ChristinelovesChristine: 8 Months Old and 9 Months Old

Ariy turned 9 months on December 20th. In the midst of holiday craziness and the one of the busiest work weeks for me, I missed writing an 8 month post. Since we just passed his 9 month bday, I decided to combine posts. So here it goes:

Ariy is a big boy. He weighs 21 lbs and some oz. He actually dropped down to the 50% for weight but still a little chunker.
He also is very long - currently he wears anything from 6 months to 12 months but mostly 9 to 12 month clothing. He is 29 inches.
Ariy is trying more and more food buts likes his tried and true - he loves bananas. He is also starting to eat puffs and teething crackers. Just recently he has tried a handful of new finger foods including pasta, cottage cheese, cubed cheese, turkey, cubed sweet potato, broccoli, and tofu.
Ariy loves to play with people. He still loves new faces and is always great with other people. He also LOVES kids.
Although he loves other people, if mommy is around that is who he prefers. He is starting to show some separation anxiety but is always happy to play and be with others when mommy isn't in view.
Just recently Ariy has started to be able to get around a bit more. He still can't crawl but he can roll like a champ, sit up on his own, pull himself up and scooch. Although he seems more than capable of crawling he is not interested. His FAVORITE thing to do is walk around with you holding his hands.
Ariy makes lots of noises but not a lot of coherent sounds. The closest he has come is to mimicking (or accidently) saying something that sounds like "hi" and "yeah."
At his 9 month appointment, Ariy failed 3 of his 5 development milestones (a questionnaire I had to fill out). By the end of the appointment the Doctor said she wasn't worried at all. He is clearly understanding things, he can communicate what he wants (walk, eat, be held) and he is just a busy guy interested in everything and everyone around him.

Just last night, we went to Red Robin with my good friend Lara. She surprised me by flying out here all the way from NY. It was awesome and I think Rick plans to blog about it soon. Anyway, Red Robin himself made and appearance and Ariy was just so intrigued. He was off at the next table over taking a picture with some kids. Ariy, who is usually fairly quiet, gave a good squeal and yell to try and get the birds attention. He eventually came over and Ariy just smiled and held his hand and felt his beak. The Red Robin babysitter, the staff who walks them around so they don't trip and fall, was shocked at how comfortable such a young baby was with a huge red robin. She said most kids that age are afraid. I had to eventually peel Ariy's fingers off the bird so other kids could enjoy him too. We love are friendly happy baby.

On a side note, Lara was off hiding in the bathroom because she was terrified of the bird. No joke. My 9 month showed her up.

A few pics...