9 months out

Whoa!  Today Urban Cowbaby has been outside of me for as long as he was inside me!  What's new in the life of our little 9 month old man?  An update:
- this kid's been crawling for ages now and it didn't take him long to begin pulling himself up on anything and everything he could ... in the last 2 weeks, though, he's begun to perfect his cruising abilities and even stands for seconds at a time not holding on to anything at all.  He's a nano-second away from walking, folks!  (eek!)
- he is now the proud owner of 4 teeth and almost 5 with one so close we can see it under the skin ... his second round of teething was much easier on all of us than the first round was and thank goodness for that!
- he regularly yells "mama" when he wants my attention ... I used to think it was a fluke, a random stringing of sounds together but now I'm pretty convinced he's begun to attach meaning to it.  Of course, I can't claim the meaning is always me but sometimes it definitely is.  Urban Cowboy is engaged in "dada" combat but as of yet no "shots have been fired".  (heehee)
- he likes to poo by himself, away from everyone else.  I only mention this because it's really funny.  He started doing this last week ... if you're playing and he has to poo, he will crawl away from you (and stay away - very unusal for this guy) until he's done with his business.  We wonder if this is a good sign toward eventual potty training?
- he's outgrowing his clothes so quickly ... he solidly stayed in the 6 months size for so long that I'm surprised by how quickly he's growing out of his 9 months size clothing.
- he waves on command ... in fact, the other day I was on the phone with my mom and I asked him to say hello to grandma, I was trying to encourage him to talk a little so she could hear him, and he promptly waved to her!  Too funny.
- he rolled a ball (really, it was an egg) back to Urban Cowboy ... seriously, people, Urban Cowboy was rolling the ball/egg back and forth to Urban Cowbaby and then, suddenly, Urban Cowbaby very deliberately rolled it back to Urban Cowboy.  (he does this but, interestingly, doesn't officially clap his hands yet - LOL)
- he gives kisses to me and his favorite toys on command ... but no kisses yet for Urban Cowboy - I blame the facial hair.
- he eats like a champ ... he loves all the orange vegetables and he hasn't refused a fruit yet!  He's not so sure about the green veggies but seems to like spinach right now and we also started giving him yogurt which he is always excited about.
- his hair is still blonde and getting so, so long ... his eyes are a beautiful, heart-melting shade of blue (dark blue outer-rims with medium blue centers flecked with dark blue all throughout) ... his dimples become more prominent with each passing week ... I know I'm biased but I have to say he's just breathtakingly handsome!
- his best feature at 9 months?  Mama and Daddy are still his most favorite people in the whole wide world and he'd rather be with us than anyone else!  I cherish this because while I recognize it makes life difficult for us sometimes (and life difficult for others when they're watching him) I know that sooner than later the day will come when he would rather hang out with his friends or girlfriend or even trees before he will want to hang out with us.  If I cherish his exclusivity with us now, I can remember that once upon a time all he wanted was me and that will make me feel better about the world and his growing up.  (SIGH)
So, if you've made it this far - you know that a) Urban Cowbaby is growing up fast (too fast), b) Urban Cowbaby is the most handsome and smartest and most perfect baby ever and c) Urban Cowgirl is a total sap and a sucker for sentimentality, even after just 9 mere months of motherhood.
*  I wish I had a recent (9 month) picture uploaded ... you'll just have to wait until I do! *