Ayden's Favorite Things: 9 Month Edition

Since Ayden will be turning NINE months old tomorrow, I thought I would devote a post to a few new things he is loving.

All bundled up for a hike today

He has been saying, "Dada" while happily babbling away but now he is also saying, "Mama" regularly. The funny part is that he reserves mama for when he is sad or upset. It's funny that even at this age it seems that he has categorized us. Though Daddy can (and does!) comfort, he is an awesome play mate and Mommy sure is fun to play with but her specialty is meeting serious needs. I wonder how the names Mommy and Daddy came about in the first place. I'll bet it has something to do with what is going on here...

Ayden is still LOVING baths. While his little tub is filling up he waits patiently on his tip toes sticking his little fingers in the water. The cutest part is his little butt when he does this while he's already nakey. Once he's in he still likes to suck on the head of his smallest rubber ducky, as well as a wash cloth. I always get out 2; one for me to wash him with and one for him to play with. He also likes dropping things over the side of the tub then looking for them. I always say, "Uh-oh!" whenever he drops something and can't wait for him to start saying it too. I always think it is so cute when babies say it. He loves to splash in the water and actually likes when he splashes himself in the face and gets water in his lips. He splashes and then blows wet raspberries over and over. He is always bummed when he gets out of the bath and often fusses until we get dressed and in the glider for story time.

When he is trying to pull something out of the dishwasher and it gets stuck in the trays he screams at it. For now we think it is amusing but I'm pretty sure he will have a temper to tame so we are careful with how we react...

He used to love diaper changes and getting dressed but he definitely went through a phase where he hated it.  He still complains sometimes but we have some pleasant diaper changes sprinkled in there as well now.  The things that seem to work the best are when David sings "Bushel and A Peck" or when I play the, "What's a _____ say?" game (during which I ask and answer all of the questions).  I think Ayden is entertained and therefore distracted by me making funny faces and animal noises.  He attempts to repeat Moo and Woof and it is pretty cute.

As for toys, his favorites are pretty much any non-toy item.  He still loves any strangulation or suffocation hazard.  We are constantly racing him to iPhone sync cords and plastic grocery bags.  We try giving him shoe strings or pull toys with strings but they just aren't the same I suppose... He's also a fan of used dryer sheets that he fishes out of the bottom of laundry baskets and anything he can fish out of trashcans.  He enjoys the picture frames on our entertainment center, the house plants, the dishwasher and the swivel of the full-length mirror in our bedroom.  He has figured out how to open Maverick's food bin as well as all of our cabinets. It's like he's on a game show finding the various treasures behind all the doors.  He still loves door stoppers!

Ayden is so super playful and enjoys peek-a-boo, chase and walking practice.  He has a little push toy that he is mastering and we see that little temper and hear that scream I was talking about earlier when he's happily walking along and then runs into a wall or other barrier.

We still wear Ayden a lot but definitely not as much as we used to.  He still enjoys it but we have to stay on the move.  He'll nap well in a carrier in public but doesn't nap well at home like he did when he was little (as if he's not still little...).  I suppose he needs a lot of background or white noise because noises that I make wake him up when we are in our quiet house.  Unless we are out and about, we save baby wearing as a wake time activity these days.

A couple of new "tricks" that he will do on command *most* of the time is dancing, nose grabbing and tongue clicking.  If someone besides David or myself clicks their tongue at him, he looks at them like, "You can do it too?!?"

We are having so much fun with him and cannot believe he is going to be 9 months old tomorrow!  We are going to have his 9 month photo shoot on my parents farm tomorrow.  We are looking forward to the decreased stress of not having to worry about back drops!

~Sarah