Well, yesterday was Jake's 9-month birthday, and he's now officially been out longer than he was in, and that bums me out a little. I miss my teeny little guy sometimes (well, he was never teeny, but he was smaller). On the other hand, he is a lot of fun these days.

Here we are down on Edisto, and we're having fun with my family and the puppy dogs. Just in the last week, Jake's learned to kneel- he sits back on his haunches- and to climb stairs. We tried to teach him at home on the carpeted stairs, but he hasn't been interested. It turns out that what he needed was hardwood stairs, and ME to be upstairs to give him something to strive for! Also, he's started saying a lot more "g" sounds, like "gagagaga" and the occasional "goo". It's pretty cute.

He's the star of the island, no matter where we go. Well, that's understandable, he's probably the cutest baby ever. :D

9 month check up

Jake had his 9 month check up last month, and is doing A-OK. He's down to the 75th percentile, with weight at 22lbs and height at 28.5 inches. Since that's only a half-pound more than he was three months ago and an inch and a half shorter than the last time we measured him, I'm going to call bunk. I know that he's moving around a lot more, but I think he's put on more than a half pound. And he's closer to 30 inches than 28.5. Phsaw, what do those "doctors" know, anyhow? :)

So yep, he's crawling everywhere, and climbing, and pulling himself up to get at things on tables, just in case there's anything to eat up there. He won't know until he tries! We're down in SC right now, having a great time, and he tried to climb the stairs today! And by "tried" I mean "succeeded". Thank goodness Muz was there to stop him! The little guy heard me talking upstairs and decided that he wanted to get to me- he got up 4 steps!

Our adventures continue!

Jake has 4 teeth!


Some other cute recent shots:

Well, we had to lower Jacob's crib mattress, since he now is a little standing machine! I also saw him crawling (for real) yesterday! I cannot believe how fast everything's happening with his development- I can't wait to see what the doctor says next week.

I swear, soon we'll get video of all this, I promise.

We had a scare the other day- we think Jake ate a screw. Well, he ate something bad (lots of crying, coughing, some vomit), and there were a few screws lying around... so we're watching him carefully, and so far he seems OK. Feeding him lots of little bread pieces and prunes! "This too shall pass"... hopefully. :)

Jake's 9 month appointment is next week, and I can't believe how much he's grown. We'll find out the specifics next week, but he's certainly advancing well. His top two teeth are coming in gangbusters, and the little bugger *really* knows how to bite!! His pincher grasp is very advanced- between that and the biting, I have bruises all up and down my arms, no lie.

He's really crawling everywhere now, army-style. Well, I think it makes him look more like a baby lizard than an army guy, but he's definitely mobile. He's also putting everything in his mouth- "Don't eat that, please" is fast becoming our most-spoken phrase. If he's crawling around (like right now), and goes quiet for a moment or two, Andrew and I both jump up and run to him, assuming he's found something to try to eat!

He frequently gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, although he's not crawling like that yet. However, he *just* started to use that position to sit up! We've caught him a few times doing it- he gets on his hands and knees, and then swings one leg under his butt, and ta-da! It's a big deal, but we'll have to lower his crib mattress soon, I guess. He's also really enjoying standing, and can do it with only one hand on the piece of furniture of his choice. Only once has he pulled himself into a standing position, but we know it's just a matter of time.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go figure out what he's got in his mouth, and then get him ready for bed.

Well, so much has been going on lately, we haven't had time to post! Before I get into how JKL is doing, here's some recent photos of our cute little guy:

For Father's Day, Jake got Andrew a piano. OK, I'm kidding. Jake helped me set up Andrew's keyboard, guitar, and other instruments in the dining room, out in the open. We figured that if Jake saw Andrew playing music frequently, his own musical abilities would blossom. I don't know if it's working, but Jake sure does love pounding on his own piano while Daddy's playing his.


Here's a few of Jake making fantastic faces:





And one from our recent Lee family extravaganza: Jake with Nana, Auntie Laura, and his one and only cousin, the fabulous Sabrina!