Lots of New Tricks!

AJ has been busy racking up new tricks this month. He is nothing if not exciting and he is definitely keeping Andy and I on our toes! On New Year's Eve day, AJ had his friend JP over for a visit. (JP is our friends' Ryan and Melissa's son) There is a bit of an age difference (JP is closer to 3 mo.) which at this stage makes a HUGE difference in their levels of movement and play, but it is still so fun to get them together. It's funny to think that this 6 month age difference won't even be noticeable as they get older and head to school! Grandma Cheri came in and got to meet JP and before he headed home to sleep through the turn of the new year. She babysat AJ while Mommy and Daddy got to go out to a nice dinner and then to a NYE party...just like before we had kids (well, almost)!

On New Year's Day, we headed over to our friend's place to watch the Illini play in the Rose Bowl. Although they didn't win, AJ was very excited and had on almost every piece of Illinois gear that he owns. He was even reading his Go Illini book in preparation for the big game. He's excited to have a bunch of things with the Chief on them, since the image has now been banned on future clothing and gear (Boo!) and proudly sported his hat that is quickly being outgrown. At his 9 mo. appointment, AJ's head measured > 95th percentile, so outgrowing hats is not an unknown phenomenon in our house!

So, one of AJ's new tricks is to pull up to a stand at every piece of furniture possible. Here he is standing at one of the approved places, his toychest.
Other places he like to pull up are, the couch (OK), the trunk where we keep blankets (OK), the entertainment console (discouraged!), the kitchen cabinets (only OK if latch has been installed!), the island stools (NOT allowed!), and the list goes on...Basically, I have to keep after him and I am trying to become a good distractor so that when he cries that I have moved the stools away from him (again), he can find something else to be equally as interesting. This is a challenge and a skill!

To keep him busy while I try to cook or prepare his meals, I have started to allow him access to some of our kitchen cabinets. AJ loves to pull out the steamer basket and the colander set. He also enjoys lots of our utensils...spoons, whisks, spatulas, etc. It seems like I am always washing something I didn't even use! hahaha!


One more thing that AJ is loving lately is his new suction-bottom plate. I usually fill it with finger foods and let him go at it while I put together the rest of his meal. He is usually so into his finger foods that i have to let him finish before he will allow me to start spoon-feeding him! I think he really enjoys the independence he's gained by becoming a proficient self-feeder. He eats all kinds of things from his plate...pictured are tofu, cheddar cheese, and Veggie Booty (a puff coated with dried vegetable powders), but he also enjoys Cheerios, rice cakes, crackers, freeze-dried fruits, fruit or cooked veggie chunks, etc. Sometimes I give him little chunks of whatever I'm having for lunch, like grilled cheese. He loves to eat what Mommy's eating!