Walking .... and wiping out!

This is Grady's first time walking behind his ride-on toy. Actually, he walked one time right before this, but I didn't have the camera out. He's doing pretty well until the end of the video when he totally wipes out (I stopped the camera before he started wailing).

All the walking practice with his Grandpas is paying off!

Super cute

Just in time

Looks like we lowered Grady's crib mattress just in time! This is what I found when I came out of the shower today. He's very proud of himself.

Getting into mischief

Now that Grady is mobile, he is getting into a lot more mischief!

The other day, I quickly ran upstairs and left Grady on the main floor. While I was up there (for no more than a minute), I heard a "bang .... clink" noise. I ran downstairs to discover that Grady had pulled over a table that had a glass sitting on it. The glass broke and he had cut his finger .... all in under a minute! The cut was pretty small, but it was bleeding. Luckily it was close to nap time, so I applied pressure to his finger and took him upstairs for his nap. When he fell asleep, I was able to get a good look at the cut and also bandage it up a bit to stop the bleeding. By the time he woke up an hour and a half later, the cut had already started to close.

It was a good lesson to be reminded of ... accidents happen in an instant. This is a picture of the little cut on his finger. It's not a clear photo, but it was pretty tough to get him to hold still.

More mischief: Grady pulling apart Ryder's dog bed:

And getting into Ryder's toys:

Usually I shower when Grady is napping, but on this day he was awake, so I put him into his crib thinking he'd be safe there. Well, I came out of the bathroom and discovered that he can now pull himself up on the crib bars.

"Wonder what's going on out in the world today..."

Busted!

Thinking he's pretty cool!

(We lowered the crib mattress that evening!)

Playing catch

One happy baby!

Happy Nine Months Grady!

Nine months old ... 3/4's of a year ... Grady is growing up fast!

This past month was a big one in terms of development. Grady learned how to army crawl! He started actually moving across the floor at Christmas time. It was a slow process and he would only go a couple of feet. But, after two weeks of practice, he has mastered the technique. He pulls himself around and can scoot from place to place pretty quickly. Now that Grady can move, he wants to explore everything - yesterday I caught him playing in Ryder's water dish!

Grady also learned the pincher grip. When he first started, he would pick up a Cheerio between his thumb and his hand, but he would drop it before he ever even got close to his mouth. Now, he can use both hands to pick up food between his thumb and first finger and is an expert at actually getting it into his mouth! (Although, when I get him out of his high chair, there are still many little pieces of food stuck to his bib and in his seat.)

Grady had two new teeth come up this month - they are the second ones on the bottom. His left one is all the way through and the right one still has to come up a bit more.

Right now, Grady's favorite activity is walking - when someone holds onto his hands and walks all around the house with him. He likes reading books (or he'll sit still for them anyway!), songs, playing with his farm tractor, wooden moracca, and stacker cups; he'll tolerate the jumperoo and exersaucer, but he'd rather be scooting around on the floor.

Grady's sleep schedule also changed. He now wakes up at 7am, naps from 10:30am-12pm and from 4-4:30pm, and then goes to bed at 7:30pm. He is still waking up a few times in the night, but only for a quick feed and then it is back to sleep.

We are still introducing new foods to Grady. In addition to all the other foods that he eats, this month he started on Cheerios, chicken, zucchini, broccoli, white potatoes, apricots, mango, blueberries, cherries, cheese, and bread. He loves Cheerios, blueberries, and cherries. He doesn't like chicken or cheese. He drinks lots of water and gets really excited when he sees his sippy cup.

Grady: You are the light of our lives. Happy Nine Months!

One week old

Three months old



Six months old

Nine months old ...

and on the move!