wining and dining at the ripe ol age of 9

months that is. Evan turned 9 months yesterday on September 20th.  OK OK, but if feels like yesterday. Please do not be alarmed when I go back and add his 8 month photos to a previous blog post and pretend that they were always there. Perception is reality folks, and I perceive myself to be a timely blogger.

So much has changed since last month. When I last left you guys, Evan was still a back scooting, breast-feeding, baby-food eating munchkin. Then this happened:

At first it was just a few movements. Then, within a day or two, he was a full on "freakin rug rat" as Bill would say. And, good gosh, this is fun!

If crawling isn't enough of an accomplishment for one month, Evan also decided he is big enough for this:

and this:

He still eats baby food occasionally, but ever since Mama Dee fed him cantaloupe, he does not want baby food if solid food is anywhere in sight. What else would you expect from such a mature 9 month old? He has also tried to eat other baby's food at daycare and quickly learned that was frowned upon. Sharing food with Baxter and Bailey, however, is a frequent occurrence.

We're not done yet, folks, Evan also decided that to be a true big kid, he would need to drink formula and put himself to sleep.

 Dad's happy. Mom's kind of happy, but a little sad. The transition was pretty non-eventful. One Wednesday night, I was running with a friend and Bill decided it was the perfect time to see if Evan would cry it out. We have tried this before, a few times, when Evan was still nursing. Needless to say, Bill was prepared for a long night. He set the timer for 10 minutes, thinking he would check on him then. 8 minutes passed and Evan was sound asleep. Since then, he hasn't really cried and only fusses for 3-4 minutes before falling asleep. Parental lesson number 16453: children will do things on their own time when they are ready. Don't push it.

So that about sums it up. Crawling, pulling up, big kid food, formula, and self-soothing all in 30 days work. Who's ready for a nap.

Side note: Stats this month are 16.5 lbs (5%) 26 1/2 inches (5%) and 18.5 inch head circumference (mind your own business. :) Just kidding, I think it is 1000%)