Porter at 9 months

Porter is 9 months old today...where has the time gone? Here are some things about Porter at 9 months:

*Porter still loves bath time. He loves taking a bath with Maren or sitting in the bottom of the tub when we shower. Last Monday was his first trip to the swimming pool. He liked it! Not a huge fan of being confined to the floatie, but when I held him in the water by himself he kicked his legs happily. He also tried to crawl in the baby pool and ended up with a face full of water. Here's how he ended his swimming day:

*A new favorite activity of his is standing on the couch and pulling on the blinds that cover the window behind the couch. He likes to pull the string and put it in his mouth as well.

*Porter puts everything in his mouth. Everything. I try hard to keep the floor clear of small stuff and Maren gets lectured a hundred times a day on not leaving My Little Pony shoes and tiny Japanese erasers on the floor, but Porter still finds things to eat. The other day I dug out of his mouth: bits of a Styrofoam packing peanut, a rubber cap thing from my paper cutter (which was locked, so you don't think I'm letting him play with blades) and a whole bunch of sand and dirt (we were out in the backyard).

*Porter loves a little game I like to call Doll Stroller Kamikaze. Maren puts him into her doll stroller, then proceeds to run like a maniac throughout the house pushing Porter at top speed. Porter LOVES it. As Porter's Auntie Melonie noted, this may be the beginning of a childhood's worth of Maren getting Porter to try dangerous things. "Hey Porter, try this....!"

*Kid still loves his chow and can pack it away. This night was spaghetti. Who can resist a cute messy spaghetti face? (and yes the color is off, we did not feed him Day-Glo spaghetti sauce)

*Porter is {this close} to sleeping through the night. Lately, I've been ignoring him when he cries at 4:00 am. I did get up with him last night, because he was screaming and crying and it scared me to death (he was fine).  I know he needs to learn to put himself back to sleep. He's almost got it, thank goodness! He has been sleeping later in the mornings since I tacked a piece of black fleece to his window (still looking for a window shade that's the correct size).

*Porter is still very physical. He's so strong! I think it won't be too long before he's standing by himself, and then walking soon after. He crawls all over everything and already has an impressive set of arm muscles. :)

*Porter is such a handsome little boy! I love his happy smiles and his two little Chiclet teeth. It's fun to see his personality come out more and more as he gets older.