when you go driving up and down the coastline after dusk, with the mist fogging over the beach and you can't see more than 10 feet ahead of you. 

We woke to see horses just dying to take us for a ride.  We were pretty excited at the thought of going horseback riding, then we remembered we had a seven month old with us... so, no horseback riding this time.  (Oh, and Levi, if you're reading this, we apologize for forgetting about you for those 2 1/2 minutes).
Levi and I enjoyed watching the tide come in from the safe zone

Whereas Moises enjoyed the tide a little more up close and personal.

I think it was a little cold.

He even found himself a little friend.

What a nice town Ocean Shores is.  It wasn't quite the big tourist city we thought it was, but rather a small, cozy, quaint little place.  It was definitely a nice, relaxing over-nighter away from home.