The Dead Man Crawl

Nicholas has been getting up into the crawling position for over a week now. On sunday he began using a new technique we called the dead man crawl. We wanted to make sure that we got it on film before he actually figured out how to crawl normal way. Along with his rolling skills he is now a terror for any cords or other objects that might be lying around in the living room. While we love to see him learn and grow, it is kind of sad to see him leave the infant stage become more and more like a toddler. It is also sad to see him shed his baby fat in favor of a nice trim slim toddler physique.

Nicholas at 9 months

He isn't crawling yet, despite multiple demonstrations of how to crawl by his parents. He is starting to stick his little rear end up in the air every once in awhile, but he doesn't really love tummy time. He would much rather be left sitting then laying on the floor. He can pivot, roll, squirm, or scream to get what he wants. He is lagging with his gross motor skills, but he has good fine motor skills. He loves picking up small objects and putting them in his mouth. He will pick up tiny pieces of grass and put them in his mouth. He also loves feeding himself Cheerios.

He is very excellent at walking in his walker. He has mastered backing up, so he can now get wherever he wants and rarely gets stuck. His favorite things to go visit in his walker are any garbage cans, the blinds on our sliding door, and the packs of water bottles on the bottom shelf of our pantry shelves. He also will find any cords we have hanging around. I have to be super careful to either close the bathroom door or put my curling iron away.

He has a tooth!! On the 22nd he was in a HORRIBLE mood, despite being well rested. I felt the bump on his gums that afternoon. He then was his usual self for two days. On the 25th, when we planned t0 make the drive to UT, he was in the worst mood he has ever been in. I ran out and bought some oral gel. We kept him pumped full of Tylenol and covered with oral gel, but he had a very miserable ride back to UT. The tooth broke through a little after Aspen. He was still in a bad mood though because he was tired and sick of being in his car seat. It will be a drive Joseph and I never forget:) If you look closely at the above picture, you can see his tooth.

We all visited UT for the last week in June/first week in July. Nicholas definitely had some stranger anxiety. He was okay if he was left with just one person and he couldn't see Joseph or I. If someone tried to take him from me, he would growl or start crying. When people would give him back to me, he would usually immediately stop crying and be willing to give them a smile. Part of his behavior was due to not getting enough sleep on the trip. He did make an exception for his Uncle Micheal. He couldn't tell the difference between his Uncle Micheal and his Papa. You can see in the picture how happy he was riding on Micheal's shoulders.

Nicholas still does best with 2 to 3 naps a day and he usually will sleep about 11 hours a night. He still sleeps sometimes swaddled. He is doing well with solids. He doesn't eat much in the morning or at lunch, but will eat a huge meal at dinner. He is starting to get distracted while he eats, so it is getting more difficult to feed him. He has actually lost weight. He now only weighs about 22.2 pounds and is 27 1/2 inches long. I think he lost most of the weight when his tooth was coming in because he refused all solid foods.

Favorite Song: The ABCs

Favorite Toy: Things that aren't a toy

Favorite Games: Tugging on the toys he is hold and Peek-a-boo

Favorite Books: Anything that has animal noises in it (i.e., Moo, Baa, LaLaLa)