The ϱ-files: 9 monthiversary!

Can our little Roneli really be 9 months already??? (Hint: he must be or I wouldn't have put him in a shirt with that much buttoning to do, even if I did get lazy half-way through.) It seems like everything is happening faster now. Two weeks ago he ate his first cheerios. Today when I handed him several, he fed two of them to me!

We keep learning from him what he can do. Passing things back and forth is new this week, but he really gets it. He even tried to give a rattle to our cat Maile today. Later she sat on his lap for a while (he was occupied with a bottle and thus not grabbing her, although she is remarkably tolerant of it). They each seem to have agreed the other is a real being, finally, perhaps because their brains are now roughly matched. (Sorry Maile: you really won't be able to keep up intellectually. On the other hand, you will remain ahead on the cleans-own-poop scoresheet for some time. I recently and reluctantly advanced to level 2: cleans-other-peoples'-poops!)

Ro also has (part of) two bright, shiny, SHARP top front teeth which made their debut a couple days ago. These ones seem to come in differently and much more slowly, but he doesn't seem to mind too terribly much. We did stock up on teethers this week.


For his 9th monthday Ronan started daycare again. The babies who came in the morning were ones he spent time with this summer, and two of his three teachers are the same as well (they all are great). This time he won't be the oldest infant in his room, though, which he will probably enjoy.

When I picked Ro up I met the music teacher (who visits the infants from time to time) and he imitated Ro's I'M WORKING ON POOPING grunt/fist-clench quite accurately. Sorry kiddo: you're famous for it and this complete stranger's first impression of you proves it. Ro's teachers said he had a good day and praised him for having a clear voice and letting you know when he wants something (aka, what we call yelling). Uh huh!

Ro's exceptional vocal aptitude (ahem) is unlikely to last past when he can talk, but in the meantime it's renewing my interest in baby sign. Tonight at dinner we practiced the eating sign a lot, but I couldn't tell whether he had the inkling of how to imitate it or if he just enjoyed chewing on his fingers. They say a baby's version of a sign will be a little different. Ro had a three course dinner of food-milled fresh corn, a big jar of carrots, and a teething biscuit, then followed it all with a bottle. He loves to eat!

One of the nice things about living where we do is that the woman across the street has a baby (5 months younger than Ronan) and regularly organizes mama get-togethers with her former prenatal yoga group, which I have been welcomed to. This week they had a gathering with partners so we had our first social night out since my return (wherein we learned that another family has moved in across the street with a 9 month old baby--hope to meet them soon!). She also loaned us this cool toy that is still a little advanced for Ronan but that doesn't stop him. He may not crawl or pull up yet, but if you stand him up, WATCH OUT!! (Because he still might fall over :)



So there you have a day in our life. Ronan: you have changed my world more than I could ever have imagined. In fact, more than I can imagine even now. In the meantime I'll take it as a good sign that I can't wait to see how you grow in the next month. Happy monthday baby!