Almost 9 months

Shosei will be 9 months next Tuesday.  Let's see what he can do now and what his likes and dislikes are.

He can sit up straight without support for a long time and plays with toys on the floor contently for some time.  But when he gets angry or fussy, he sometimes just slams his body backwards, down into the cushion that surrounds him while he sits.  Unfortunately, he had to experience the pain of 'no cushion' because most of time now, he can pivot his buttocks to the floor but move his body around and reach for new toys from around the mat.  He can't crawl yet, but he can move from one point of the mat to different areas while keeping his butt on the ground.  He reaches for a toy, then sits back down in a different area than where he was originally sitting. 

He just recently discovered a drawer in the coffee table can slide out and boy, was he happy about his discovery!  He instantly put things that don't belong in his mouth up to his lips. 

When I sing him a song that includes actions such as clapping, he can now open his fists wide and flat and he can put his hands together to form a 'phlat, phlat' sound with my help.  He likes making noise with hard toys.  He likes to drop things on the floor and hear them clang and bang and then he picks them up again and drops it some more.  I have taken away the hard toys and replaced them with soft ones, because I'm afraid the noise is heard in the room below us in our condo.  :(

When he eats baby food that he enjoys, he goes 'Aaaah-Mmmmm, aaaahhh-mmmmm' while he chews.  Recently, he likes to eat tofu and taro root miso soup, cucumber mush, and of course he can't get enough of the bananas and milk.  I hope to start him up finally on eating meals 3 times a day now.  Eating more meals will help him eventually wean off his milk consumption! 

Shosei still likes his nightly baths that Daddy gives him.  He recently found out that splashing with his legs produces water droplets to fall onto his face.  He likes playing with household items such as the remote control, magazines, the curtains(especially on a windy day), the diaper tissue box, and towels.  I use one clean towel every day and he loves to rub his face in it and smell it.  He seems to find comfort when he falls asleep  with a towel or a blanket on his nose and mouth.  Funny that is the way his Daddy likes to fall sleep.  He doesn't like to sleep by himself in his crib and rather 'sleeps like a baby' if I let him sleep next to me on the big bed.

I hope and pray that he keeps on growing happily and in good health.  I thank my friends and family for all their support.  It has been an eye opening, crazy, and wonderful 9 months of parenthood.