Little Neils is 9 months old

And today the doctor says, "Yeah, he has TWO ear infections." Grr. No wonder he has been so mean to me lately. He is almost constantly fussy, and he always needs me to hold him. Nobody else. And usually when I'm holding him, he is arching his back and whining. I hope it gets better now. I thought maybe it was teething, since his top right tooth just barely broke through yesterday. He has had the left one for a few weeks, and the right one just kept playing with him. Mean tooth. But now, it is out and everything should be getting better now. Yay!

So, more about Neils...

• He can stand on his own, for like 8 seconds at a time.
• He waves "hi" and "bye, bye". Today in the hospital (where the clinic is) he had to have his own chair so he could stand there and say "hey" and wave to everybody. It really sounded like he was saying "hey!", too. He was so funny, I just laughed at him the whole time.
• He weighs 19 1/2 lbs, and is 29 1/2 inches long.
• He has 4 teeth now!
• He really likes to feed himself. He is so good at using his fingers, that I think he could really pick up an ant if I'd let him.
• He likes to eat whatever I'm eating. He shares my oatmeal with me in the morning, and I usually have to give him tastes of whatever I am eating through the day.
• He plays peek-a-boo all by himself. He will hold something up over his face, you say "Where is Neils?" and he will pull it down. He is so cute and so good at it.
• He shakes his head "no" all the time, but I don't think he is really saying no. I think he just thinks it is fun.
  
• One of his favorite people ever is my brother Luke. He always smiles when he sees "Uncas" (I abbreviated Uncle Lucas just for Neils. Yep.)
  
• He shares all the time. When he has a teething biscuit, he will usually put his hand up to you, and you taste it (or pretend to) and say "Thank you!" and he gets the biggest smile.
  
• He knows how to get down from things (butt and legs first) and how to climb on things. He tries to climb into the bathtub all the time. He can even climb up stairs. Wow.
• He fake 'coughs' when I cough or sneeze, or when anybody around him fake coughs.
  
• He isn't afraid of anything. We tried to see if we could scare him with masks and stuff on Halloween, but nope. My brother even jumped out form behind the door the other day, and I was startled, but Neils didn't even blink. He just looks at you with a blank stare.
• He is so interested in everything. If he wants something, he will reach his hand out toward it and pull it back. He'll even make a little noise (uh) and do it again. I have to lift him up to touch pinatas and balloons in the store all the time. Even the signs on the aisles. Anything above his head, he just has to touch.
• He has a lot more hair now. It is blonde, (duh) and has a cute little curl on the left side by his ear.
  
• He still doesn't sleep through the night...but I bet it is mostly because of those stupid ear infections, and that tooth!
• He can push a car along the floor, while crawling along with it.
  
• He LOVES squash. It is his favorite thing to eat, whether it is baby food squash or real squash. Mmm. He also likes apples and pickles, but I don't give him pickles anymore because he bites off big chunks and I am afraid of him choking.
  

Hmm...that is all for now. :)