9 Months Old

Nine whole months! He's been out as long as he's been growing inside me. So crazy! He is growing fast and learning new things every day. At his nine month appointment he weighed 16 lbs 9 oz (6%, woohoo he's moving up!), is 27.5 inches long (17%), and still has a bigger head at 46.5 cm (88%).

Stockton had a couple of firsts this month!

We took him to his first Jazz game and he was a champ. He did so well, but it definitely wore him out. He fell asleep the second we got in the car and stayed asleep when we transferred him to his crib.

Stockton saw and felt his first snow of the season. I took him outside in the morning so he could touch it. He wasn't to sure what to make of it, but I love showing him new things.

Stockton also cut through his first tooth on November 22. It was the bottom left one, and the right one cut through a couple of days later. Now that they are both through it makes him look so much older. His smile is adorable!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Nathan's parents new house. Stockton enjoyed eating some pear, sweet potatoes, stuffing, roll, and turkey. It was quite the little feast for him. He also had fun playing with his little cousins.

The beginning of the Christmas season has been so fun. We took Stockton to see the lights at Temple Square with our friends the Alatorres. It was cold, but I think he liked looking at all of the lights. Putting up our Christmas decorations was magical. Stockton loved the lights on the tree and the train. We put him in the middle of it and he would chase the train around in the circle.

We celebrated 2nd Advent with my family at my parents and Stockton had his first encounter with Santa Claus. He had just woken up from a nap so he wasn't to sure about him. He cried a little bit... but it wasn't bad. Stock was just a little uneasy about him.

St. Nicholas came to our house on the night of the 5th and left Stockton some sweet gifts. Stockton got a pear, some Puffs, and a Christmas book. He thought the Puffs were pretty cool since they looked like penguins, and of course he loved the book. He also got a cute book from his Aunt Karissa about Santa Claus coming to Utah.

Stockton has started to do some adorable new things this month. He is cruising (He's pretty proud of himself and always has a big smile while he's moving.) and pulls himself up to standing whenever he can. He splashes in the tub and plays with his toys. Bath time is definitely one of his favorite things. As soon as he hears the water turn on for the bath, he comes crawling as fast as he can with a big smile on his face! Stockton has started to have a playful scream when we play with him and we are being kind of crazy.

Nathan's favorite new thing that Stockton does now is him saying "dada". He says it all the time! "Dad! dada dada.... da. Dad. Da. Da. Da" We love it! We are trying to teach him "uh oh" since he loves the dropping game. So far he says "uh..." Ha, we'll get there. But next we are going work on saying "Mom".

At 9 Months Stockton:

• Is pulling himself up on everything and cruising along the couch.
• Explores everywhere around the house and loves to crawl.
• Taught himself a new trick, shimmying! 
• Loves to splash in the bath. Bath time is his favorite!
• Squeals and playfully screams when dad flies him around the house.
• Says Dada All. The. Time. And is learning to say uh oh. (He says uh....) 
• Got both of his bottom teeth. 

8 Months Old

Holy cow! I feel like Stockton started crawling out of no where. He went from us putting him in the crawling position, to him getting himself up on all fours, to army crawling, and then crawling within a week or so. He loves his new found freedom and I love that he follows us around the house. The object that got him most motivated to crawl and move forward was a silly little cardboard Jazz coaster. Super random, but he wanted it bad enough to start crawling.

Since Stockton has learned to crawl, we lowered his crib. He's getting so big! He has also taught himself how to get in the sitting position all by himself. It was a cute surprise when I went in to get him after a nap and he was sitting there smiling all proud of himself.

We've had a lot of fun this month. We went to another pumpkin patch with our friends the Alatorres. It was so much fun to go on a little hay ride and pick out our pumpkins from the field instead of a box at the store. At home, we played in Stockton's first leaf pile and picked our first little pumpkin that we grew.

During the Fall we also took some family pictures! I LOVE how they turned out!

For Stockton's first Halloween he dressed up in two costumes. His Aunt Amy gave him a cute Superman costume that his cousin Anthony wore when he was a baby. It was so cute! Nathan and I dressed up in Super attire as well to match and we went to Chipotle for dinner with Nathan's parents and sister Meg and her kids.

Then we changed Stockton into his second costume, which was an adorable penguin suit from my mom. And of course, I had Nathan and I dress to match. We took Stockton to visit his Oma and Opa, my parents, for his first Trick or Treating experience. He had no clue what was going on, but it was fun anyway. His favorite thing he got was a little pumpkin flashlight. We then went to a couple of houses in our neighborhood and ended the night with Cranberry Cider and donuts at our place with Nathan's family.

At 8 Months Stockton:

• Is crawling! And can go from sitting to crawling to sitting all on his own.
• Has had his crib lowered
• Loves to play peekaboo (Especially while he's standing on the couch looking over trying to find one of us.)
• Gets excited when dad walks through the door home from work
• Sometimes will give mom kisses. (It's so cute!)
• Does not hold still for diaper changes anymore...
• Enjoys eating lemons and limes. Seriously, he loves them!
• Is starting to get his two bottom teeth.