i am joel and i am 9 months old!

i turned 9 months old last saturday. and of course it wouldn't pass without our family celebration and food. that saturday, dad prepared a special paella with lobster and they bought me a boston cream cake topped with 9 lil candles, which i was able to partake with them, finally!


but before we feasted on our sumptuous dinner, we did some photo shoot like always. since it's almost summer, we had it in our backyard. here are some of the shots.

more pics here
then just before we called it a night, i helped my dad build a new toy - a push walker-slash-bike. as it claims, it would help me in developing my walking skills. but boy was it too fast i fell down quite a number of times. hence, my dad had to support the walker whilst i push it.



today is another story. this afternoon, we were scheduled for my 9th month well baby check up, so all three of us headed to st. alphonsus to see dr. womack. i enjoyed looking at the fishies from the aquarium at the waiting area until my name was called.


as usual, i wailed as soon as they laid me down on the weighing scale. i really hate that scale! from my vitals, i am at the 55th percentile for my weight (at 18.8lbs) and 50th for my height (at 28 inches). my head circumference is still at the 25th. not bad eh? moreover, based on the 8th month skills questionnaire that my parents filled up (when i was 8th months old of course) and dr. womack assessed, i scored way above normal, almost perfect actually. talk about an overachiever! haha. the only thing that made me happy on this check up though is that there were no shots at all! this is the only well baby check up without needles as per dr. womack. how neat was that?!

so how am i now that i am 9 months old? ... let's start with baby center's 9 month old milestones.

i scored 3 out of 3 for the mastered skills (and i have discussed those from past monthly updates so i won't bore you anymore with those details).

for the emerging skills: i do try to cruise while holding onto furniture or in my case, my fence (and yeah, the sofa). but most often, i'd crawl since i am a tad bit of a scaredy cat. coz you already know that i can crawl forward on all my fours now right? and since i do it faster now, i'd rather crawl :D. here's one video of how i crawl taken during the start of the month of may. compare it with this and this when i was playing "habulan" with my dad.

i do drink from a sippy cup. but often i'd just play with it. i prefer my strawed cup instead. yeah i play with that too, but at least i can drink water or juices from that better than the sippy cup. i also eat with my finger now. i still am a primadonna so i still want mom or dad to feed me, but i get cheered on everytime i do the pincer grasp and successfully put the food in my mouth. so expect me clapping everytime i get that food in my mouth, as in everytime! hahaha. and lastly i do bang objects together. normally when i am holding objects with both hands.

under the advanced skills we have playing patty-cake and peek-a-boo. and play, i do! i have preference over peek-a -boo though. and i'd do it with everything, my bib, my shirts, my toys. whatever's in front of me or i am holding i'd put it on top of my face, then off, while my mom or dad says peek-a-boo! and mom had no luck catching this on video since i'd stop playing whenever i'd see the camera on. hahaha. lastly, i say "ma-mei" and "dada" to the correct parent. i don't always call them that though.

more skills and developments? read further as i have listed down a few more ...

1. i now stand by myself and balance while standing without support. and i try to stay in that position for a long time. i don't mind falling actually, i have too much butt padding. thanks to my diaper!

2. i now have 3 teeth! finally, my upper tooth came out! my mom brushes my teeth, all 3 of them, seriously now.

3. i love walking while both my hands are being held by mom or dad.

4. i have tried to climb our stairs using all fours and was able to reach the end.

5. i have finally learned how to do the "close-open", but i still don't do it if i don't feel like it. talk about attitude!

6. i have started to develop some fears and have fallen into stranger anxiety a dozen times. i am one scaredy cat, a "duwakang"!

7. i dance better now. if you call this kind of dancing better. heehee.


8. i have become more and more expressive of my feelings. i am more "malambing" now, and much more bubbly and giggly. and at the completely opposite end, i have also become more "maldita" specially when i want something and couldn't get it. and if my parents say "NO", i would often shake my head in disapproval and rasperry after (a video of my raspberries). yeah, the makings of a bratinella! hehehe.

9. i eat more table food now, not only at home but also whenever we dine out (thank God, finally!). and oh my, they taste soooo gooood! i still eat mom's homemade baby food and the boxed and jarred stage 3 ones. i eat anything placed in my mouth anyway, heehee. i love anything chunky. i like to chew a lot. and i specially love being able to bite through big pieces of fresh fruits. and i also love snacking, now that i can feed myself finger foods (another video here).



still with me? if you are, then you're free to look through my pics over the course of one month! here are my month 8 to 9 pictures!

wow, i can't believe that i am only just 3 months away from becoming a toddler! weepee!