Everett Holden at Nine Months Old

 What can I say about this sweet, nine-month-old, squishy bundle of awesomeness?

For starters, his smile is like bottled sunshine.  Seriously.  How can you see this squinty-eyed smile and not just grin right back?

  

His fat rolls, as I predicted, look delectable in a vintage seersucker sun suit.

He is a perfect little brother, tolerating all of Kaden's attention, even when it's less than gentle.

And, surprisingly, with very little protest.  Seriously.  An encounter drew blood today, and in less than five seconds he was over it.

Maybe he is being prepared for a future in contact sports.

At nine months old, Everett . . .

Is a crawling fiend.  He is so fast.  He can get from point A to a more dangerous/hazardous point B with such speed and dexterity that I am definitely exhausted by the end of the day.  I spend most of his waking hours chasing after him, attempting to save him from impending doom.  Some of his favorite recent discoveries include, but are not limited to the following:  light sockets, electrical cords, the cabinet under the kitchen sink (filled with all kinds of cleaners, the garbage disposal, and other treasures), the off button on the computer, magazines (which he loves to shred, then taste test), and the tiny, perfectly choke-hazardous-sized door stoppers.

Has figured out how to start climbing the stairs.  Allow me to rephrase that in this way:  life as we know it is now over.

Can pull himself to standing and does this frequently.  He's even gotten brave and let go a few times and stood for a second or two, before chickening out and plopping back onto his bottom.  This has led to a few bumps and bruises, but nothing too terrible thus far.

Learned to clap his hands and loves to do this on command, with a big grin on his face.

Gets SUPER excited when Daddy comes home.
  

Has the loudest, most obnoxious scream when he gets angry.  We call it his Pterodactyl scream.  Not that we've ever heard this prehistoric flying creature's animal sound, but I'm pretty sure it sounded just like Everett does when he's mad.  We thought Everett was going to be our laid back blessing, after the challenge of Kade's strong will.  Alas, it seems Everett's going to have a stubborn streak of his own.  Occasions when he busts out the Pterodactyl scream include, but are not limited to the following:  when Kaden steals a toy he wants, when I move him away from something dangerous that he wants, when we aren't shoveling food (that he wants) onto his high chair tray fast enough, when we put him down for bed, and anytime he is overtired and needs a nap.  But he saves the best ones for church on Sunday, when it's nice and quiet.  

Is still very much a Mommy's boy, but has expanded his love circle a bit.

 Is an amazing eater. Pad Thai?  "Why yes, I think I'll have some."  Lime-zested sweet potatoes?  "These are scrumptious, bring me some more before I start Pterodactyl screaming."  His absolute favorite food right now seems to be fresh mandarin oranges.  I think he'd eat a dozen a day if I let him.
 

Starts shaking and opening and closing his hands as fast as he can when he sees something he wants.  It's hysterical.  He does this about lots of things, but most often when he's in the high chair anticipating a meal.

Fought like the dickens to earn his two bottom teeth.  We had several sad nights and super fussy days before those two suckers finally popped through.  His two top teeth are almost in, too, which means he's going to lose that gummy smile all together.  He's looking less and less like a baby these days.  I know I'm going to blink and he's going to turn into a big boy.

Does a great job sleeping through the night, unless we have company or are visiting somewhere.  He then decides to wake up at 2 a.m. and have a play date.  With me.  It's like he knows I can't let him cry it out when there's company to be disturbed.  Already manipulating the system at nine months old!  He also likes to have someone watch him fall asleep.  He'll cry after we put him down, then a few minutes later one of us will go in to pat his back and stroke his cheek for a bit.  He freaks out when we leave again, but usually calms right down and falls asleep soon after.

He's still a less than stellar napper, but we are getting two naps a day now pretty consistently, which I consider a victory.  A lot of the time he is still nursing to sleep. (A big no, no, I know, but I've embraced a new parenting philosophy:  do what works until it doesn't work anymore.  Then change things up.)  His naps are usually short (between 45 minutes to an hour), but at least he's napping.  This has been so hard for me to get used to.  When Kaden was this age, he slept for a couple of hours at least twice a day.  In hindsight, I took WAY too much credit for that.  Now, I realize he was just a naturally good sleeper.  We bought a special crib toy with lights and sounds (to replace the mobile he kept pulling over) and this seems to help him with self-soothing (both at night and for naps during the day).

Goes by many names:  Ev, Evers, Rhett, Rhetters, Rhett-Rhett, and Ebbett (his friend Mia's version of his name).

Melts my heart at least a million times a day.  I can't imagine life with out our little Evers.  I simply love this baby boy! 

Everett's Nine Month Stats:

Weight - 22 pounds 6 ounces (88th percentile)

Length - 28 inches (33rd percentile)

(I think his height may be off.  When I asked the doctor about this, he said it has something to do with the way the nurse measured him?  Sorry, Ev, if you inherited my shrimp genes, though.)

Head Circumference - 47 centimeters (95th percentile)