9 Months

Thanksgiving Day reminds us to be grateful for all we have and we definitely have all we need. I am grateful for you Franki. You are healthy and strong, smart and have a great sense of humor. The light in your eyes brightens each and everyday. You obviously had plenty to be thankful for too Franki-love, you met two big milestones in one day!

Advancements:
Your scootching is still an army crawl although you have definitely picked up the pace. You are now "cruising" holding onto the edge of furniture and walking (slowly). They say that its soon after this that babies start walking, but I'm in no hurry. You are so active as it is I know once you get on your feet, days of having breakfast are going out the window :-) If there was a walker race, I am certain you would win it, our floors are perfect for you to fly around the house. You have no problem maneuvering around obstacles, turning around, going backward, but my favorite is when you almost run, then let your little feet slide behind you. This brought me to the realization it was time for soft soled shoes. You were burning through your socks!

You suddenly sprouted your two bottom teeth and now your two top teeth or poking out too. I am surprised how well you have handled the pain, you had a bit have cheek rash, two days of diarrhea and minor complaining. That is it. You must have a high pain threshold like me.

Firsts:
You waved and clapped your hands for the first time both on November 26! You've started on learning to do the "indian chant" but haven't quite mastered turning your hand around, it still looks adorable and you get very excited when you do it. Your pincher grip is amazing, family and friends comment all the time how unusually good it is, (not sure how that will help you in life but its still very cool). The other day there was a grain of food the size of a salt granule on your feeding chair and you picked it up between your thumb and pointer. I couldn't believe my eyes! You started pulling yourself up on furniture but have yet to do it in your crib. You are still on the hot topic of da-da, you've only said ma-ma three times and don't really have any interest in learning other words. You watch my mouth move but don't try to say it yourself yet.

Favorite Thing:
Your new found love is anything and everything "duck" We now have to take one of your many your bath ducks in the car with us wherever we go, you love to chew and sometimes if there is a bit of leftover bath water stuck inside you are really excited to be able to suck it. I am excited to give you your Christmas present its a book called "Ducky says Quack" and its a puppet too!

Schedule:
You are happily napping at 10am and 2:30pm during the day then won't go down again until after your bath at 7:30pm. You've been skipping a bottle in the afternoon and are now down to about 24oz of formula a day. I have tried to give you less at night when you wake up to try and ween you off it but your are so persistent and will not stopping crying until you get a full bottle. At least you are only waking up once a night now its either 12:30 am or about 4am. I prefer the 4am because I feel more rested. At midnight I am a bit of a zombie. This morning I even gave you dog pellets instead of cheerios by accident but quickly realized my error.