My little baby turned 9 months old this week.

At 9 months, Max is:

Crawling everywhere.

He Army crawls, meaning his belly scrapes along on the floor while he pushes with his feet and pulls with his arms. He gets anywhere he wants and he gets there quickly. Especially if it involves the dog’s water bowl. As Mark says, we have known for months that Max has wanted to be on the go. And now that he can, he wants to go everywhere RIGHT NOW.

He idolizes his sister. He watches her constantly and giggles at her all the time. She usually is incredibly patient and kind with him (but only when she feels like it). I didn’t prompt her to put her arm around him in this picture. She just cuddled right up to him. My sweet babies.

But…he gets angry with his sister when she tries to take his toys away or when she otherwise tries to direct him in the way of a bossy 2-year-old. I understand his frustrations. I share some of them. I see lots of battles in their future.

He will eat anything.

Maxie still has no teeth, but that doesn’t stop him. He eats his lunch and then finishes his sister’s. Then he wants more. Among his favorites: frozen blueberries, macaroni and cheese, bananas, and Cheerios. But really he eats anything that we give him. This kid is not a picky eater.

He weighs 27.8 pounds. Zoe, who is 23 months older than him, weighs 25 pounds. Max is wearing 2T clothes (sized for an average 2-year-old). Zoe is now wearing his hand-me-downs. I’m not kidding.

He sleeps OK. Zoe was an amazing sleeper, going 14 hours at a stretch at Max’s age. I’d have to fight to keep her awake until Mark came home from work to tell her goodnight. So we were spoiled. Max, meanwhile, is more typical. He stays up until around 8, the same time his sister goes to bed. He gets up at 6:30 most mornings.

I can’t wait for him to start sleeping in.

Max is our cheerful little peanut. He laughs out loud when his sister sneezes. He loves being flipped upside down on my lap. He belly laughs while rolling a ball back and forth with his daddy. He giggles at the cat. He’s generally happy unless he is hungry or tired.

He looks exactly like his father. There’s no denying the Murphy in this kid. I just hope he has Mark’s personality too.

Maxie is our sweet little cuddle bug. He’s such an important part of our family and we love him and his sweet little smile more every day. Happy nine months to my baby boy!