Byrne After Reading: 9 Months Old Part I

Ellis at 9 months (8/22/11-9/22/11) so far has been so much fun! I know that we are not through the 9th month yet but everyday Ellis amazes us with something new! This post is what he's been doing the first half of 9 months.

I would say that Ellis is definitely testing his limits and enjoys exploring his world. He has discovered the stairs in our house. He has officially climbed the stairs from the very bottom to the very top with Brad close behind last weekend. He loves crawling to the 2 stairs in our living room before the baby gate (the gate wouldn't fit properly in front of these stairs). He will speed crawl to the 2 stairs to try to make it up them before we can reach him. Ellis has also discovered the blinds/curtains. He is absolutely obsessed with the blinds - I do not understand this?! He knows he should not touch/tug/pull/chew on them yet he loves to do it. Brad caught him sneaking over to them one night and once he reached them, he slowly turned his head to see if I was watching him, when he realized the coast was clear he stood up and grabbed them! As of today when I tell him NO, NO and pop his hand, he laughs. I'm sure soon he'll be smacking me and saying NO, NO sooner than later.

Ellis has been standing for several seconds here and there. This has been going on since August, maybe longer, because his teachers wanted me to 'see' Ellis stand for the first time (so sweet)! Today, we took Ellis outside and he stood for a full minute barefoot, in the grass. I feel like Ellis will be taking a few steps soon; however, since he is a speed crawler he often drops back to his knees when he really wants something. We got a good picture of him standing all by himself today!

Ellis has been waving for sometime, but now he responds to bye-bye and hi. I would say we are more consistent with bye-bye at this point. He often waves at strangers, like he did last night out at dinner, to get their attention. Who can resist a sweet smile and wave? :)

Ellis has also fell prey to some separation anxiety. It is worse in the mornings and after he wakes up. He loves being cuddled and held. For the past month, he's been crying a little here and there when he's been dropped off at school. One morning Brad took Ellis (which is very unusual) and Ellis had a screaming anxiety fit. The teachers were amazed - they had never seen Ellis in full blown crying mode. Ellis still does not mind strangers. In fact tonight, Ellis was passed around and held by 5 or 6 people with no problems. This is good because Ellis is going to be starting a new school soon...

9/5/11
Watching the remnants of Lee hit Birmingham