Fun Times as a Nine Month Old

Playing at our new pool

 The wolfpack is finally in the new house and we couldn't be happier!  Granted, there is a LOT to be done, but we have room to move around and Gracedog has a backyard so we are a much happier penguin family.

Jackson went to his 9 month appointment and measured in at 21.5lbs and 28" so he's in the 60th percentile for weight and 70th for height.  He got a terrible case of hives that we had a really hard time treating, but thankfully they are gone.  He looked like an ogre for about two weeks.  Never could figure out the trigger, but let's hope it doesn't happen again. 

Nice shades, bro

 Jackson loves his new room and his playroom.  The upstairs is totally baby proofed so he just crawls his little self down the hallway and starts playing as soon as he gets up in the mornings.  We scored some really great new toys older baby at the baby consignment sale.  His favorites are the cookie jar shape sorter and the stacking rings.  By far the best thing about our new neighborhood is the 2 mile walking path by the river.  We pretty much run every morning and Jackson waves to every single person and dog that we pass along the way.       

 Aunt Rachel was the first one to notice that he is using his left hand in all of his videos and pictures lately.  Once she mentioned it we started paying attention and sure enough 9 of 10 times he uses his left hand first.  He has gotten pretty good with his spoon and is learning the spork now.  We switched him over to a regular cup at meals.  He has no trouble picking it up and drinking, but the learning to tilt the cup "away" from his face before setting it down hasn't caught on yet.  Cousin Meredith (age 2) saw a video of him eating recently and was appalled at his skills... her assessment was "he's so messy" as she watched the video 5 times in a row.   

Guess who is a lefty?

Look at Zachary ready to help Jackson get up.  Such a sweetie!

We've spent a little more time with the mom's group so he's starting to make friends.  Jackson is always excited to see Zachary and Grant.  He is a big guy and doesn't realize how strong he is so he's a bit of a bully still, but the two of them are walking so at least they can get away for the time being.  Speaking of walking, he will take a step or two and sit down.  He's also a climber and we have found him on shelves, up the step ladder, and trying to push open the back screen door to get outside.  

His vocabulary is growing every day.  Right now there are about 25 words that he responds to.  He follows instructions for "turn off the light", "sit on your bottom", "arms up", and "wash hands".  It took him forever to call Matt "da-da" but he says that, "ma-ma", "dah" for Gracedog, and "hi".  His version of hi sounds like the most Southern accent on record.  It's more like "haaaaaiiiiii" with about four syllables of vowels.