Boomer

For those of you on the edge of your seats waiting to hear more about Kale, it is your lucky day. Really, this is just for me to remember my sweet, smart son. Having a 9 month old is the best. Or maybe my 9 month old is just the best.

Garrett had taken to calling him "Boomer". I am not sure why, but it has stuck. He has lots of nicknames. We still call him Bubba, but now Garrett is calling him Boomer more.

He is a great sleeper. He has been sleeping well, and through the night for a long time now. He goes to bed at 8pm and gets up at 7am. He will sleep anywhere, even if it is not his bed. Which is nice, I hear some kids are very particular about only going to sleep in their bed. We don't have to rock or fuss over him. We lay him down and he knows it is time for bed. Some nights he might cry/whine for a minute, or play, or just lay there. He rolls over and goes to sleep. Another thing about his sleeping is that he moves all over. I always start him off on his back. He rolls to his side (which is so cute), lays sprawled out on his tummy, and ends up crammed in corners of his bed.

Kale never really took a pacifier. We would hold it in his mouth to help him fall asleep when he was little. We had to hold it for him, he never sucked it hard enough or long enough to keep it in himself. At nine, almost ten months he loves it. He keeps it in his mouth constantly. My theory is teething. I think the chewing and sucking is soothing for those new teeth coming in. It just makes me laugh seeing my "big boy" with a pacifier, when he did not take one as a "little baby".

His teeth are coming in steady. No terrible teething fevers or tantrums. Some days he is more drooly. His first tooth was is lower left incisor, then the one next to it. Then his top right front tooth. The order was unique. He is our little snaggle tooth. The other top front tooth and bottom middle one are starting to come through.

Good sleeper, good teether and good eater. One of his favorites is bananas, but he still eats anything. As his taste buds have developed, we have to be sure to start his meals with the less sweet or favorite food. He feeds himself, picking up pieces from his tray. I don't know how he chews it all with his three-ish teeth. And you would think we don't feed him by the way he puts bite after bite in. He drinks water out of a sippy cup and when we give him a bottle of milk, he holds it on his own.

He is still not crawling, or scooting. He walks by holding on to everything. His favorite place is the rocking chair ottoman. He goes from there to the coffee table, to the couch to the rocking chair to his push toy. It is a good thing we have a tiny living room. He gets around nicely. He gets better and more confident each day. As I watch him it reminds me of rock climbing. You can see his brain working, thinking where his next best hand hold will be. It is amazing watching them learn right in front of your eyes. His immobility makes life for me easier too. He still basically stays where I put him. He is fairly content on my lap at church or on a plane. He makes motherhood easy.

We love, love, love, love him!