Right now, Jackson is crawling around my office wearing a onesie that says “No pants are the best pants.”

I’ve got a suitcase open behind me because I needed to distract him earlier while I got some work done.

The suitcase was chosen for a number of reasons. One, it’s something he could crawl into, which he seems to enjoy doing these days. The other day I caught him trying to be table decor after having pulled down my beautiful coffee table tray and sitting in the middle of it.

He also got several hours of enjoyment out of sitting in his baby bathtub in the laundry room.

The other purpose of the suitcase was to give him a flap that was safe to open and close. My hopes was that this would replace our desire for the toilet *rolls eys.

Skills:

He can stand up! We are so close to walking, but I’m not going to rush it. Lord, just crawling changed my world.

He’s great at feeding himself and loves to eat. And eat. And also, eat. Which he does pretty successfully even though he only has 4 teeth (although all signs point to more coming soon!)

No other words besides Momma and Dada. But that’s ok. He can say only Momma for as loooong as he wants ;)

Character traits:

We’ve decided when he falls down and cries he’s doing so because he’s mad that he fell not because he’s hurt. Sometimes he’ll hit his head or something else and not make a peep about it. But if it happens while he’s trying to do something, there’s a cry of digust (maybe that’s too harsh a word, but I couldn’t think of anything else).

He yaps a lot at home, but not really when there are strangers around. I don’t know how much of that is personality or just general baby hesitation to unknown people/things.

The fact that he’s going to be a year old pretty soon is a mixed bag of emotions for me. I can remember when he was born so clearly, but at the same time it feels like forever ago that we lived life without him.

I’ve enjoyed every stage so far, and I can’t wait to watch this kid grow and change and love his Momma more everyday ;)

At 9 months you’d be hard pressed to find a boy that’s more boyer-than-boy than Jackson.

He roars, he bangs, he loves to fly around and swing.

Here’s a quick look at the shenanigans he gets himself into and the one thing he’s doing that we don’t know where it came from…

Skills:

He finally got himself out of reverse and is crawling forward at full speed. We’re two weeks into that world. And it really is a whole new world.

The time I find it most challenging is Sunday mornings. As I write this, I can feel all the parents out there thinking, “Oh girl, it’s only just begun.”

This past Sunday morning he was crawling around in a sea of wipes and tampons. Because if it’s in a box…it’s coming out.

He can pull up really well and will even take steps while balancing on something.

When I see him take those tiny steps I want to sit him down and explain he’s just a baby, and babies don’t walk until they’re 30 when they really have a handle on life and where they’re going. But I’m certain that’s not healthy behavior.

He says Mama all the time. And Dada too, but MOSTLY MAMA because he knows what’s good for him.

Character Traits:

He is a happy baby. But how could you not be when your mother is a self-proclaimed comedian?! Am I right? *high five

He does some things that puzzle me a bit. First, he’s a cuddler.

I’m not a cuddler, nor is his dad. We rarely display physical affection besides a playful elbow to the face or kiss as we’re leaving. But this kid, he’s a hard-core cuddler. Which I’m totally fine with.

Every time I find myself on the couch or in bed snuggling with him, I relish the moment because I understand he won’t want to do that forever. (When he gets to that point, I’ll console myself by remembering that time our cuddle session ended with poop – everywhere).

And he’s just started doing this thing where he puts his head down when someone talks to him, like he’s shy. How do babies even know how to be shy?!

What do they have to be shy about?! It’s not like they have experiences to look back on when they were embarrassed in front of a crowd. They poop and pee in their pants and everyone’s ok with it – what could they possibly be shy about!?

Then there’s this…

We’ve had to get corrected a time or two because that gorgeous new snakeskin coffee table tray mama bought looks pretty alluring. So we want to touch it. But when we’re told no, we like to throw our head back and cry. (I’m using “we” to protect the innocent until proven guilty).

In total, these past 9 months have been amazing.

Not only because we enjoy getting to know the greatest kid in the world, but also because mom has had to pee a lot less often than the 9 months prior to it. ;)