Nine months

Lincoln,

It's so exciting to watch you learn and grow every month! At nine months...

You can get to pretty much anywhere you want to go. Mostly you scoot on your bottom. You will pull up on anything and everything, even if it has no change of keeping you balanced. This has gotten you a few bumps on the head when you choose things like the lazy susan cabinet in the kitchen! You also like to cruise around furniture and from one piece of furniture to another, and you're pretty good at sitting down from standing rather than falling or tipping over. Laps around the ottoman are lots of fun! Yesterday morning I walked into your room and found you sitting up!You can easily push yourself up to a sitting position all of the sudden. We promptly moved your crib down to the lowest setting.

Wrestling with mommy and daddy is a favorite activity, and you like to "play" piano. Animal sounds always make you smile. When we say, "The lion says..." you will usually pipe in with your version of a "roar!" You are such a joyful kid. You just laugh and laugh, and once you get going it's hard to stop.

The day after Thanksgiving you broke out in a rash all over your face, then your entire body was red. You had Fifth Disease, which took well over a week to clear up. I didn't even know such a thing existed! You looked absolutely miserable but didn't really act any differently.

This month you took a trip to the ophthalmologist. He said that your tear duct will probably not open on its own at this point, so we scheduled surgery for January 9. We're still massaging with hopes that it could, but we're also preparing ourselves for the procedure. It's pretty routine and this doctor has a great success rate, but general anesthesia is always hard for parents to swallow. Thankfully that will only be about 15 minutes. We're betting the worst part will be going from midnight to after surgery without filling your belly!

You just got your first tooth! (Finally!) You had a fever one day and were just a bit more fussy for a couple days, but for the most part you didn't seem to be too bothered by it. Fingers crossed that this trend continues!

Weight: 20 lbs., 6 oz. (50th percentile)
Height: 29.1" (78th percentile)
Head: 18" (82nd percentile)

Meal time is still one of the best times of your day. (Okay, who am I kidding? All day long is the best time of your day.) Favorites right now are oranges, grapefruit, chicken, and carbs. You definitely have some Klaassen in you!

Your first Christmas is just days away. We are excited to share that with you!