9 months.

I feel like Levi has changed SO much this month.  Some months he stays more or less consistent, but this month, LOOK OUT!  Levi is on the move and there's nothing stopping him!

 Last month I mentioned that he was a mover and fell off the chair as I was taking the monthly pictures but that I'd managed to swing my arm out and catch him.  Well, this month he wasn't so lucky.  I took a bunch of great shots right after his morning nap while he was still fairly still and then Nathan so helpfully pointed out that I'd forgotten the monkey.  So I had to do a few more right before his afternoon nap and, what do you know?  He took a nose dive off the chair.  Speaking of nose dives...he had his first tumble off the change table this month.  He got quite the carpet burn on his forehead and was pretty shaken up.  I felt so bad, but hey, falls happen.  And he was fine, except for the huge scab that took up residence on his otherwise perfect little forehead. : (

 Levi still army crawls everywhere.  He tried out his hands and knees once or twice but always ended up flopping to his stomach because it was much, much faster.  And why slow down to practice something when what you're doing is faster now?

Levi has always seemed to enjoy making us laugh, but this month it seems like his little entertainer personality has blossomed.  He'll often make funny faces or noises and just watch us for our reaction.  And when we laugh, he'll laugh right along with us.  He loves to smile.  He has always been ticklish, but this month it seems that he's been more ticklish than ever.  It has definitely been a month of joy and celebration and laughter in this house!

Levi had his first run-in with the big ol' flu bug this month.  Ick.  It's true that your stomach does harden once you become a mom but wow.  Despite not gagging, it still wasn't fun to clean up some of those messes!  Ick.  Thankfully the worst of it only lasted about a day. (Nathan and I were out with the same bug a day or two later but had it much, much worse!)

Levi has his top two teeth!  They came in just days after he turned 8 months old.  He looks much more like a little toddler now.  Our little boy is growing up!  His legs have also seemed to have stretched out and are looking more and more like they should be running around rather than just sitting still.  He has been using those legs for lots of standing and walking along furniture.  I honestly would be surprised if he waited until he was a year old before he started walking.  I expect by 10 or 11 months we'll have a little toddler on our hands.  He has also learned to climb in the past few days.  A couple times we've found him standing on a step or box or stepping up on a toy to reach something that was put just out of his reach.  He doesn't always pick the sturdiest things to step up on, though, so it's still a bit scary!  We don't worry too much about him toppling over from the standing position anymore though.  He has practiced pulling up, sitting down, pulling up, sitting down over and over and is usually quite controlled in his movements.  I like it when his new skills are honed a little and don't require quite as many super-hero dives on my part : )

As far as physical things, I think he's probably around 17-18lbs, but that's just a guess.  He's become a bit of a light-weight for his age.  He's about 28-29" long/tall.  He sleeps from 8pm-6am(feed)-8am most nights.  He eats three meals a day with us and nurses quite a bit more often than that, though we're starting to stretch the feeds longer than every 2 hours!  yay!  He's learning to eat table food which is fun to watch.  And his hair is just getting longer and more blonde every week.

Well, that's our little monkey at 9 months.  Love you buddy!  You're 3/4 of the way to one year!  Whoo-hoo!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot!  Levi also attended his first high school graduation, wedding, and rodeo (three separate events) this month.  He also lost his first hat and got his first slivers.  And he learned to drink from a straw.  It's been quite the month!