Cliff’s 9th Month Recap, 1st Christmas, and a Blessed New Year Ahead

So it’s been a while! [Sorry!] I am so very happy to announce that my whirlwind life recently slowed down a bit due to a tremendous blessing; As of Dec. 17, I am officially a part-time stay at home mommy and now a part-time (previously a full-time) employee at the same, not-for-profit ministry I have always loved! Cliff just turned 10 months old the other day and so here is what he looks like now:

It’s time to recap his 9th month, especially because this month was filled with some of his biggest breakthroughs yet!

At 9 months and 1 week, he took his first steps: 3-4 in a row and then fell down. Repeat, repeat, repeat (times a million.) Then by 9 months and 3 weeks, he was walking like a semi-pro and by 10 months, a pro!

He also start waving at about 9 and a half months. I took him shopping with me and he was literally showing off waving to every stranger who passed us by or person he noticed across the parking lot. The little guy has never met a stranger and I admire that about him. A Cliff wave involves an extended, striaght arm, a locked elbow, and the opening and closing of the hand with spread out starfish fingers.

Here are a few of his favorite words of the month:

Bye bye (said when waving)
Bye bye da da (sometimes when waving to his dad and other times just randomly)
Birdy (because we have a pet bird, so clearly he is obsessed. This was his first word, actually!)
Da da (his fav!!)
Mama (not so much his fav…but he does happily say it occasionally and he definitely says it and cries it when he really needs something – so sweet that he knows I mean results.)
Books (whispered like book-kssssss as he reaches toward his wall book rack, usually right after a bottle)
What is? (said like whattisss)
Christmas tree (said like kissmiss tee)
Pretty (always whispered, said with arm reached out at a pretty thing, i.e. a light fixture, diamond, or one of my moms quilts. Once he reached toward my face and whispered “pretty” and, whether he meant it or not, it melted my heart.)
Bottle/ba ba

Here are some highlights of his 9th month in pictures:

Grandma and I took Cliff to get his first pair of walking shoes at Stride Rite. (Note the shoeless feet – this is the before pic!)

Trying to decide….

And here is the after pic! My dad and mom generously purchased Cliff’s first pair of real shoes because this is a tradition that my grandpa and grandma Nowak began and did with us when my brother and I were babies. So sweet.

The kid absolutely loves bath time!

And now he is Curious Cliff, wanting to explore and get in to EVERYTHING!

“This wasn’t here yesterday…whattissss??”

“Seriously, y’all. There’s a TREE in our living room.”
LOVES this toy that used to belong to Sadie (our beloved, childhood and family pet who past away in March of this year. R.I.P. sweet Sadie.)

And here is the Christmas recap. We had a wonderful 1st Christmas with Cliff!….we did have one big challenge, however. We were sick, sick, SICK. Cliff got his first BAD cold the Thursday before Christmas and it kept up for about a week. On Christmas, he was feeling just a little better and the fever was down, although Uncle David and Memaw diagnosed him with an ear infection and bronchitis and so I’m sure he wasn’t feeling 100%. At this point, I was really starting to get sick and then Roy followed suit a few days later. (A thought I kept thinking was, “how does one ever not get sick if his/her infant is sick?” I mean, seriously, is it possible??) Yet, much fun was still had by all. Because I did not feel well on Christmas day, I failed to take any pictures at my in-law’s house (although I did manage to take some great movie footage!) Thankfully, Cliff’s Uncle Christopher emailed me these sweet pictures taken of the two of them at the party: