Nine months

Hello, my name is Roman and I'm nine months old. I'm just looking to be grown-up like my big brother and sister, and I'm also looking for a place to party at 3 a.m. when I'm awake and mommy thinks I should go back to bed, that silly goose.

I like

- PEOPLE. I smile at anyone and like everyone. I think everyone wants to be my friend. And why wouldn't they?

- Standing up anywhere, but especially anyplace where I can smear my fingerprints all over, like the patio doors or the shower door, or anyplace where if I fall down I will smash my face or otherwise injure myself by pulling the object down on top of me.

- Water. Bath time, pool time - we call it my splish-splash time and I absolutely think this is AWESOME. Bonus if my face and head are completely covered with water. My hands and feet like to splash and splash and if my mama were to just let go for a minute, I think I could swim like my big sister.

- Peek-a-boo (bonus if it's in the water), hide and seek, playing with big-kid toys

- Chewing on phone charging cords. Bonus if the cords are still plugged into the wall. I like to see if I can get my fingers in there, but for some reason mom always stops me.

- Eating paper.

- Bouncing and jumping and being lifted up high.

- Music. I always bounce and dance along with it.

- Clapping. I like to clap along with mommy.

- Dancing. I laugh and laugh and laugh when mommy or daddy holds me and dances.

- Banging the toy hammer against the tool bench I inherited from Reni's room (after I got kicked out of his room. Not sure why my brother doesn't want to share with me!)

- When Reni and Anika get home from school. I squeal and shriek and laugh. They really are the best. Even if they don't always want to share with me.

- Grown-up food like apples and cheese and soup and bread. The bigger the piece, the better, and I have to feed myself.

I don't like

- When mom fishes paper out of my mouth

- Baby food. No one else is eating it - why should I?

- My high chair. No one else sits in one. Why must I do it?

- My crib. No one else sleeps in a crib. Why do I have to? Plus, who can say no to snuggling with ME?

- Sleep. Why sleep? Everyone else gets to stay awake.

- Toys that anyone gives me after yanking the toy I really want out of my hands or mouth. No one else plays with baby toys - why should I?

- When Reni closes his bedroom door and won't let me in to play.

- Whenever mommy is not around.

I'm working on

- Figuring out how that toilet paper roll works.

- Walking

- Pressing buttons on my toys so they will walk and sing and make cool sounds. I LOVE cool sounds.

- Calling mommy "mama" when I need something. Most everything is still "dada - dada - dada," but I know who Dada is, too.