Bobby the Explorer

Bobby keeps getting more mobile and more curious. His most recent expedition was up Mount Sofa to reach the Lightswitches. On the way he was detoured by Water Bottle Junction and the ultimate distraction, Baby Monitor Notch. The couch cushions present a challenging yet forgiving terrain, but given their squishiness, Mom or Dad has to provide a few body parts so he can get a foothold. Fortunately he can't get up onto the couch by himself yet -- since one of us has to lift him up to Base Camp, we can be pretty sure we'll be there to supervise these excursions. For now. Pretty soon he's going to figure out how to climb on top of the step-stool he pushes around the room, and then look out.

In other gross-motor-skills news, he's been standing unassisted for 10 or more seconds at a time. Yesterday at a party we're pretty sure he tried to walk -- unfortunately he was aiming for a tablecloth that (a) wasn't going to provide much support and (b) was probably not going to whisk off gracefully, leaving a table full of party food unscathed. So I caught him. But I hope he wasn't discouraged and will try again soon. I think the novelty of being in a new environment (our neighbors' house) was a motivator -- he's already figured out how to move around our living room. We'll have to find ways to make the living room more challenging.

In honor of Halloween, he's started saying "Boo!" Not in a contextually appropriate way, mind you, but at least it's another consonent.

Mom

Bobby is just getting more entertaining every day.

His favorite new game is to wait until I'm holding him and standing near Roger, and then lean towards Roger as hard as he can. As soon as Roger takes him, Bobby gives him a quick hug and then turns and leans back for me. Then he does it again. He can play this game for ever.

Speaking of hugs (which he's gotten quite good at), most nights the getting-on of jammies requires several hug breaks. More accurately, he needs to stand up and fidget a few times, but giving a hug is often involved. The other night, I suddenly realized that Cuddly Bee (a stuffed bee rattle that is his bedtime companion) was missing. I was in the process of peering over both ends of the changing table, trying to find him, when I heard a slight rattle. I reached back to discover Cuddly Bee on the back of my neck -- Bobby had let go of him mid-hug and, being terrycloth, Cuddly Bee had stayed put.


This past weekend we went to a pumpkin farm with Emilie, Amos, Etta, and two of Amos's friends (ages 4 and 2). The adult-to-child ratio made for a little chaos, but we had a fabulous time. Pony rides, the apple cider press and a pumpkin catapault had their appeal in turn, but the biggest attraction by far was the hay maze, up in the barn's hay loft. Amos and Tilde were old pros. Tristam, being two, needed a little help from Roger. Bobby enjoyed surveying the scene from above, although actually spent most of his time on the sidelines pulling hay out of the bales.

One last story. Yesterday he was playing in his room and I was lying on the floor letting him crawl over me. At one point he was behind me and had a hold of something he shouldn't, so I tried to swap out something safer yet equally enticing. He started to follow the bait, and then stopped and seemed to be fussing with something. I thought he'd gone back to the original forbidden item, so I turned over to intervene. In fact, what had stopped him was his pants -- they'd started to get in his way by falling down, so he just pulled them off!! Such dexterity and problem-solving.

Mom

I woke up a little early yesterday morning about 5:20 which is about half an hour before I usually get up for my run. Bobby was fussing a little (I suspect teeth) and Katy was whispering that he had to quiet down because daddy had a meeting this morning and he needed his sleep. I thought that was pretty sweet. Then I started thinking about how, of course, no one likes hearing their baby cry, but I knew he wasn't really in distress (he was just experimenting). Anyway, overwhelming any minor annoyance of being woken up or distress at hearing him cry, was the feeling that it was very comforting wake up with my son, and hearing his mother whispering to him.

As so often happens, it took an amusing turn when Katy popped up to take him into his room. I asked where she was going and she said she wanted me to get some sleep. Again, very sweet. So she went into his room and continued to whisper to him while he cried. I know about the whispering because she was sitting next to the baby monitor which was turned all the way up in our room - amplifying her voice and Bobby's. I could easily have rolled over and turned it off, but I was laughing too hard. Way way way better than rest for rejuvenate the spirit.

Dad.

Exciting 9-month check-in.

First, the stats: he's 23 pounds, 2 ounces - which is 80th percentile on weight, his head is 47.6 CM - which is 97th percentile, and he's 27 3/4 inches long which is 30th percentile, however, he's quite close to regulation size for a basketball.

The other day I was home, and Bobby hit two significant milestones. First he started saying, "Mom" and "Moma" quite clearly, second he made his first prank call. The poor sucker on the other end... So I saw him playing with the phone - he likes it a lot. And while I was sitting there watching him my cell phone rang with Katy's ring - so I jumped up to answer it, "Hello!, Bobby's saying Mom! Hello? Katy are you there?" Then aside to Bobby, "I think Mommy accidentally dialed daddy and doesn't know her phone is on." Back to the phone Loudly, "HELLO! KATY, PICK UP!" "Bobby, that silly Mommy....wait, I think there's a baby there. Oh." dawning look slight blush appears on Daddy's face, "Bobby, did you call Daddy?" Mom's distinctive ring? well sure, it was our home phone.

Yup, Bobby's first prank call, and it was a pretty good one.

He's cruising around the furniture very effectively, and pushing chairs around as though they were walkers. More importantly, the dogs and cats have moved into the very entertaining toy category, and likewise Bobby is pretty amusing to them - they're all getting along famously. Even as I speak, Scylla is barking furiously because she can't get past the gate to play with him, and he's pushing his exersaucer around and calling, "mom!".

Off to Peps group.

It's a boy!

Well, we've known that for coming on 10 months now, but check this out:



He's really started actively interacting with the dogs, but this is WAY more than I expected. Scylla's pretty obsessed with this game: I throw the ball and she catches it, then drops it back on the couch for me to throw again. Bobby happened to be sitting next to me, so when Scylla dropped the ball, he batted it a few times, then knocked it over to her. She picked it up, danced, and gave it back. It was wonderful - boy playing catch with dog.

Roger