Happy 9-month birthday!

Ian is now 9 months old!

Latest stats:
Height: 30 inches (97th percentile)
Weight: 23 lb. 10 oz. (90th percentile)
Number of teeth: 6
Biggest accomplishments: crawling & eating finger food
Descriptors: opinionated, determined, interactive

Video in Blogger

Okay, as we're trying to figure out the best way to post our videos, here's the video in Blogger, too (the old way)! :)

For those of you who use Youtube, how do we not make people have to accept our friend request?? Do we just not make our video "private"? Thanks for your help and patience, everyone!

Here is the same video we posted in the last post:

Ian is CRAWLING!

Congratulations to ALICESON who was the closest (okay ... only!) participant in our "Guess When Ian Will Crawl" contest. She was pretty darn close with her guess of Valentine's Day. Ian started crawling on February 11th. Aliceson, you'll receive your (autographed?) photo of Ian shortly. :)

Ian can now crawl the length of a room. He is especially motivated by the cordless phone and the ball popper (as you will see in the video). Sorry that the video is a little blurry. We're hoping that posting videos through youtube will make them easier for everyone to view. Let us know!

Can you view our videos?

A couple of people have mentioned that they've had difficulty loading our videos (as in ... the videos aren't showing up AT ALL on their computers). Are there others of you that CAN see them? Any of you techies have a clue about what the problem might be?

Shoelaces & Copying Momma...A Nice Video

Ian is almost nine months old. He is getting more and more fun each day.

Crawling...Oh So Close [Video]

Well...Ian is able to move forward now. True crawling is the next step for this little guy.

Accomplishments [VIDEO]

Ian is starting to partner actions with words. Whenever we say "yay," Ian claps his hands. Also, Momma captured the very first time that Ian went from rolling around on the ground to sitting up on his own again.

Lawn Mower Video

Daddy and Ian will work together this summer to tackle the mowing responsibilities. Daddy really likes all of the colors on Ian's mower, so the two of them might spend some time painting Daddy's mower to match Ian's.

Just Having Fun

Ian sporting his "I Love Soccer" shirt--we are looking forward to using the soccer ball from Aunt Sarah and Uncle Andrew over the next few months.
Ahh...comfy couch!
"Do you like my hat from Uncle Andy and Aunt Beth?" Ian
"I'm not sure this scratching of the head thing works when I am confused, especially when I am trying to figure out how to put these plastic shapes into my elephant shape-sorter." Ian

Laundry Time

Ian enjoys helping Momma put the laundry away (translation--Ian enjoys pulling all of the neatly folded clothes out of the basket and tossing them on the floor).
Ian's characteristic "laundry helping" face. Cute kid!

Bathtime Fun [VIDEO]

Wow...give Ian a bathtub full of water and you need to post "Warning: Splash Zone" signs. He loves taking baths and has recently discovered that he can really move a lot of water by splashing.

Matt's Birthday

Momma and Ian came to visit Daddy at his school on Tuesday. Here, Daddy is instructing Ian in the art of hiding the walkie-talkie behind the wonderful chocolate chip cookies and brownies that Momma made for Daddy's faculty.
Momma made Daddy his favorite kind of birthday cake: yellow cake with chocolate frosting. We enjoyed some good 'ole Texas BBQ food from a restaurant before diving into the wonderful cake. Daddy really enjoyed all of the surprises that Momma and Ian had worked up for his birthday, and he also really loved talking to his family members on the phone on his special day.

Playing in the Kitchen

Ian enjoys playing with traditional toys as well as lots of kitchen gadgets and containers. By far, Ian's favorite kitchen item is the whisk.

Some New Foods

Ian is getting better at feeding himself toast and the "melt-in-your-mouth" puffs (video below). He would be more than willing to grab the prunes (pictured above) and stick those in his mouth, but it is a lot neater to feed these to him with a spoon.