9 Months with Baby

Babies are a mystery.

Pretty sure that's the biggest thing I've learned about babies now that Cyrus has been on the outside just about equally as long as he was on the inside.

- Sleep: He has never slept through the night, but he does sleep in his own room now, and he seems pretty comfy in his crib. He'll sleep a 5 hour stretch...but not the whole night. As they say....definitely by college they'll be sleeping through the night so no need to worry, right?

- Clothes: He's definitely in 12-18 mo. sizes now. The doctor didn't tell me how much he weighed or measured in length last time he was in, so I'm not sure. I bought 2-3 yr. sizes for Christmas presents (which I think are smaller here than they are in the USA). I was wondering why most of his shirts seem way too small for him now until I looked back at some pictures of him wearing the same shirts at 4-5 months old and realized, oh, yeah, he's a lot bigger than he used to be.

- Food: We're trying more and more of what I call "human food." I fed him some zucchini that my sister had made and he ate it with gusto, only later, when I actually tried it, I realized how spicy it was and thought that maybe I shouldn't have fed baby such spicy veggies. Sorry, Cyrus. As a firstborn myself, I know what it means to be a "guinea pig." He really loves pureed veggies and fruits but I'm trying to give him a chance every day with grown-up food and feeding himself. I've met so many five-year-olds who don't feed themselves that perhaps I am slightly overly-worried about a baby boy never learning how to eat his own lunch.

- When we're not at home, maybe we're at my parents' house or church or a friends' house, and we're eating, he's developed the "puppy" habit of walking from person to person around the room and making it very clear that he'd like some of their food. Probably not a good habit to encourage, but so far...it's just too cute.

- Everyday, Angel gets out his shoes and sits down to put them on, and Cyrus instantly notices and crawls at lightspeed to try to grab the shoes and/or untie the laces as fast as Angel can get them on. It's too funny.

- He's begun to often crawl while holding a toy, usually a block or one of his cars (my brother sent him a set of wooden cars and they are by far his favorite toys--clearly Cyrus belongs in his family). It always cracks me up when he comes crawling into the kitchen taking a toy along with him. He has also gotten sad when he rolls his car under the couch so far that he can't reach it. Oh, the troubles of a baby!

- No actual walking yet, though he does "walk" all over the house by holding onto the walls and furniture and sometimes pushing our dining chairs across the floor (who needs a walker when you have chairs?!)

- He got his two top teeth this month and they are currently so far apart that it looks like you could stick a whole tooth right in between them. I had really wacky teeth as a kid before I got braces....wondering if he might take after me a bit...

- He has a new habit, when he's sad, sleepy, and hungry, of saying what sounds exactly like "Mom mom mom mom mom mom mom" and I think I've been given a glimpse of my future.

- He thinks his grandpa is the funniest person he's ever met. Angel is also pretty funny but also kind of scary (I agree, Cyrus). I can tell he likes me, because he will play very happily and contentedly until I walk into the room and then all of a sudden he'll start with the "mom mom mom" complaining. Definitely a sign of affection, right?

I often sit back and look at this Cyrus of mine and feel slightly perplexed. I now understand the "tiny human" phrase so much better. I never got why people called babies "tiny humans" until Cyrus and now I get it---he is so very, very human, with a personality and character and strengths and weaknesses. And he is so very, very tiny, too. I mean, he's chubby, but also, very tiny considering that we're used to dealing with much larger humans. It's an interesting combo to live with.

What a marvelous gift! I don't think I've laughed so much in my life as I have in the last nine months. Who knew babies were the best entertainment? Also, maybe when you're sleepy, you're easily amused. Or at least I am.