9 months old!

9 months, wow. 9 months ago Gabriel was just a little newborn and 9 months before that he was a tiny miracle beginning to form. The 9 months post pregnancy have definitely seemed to go faster than the 9 months of pregnancy. It has been more of a blur but far more enjoyable too.

It has been a mellow month that has flown by! Gabriel started only waking once in the night after cutting the other incisor lateral (now has 6 teeth). However towards the end of the month he began waking more frequently again when a large bump on the bottom became even more prominent. Some babies don't lose any sleep while teething but ours does and we've just come to accept that it is him and have stopped beating ourselves up about it.

Gabriel has gotten noticeably taller this month and with the increase of solids he's beefed up a little more too. His 18mo pants still only fit the waist when he's in a bulky cloth diaper though.

We're still army crawling but time on knees and plank continues to increase. Gabriel has been sitting independently for a few months now but his balancing still needed quite a bit of fine tuning up until this point. Now he's working on going from sitting to his belly without smashing his face into the floor. His length has really made these actions slightly more difficult with his center of gravity being higher off the ground. He's getting there at a rate that is just right for him!

Sign language on the other hand is starting to be picked up! On occasion he'll say 'more' or 'all done.'

He gets sillier and sillier as he gets older but definitely seems to be a quiet and gentle soul thus far. Everyone continues to comment and be amazed at how mellow and easy going he is. He also continues to love his cuddles and one on one time. Even when he is on the floor he'd rather be at my feet as I cook than play with his toys. He also started reaching for either of us when being held.

The stranger danger isn't as bad as it used to be, thank goodness. He's still leery but at least lets people talk to him and sometimes hold him. Hoping we continue on this trend of being comfortable with strangers when looking toward heading home and getting reacquainted with family and friends.

Gabriel loves playing in the curtains and tries to play 'peek-a-boo.' Last night as I was showing Chris the following video Gabriel started laughing and pumping his arms! It was very obvious that he recognized himself and loved it.

Next month is going to be a big one with the move back to the US and dealing with jet leg and the works. That should be a fun update.