9 months old!

As I read on one of the other blogs I follow, The Powells, Ruston has now been on the outside as long as he was on the inside!

This kid is FULL of personality. And oh, is he a flirt!! He will smile and laugh at anyone who will give him the time of day. We spend a lot of time smiling and laughing at him and all his funny faces. :)

Eating: Ruston is such a good eater. He likes all the baby food we've given him. (Bananas were a no-go at the beginning, but he'll even eat those now!) He really likes the Gerber Lil' Crunchies and rice cakes too. He STILL doesn't have teeth, so not much table food going on. But I got him some of Gerber's 3rd foods - and they have some new flavors - like Spaghetti and Beef and Veggies. So I'm excited to get him started on some of those!

Sleeping: Still a work in progress. He goes down in his bed really well. Falls asleep pretty fast. But he just doesn't stay asleep! He still wakes up about 4 times a night. Not wakes up and moans and rolls over. Wakes up, sits up, screams and cries. Not fun. He stops crying immediately and falls right back asleep when we start rocking. But the second I lay him down, he's suddenly awake and screaming again! We're still working on it though! We've moved his bedtime back an hour, hoping that he'll be more tired when he actually goes down, so maybe he'll stay asleep longer. We'll see. He has his own little sleep time routine...he loves hair all the time...but he usually pulls, bites, and yanks on it. When he's falling asleep, he likes to just rub my hair and just hold on to it. Then when I lay him in his bed, he rubs his own hair. :) Then he moans himself to sleep!

Playing: Ruston can entertain himself more these days. He'll sit in his play pen and rotate toy to toy for a good 30 minutes. He loves his light up and noisy toys, but he is just as happy to be playing with an empty soda bottle. :) He is also really into looking at pictures! You can show him the pictures on the wall and say there's mommy and daddy and he will just squeal, smile and reach for the pictures. So cute and so sweet. He still loves to bang on things. It's amazing we don't have more broken toys! He also MUST have anything that is in your hands.

Talking: Ruston talks nonstop sometimes. Right when he wakes up, right before he goes to sleep and when he's in the high chair are some favorite times to babble. Still no actual words, but the babbles sound more and more like talking every day. Other times though, he's a silent player/observer. He'll tuck his bottom lip into his mouth and just go on with his business. You can talk to him and ask him questions all you want, but he's just going to smile at you and keep on.

Moving: Ruston has been so close to crawling for a long time. He finally got it down this month! He does his own little "version" of crawling. He crawls on his right knee, but uses his actual foot on the left side. Kind of like a little hop along. :) Still gets him where he wants to be, though. :) He's pulling up more and more these days and is really getting brave with letting go once he's standing. Makes me crazy nervous! haha

Get this sticker off of me!!

9 month pics by Ken: Every month I already know way in advance what I want him to wear for his pictures. This month, I had no clue! I like a lot of his outfits, but they just weren't right for this month's pics. I went to Bealls to look for something, but nothing caught my eye. The night before his pictures, I finally had an idea! I always love the pictures of the babies in the "bath" with the little rubber duckies. Ruston has a blow up rubber ducky from the shower Amanda gave me. It turned out so cute!!!