My son

So my 9-month-old wore a shirt today that says, "I'm definitely up to something."  I don't know where the shirt came from, but I found it in a box of his clothes recently.  It's the perfect shirt for him.  He's such a funny little guy who's added so much energy and joy to my life.  He is always up to something.  He has the greatest sense of humor, and I can already visualize him as the class clown someday.  He refuses 95% of all solid food and will squint his face and give me a cheesy grin when I try to coerce him to eat.  Tonight, I kept trying to make him laugh so I could sneak a spoonful of food into his mouth.  He would laugh and then shut his lips tight as soon as the spoon got close, or he would laugh with his mouth closed.  Such a sneaky little boy.

He couldn't care less about food, really.  You can eat in front of him, and the only reason he'll even look at your food is to see if he can make a mess with it.  I watched a friend's baby recently who was born the same day as Josh.  I ate a bowl of food in front of her, and she was climbing all over me to see what I was eating.  Josh, on the other hand, didn't care that I was eating.  He's never cared - which is quite the opposite of my daughter's early affection for food.  He also won't take a bottle.  So, needless, to say, he is my sidekick wherever I go.

Josh is quite a fun little "buddy" (his nickname).  I am so blessed to be his mommy.  He and Corban (the 2 1/2 year old) make the perfect pair (even though she still secretly wishes he would go back to where he came from).  Today, Corban was crawling around the floor, and Josh was chasing her; he was laughing and laughing at her.  I joined in on the fun, and we all had a blast together.  Yesterday, we were jumping on the bed - all having lots of laughs together!

If Josh is getting into something that I don't want him to play with, I'll say, "Joshy, what are you doing?"  And he'll look at me with a big smile and big eyes.  He loves noises, really loud noises, really really loud noises, and being scared - he will jump if you scare him, then laugh and laugh (quite the opposite of the ladies in the house who hate being scared!!)... he loves vacuums and chasing the vacuum as I clean, anything with wheels, bouncing the ball (a skill his sister is still working on).  If I lose Josh in the house, chances are that I can find him in the bathroom, standing at the bathtub, wondering how to get the bath water on.  He loves baths, and I predict he will be quite the swimmer someday.  He loves watching boys; I think he is jealous that he can't walk or run like they can!  I don't think it'll be much longer before he can walk - he's taking steps while holding my hands and starting to cruise along the couch.

When Josh gets excited, he makes this noise that sounds like a wolf howling.  If he sees a fan, he does it.  If he's somewhere new, he does it.  Speaking of which, Josh LOVES to be out and about.  We are such homebodies (the other 3 of us), but he loves to go and see and do.  If he's fussy, I take him with me to run errands, and he's usually happy the whole time!  Josh also flaps his arms, squeals, and dances when he's excited.  It's very cute!  I love to see his emerging personality become more defined everyday!!

At 9 months, he still isn't sleeping through the night.  I've come to the realization that it's probably not going to happen until he's eating solids.  I just don't think he's getting enough calories to sustain himself all night long.  I keep telling myself that it's a phase in life that will eventually pass (and that I will never again have another newborn!!)

Well, that's everything you have ever wanted to know about Josh... and more, I'm sure!