A less commonly celebrated milestone?

Apparently, in Henry's case and in the case of a few other babies, according to the Internet, the crawling milestone goes hand in hand with the sitting up by himself in the crib milestone. This particular milestone seems to be less appreciated by parents. Why? Because its kinda creepy. A few mothers had asked us if we had encountered the shrouded baby figure sitting up alone in the crib in the middle of the night. Not crying, not complaining, just sitting. In the dark. Alone. With a blanket over its head. Ok, that scenario didn't exactly happen to us (although, it reminds me of that movie with Nicole Kidman. I think it is called "The Others."). Instead of sitting up in the middle of the night, Henry sits up in the morning, sits up after naps, sits up when we are trying to put him to bed...

The other morning Mike entered Henry's room to find Henry upright and smiling - Mike was startled. The same thing happened to me on Saturday when I heard Henry stirring after his nap, there he was sitting up and hanging out (see above picture). Last night, Henry popped up as soon as we set him in the crib for bedtime. He remained upright so we left him that way. We could hear him in his room babbling and moving around, but he was quiet and seemed content so we just left him alone. About 45 minutes later, I checked on him and found him sitting up in his crib but slouched forward - he was asleep in the sitting up position. I arranged him in a comfortable position and he slept through the night without a peep.

And finally... he crawls.

The baby in daycare who is exactly Henry's age has been crawling for months. And for the past couple of months, every time anyone has asked about Henry's age, the follow-up question is "Is he crawling yet?" After we try a cheerful "Not yet!" The response is inevitably, "Well, that is ok. Every baby develops at their own pace. Each baby is unique." The pediatrician had a somewhat less magnanimous explanation for Henry's lack of crawling, "He's just lazy!" Lately, we cut to the chase. After any inquiry about Henry's age or if someone even so much as glances in Henry's direction at the store, we say, "He is nine and 1/2 months old and he isn't crawling yet. But we know that babies all develop at their own unique pace. That's ok. We love him for who he is. Really, we wouldn't want it any other way. He's his own person. Now mind your own business."

All of this changed last night, though, because last night, Henry crawled. He crawled towards a tower of blocks and summarily knocked it over. The tall, ordered tower of blocks is powerful motivation for Henry. It begs to be toppled. Henry loves to eliminate potential energy, thus Mike's nickname for him, Captain Chaos. I was impressed by Henry's crawling form. I am no crawling expert, but I think he executed his first crawl with stability, effortless style, and confidence. Video evidence of alleged crawling soon to follow.

9 Month Stats

Henry is an Elton John fan.

Last Thursday, Henry had his 9 month well check. He weighs 20 lbs and 4 oz, which places him in exactly in the 50th percentile for weight. He is 29 inches tall, which means that he is in the 75th percentile for height (an increase in percentile from his last visit). His head circumference is in the 90th percentile. ("Big brains" the doctor always says).

Henry is teething. His lower two front teeth emerged a few weeks ago, and he has 7 teeth on the upper deck ready to pop - poor guy, that cannot be fun.

On Thursday night, H's Aunt Amy came for a quick weekend visit. Henry really enjoyed spending time with his Aunt Amy. She took him in the pool, she played with him on the floor, and she brought him lots of cool new outfits. And she let him wear her glamorous sunglasses (see above). If you ask Amy what the highlight of her trip was, she would probably say watching me change H's diaper in the trunk of the car in the Walmart parking lot. It was not a proud moment for me, but I stand by my decision. Car trunk vs. public restroom in Walmart? I think you would do the same. I was worried that the other Walmart shoppers would become alarmed when they saw a baby in the trunk of the car. Oddly, no one seemed to bat an eye.

When we told Mike of the car trunk diaper change in the Walmart parking lot he said, in a ceremonious tone, "Ah yes. We have arrived."

New Trick.

Henry awoke from a brief nap yesterday, looked at me, smiled, and then started to clap! We had been working on learning to clap hands together for a few days. I wonder if Henry had been dreaming about clapping his hands and then, suddenly, once the neural circuitry was in place, woke up, and voila - he applauded his own efforts. This morning when I came into his room and opened the blinds, he opened his eyes, smiled, and then clapped again. Perhaps Henry will greet each day with an enthusiastic round of applause every morning? Hmmm... this means he might be a morning person. Definitely didn't get that from me.

First Swim.

Henry is dipping his toes in - he was hesitant at first but then he started kicking and splashing and having a great time in the pool.


Last weekend, Henry went swimming for the first time ever! I thought he would like it considering how much he enjoys bath time. He even has a pair of little swim trunks. He has a rash guard for surfing, too, but he probably needs to stand on land before he can stand on a board. He really enjoyed the pool especially once he discovered that he could kick, kick, kick all he wanted. Between pool time and runs on the beach with Mike, Henry is developing quite a tan. (And, yes, of course, we slather him in baby sun screen to protect him from the FL sun).