9 month portraits

It has been a few days since we took his 9 month pictures, but I'm finally posting them. I have been wanting to get pictures of Andrew wearing just a diaper and daddy's necktie with his computer and a phone since Andrew was sitting up. I haven't had a chance until now.

In other news.. Andrew is starting to 'cruise' around. Just a little bit.. he is still cautious. Cruising is when he stands up and walks while holding on to something - like the new couch, or his crib rails. He still prefers to sit down, crawl to the next point of interest, and stand back up.  Today I bought two new toys for him to encourage standing and walking. One is a little activity table, and the other is a little push toy that I guess is supposed to be an old fashioned mailbox. He was interested in them at the consignment store, but not so much once we got home. Another hour or so and he started standing up at the activity table. As for the push-mailbox, he is more interested in sitting and playing with the wheels. I did walk him down the hallway with it to give him the idea.. it will come with time. No hurry certainly. 

For lunch today, we went to a Japanese sushi buffet. I wasn't interested in the sushi so I ate other random things. Andrew had been really grumpy this morning (as was I since he had me up at 2am, 4am, and ready to go at 6am.) I thought getting out of the house would be good for him.. and I was right. He had a blast! First the kid store, and then lunch! He loves to eat. The waiter took to him too. He sat next to the high chair and played with him, asked if he could hold him, walked around to a couple of other tables with him. Andrew was enjoying every minute of it. He was also fascinated by the Japanese family sitting a couple of tables away. When we first sat down, Andrew was just having fun at our table. When the family started speaking in Japanese, he whipped his head around and just stared.. and stared.. and smiled and stared. Everyone there was really nice and didn't seem bothered by sitting near a baby. He wasn't loud. But he did turn himself sideways in his chair so he could stare at the Japanese family.. and then he'd turn, grab some food off the table, shove it in his mouth and go back to staring. lol Such a cutie.

He got a little cat nap in the car on the way home which meant I wasn't going to get a chance to nap this afternoon at all. I have been suffering from sheer exhaustion lately. It literally seems difficult to just walk - never mind pick him up, do our usual activities, cook, clean, etc. But I'm sticking it out and doing my best. I'm so grateful to have a good kid - even as busy as he is and as tired as I am - it certainly could be worse.  Tonight he ate a ton of food.. and then fell asleep during his bedtime bottle. When I put him in his crib though - he tried to pretend he wasn't tired and immediately sat up and started chatting. But sleep prevailed.. he was out in less than 10 minutes. He's so funny.. he'll be dozing and if you ask, "are you going to sleep?" It is like he jolts and tries to be more alert so he doesn't fall asleep.