Although I was originally named Dr. Binkman in honor of my pacifier, I quickly gave that up (what am I, some kind of baby?)  I do, however, like nothing more than poking things with my index finger, so Mommy and Daddy have come to call that “binking” things.

I bink things quite a lot, as you can see.  Pretty much everything I come across gets probed (people, toys, food, you name it).  I especially like to press down on my rice puffs as if they’re tiddly winks, and send them shooting across the table.  My manual dexterity is improving, however, and just after my nine month birthday (February 24) I managed to get a rice puff into my own mouth for the first time!

On February 22 I turned nine months old … in Florida!  Since I was out of state for my actual birthday, I had my checkup a week early.  I weighed 22 lbs 8 ounces, I was 29.5 inches long, and my head circumference measured 19.3 inches.  That puts me in the 80th percentile for weight, the 90th percentile for height, and officially off the chart for noggin size.

I’m a super sweet and sensitive nine-month-old.  If you hold out your pointer and ask me for a “finger kissy” I’ll press my finger against yours to give you a kiss.  I’ll try to give you a real kiss too, but mostly I just try to smoosh my face against yours with a wide open mouth.  I’ve begun to develop a bit of separation/stranger anxiety and have been a little extra clingy the past month.  I’m a little timid around people I don’t know (especially men) but I’m a regular chatty cathy once I get to know people, and I’ll happily hold up both ends of a conversation all by myself.  I give the biggest smiles, too, displaying all five of my teeth (two on the top, three on the bottom).

On February 15, 2014 I took my very first plane ride to visit my Grandma Linda and Papa Steve in Florida!  I was a real gentleman on the plane, in spite of the fact that we were delayed on the tarmac.  Florida was pretty great.  I got to go to the flea market, tried my first matzoh ball soup (yuck), and swam to my heart’s content!

I’m still not mobile – except in the pool – but the day before my nine month birthday (February 21) I scooted myself backwards for the first time!

Current likes: Kisses of all sorts and swimming

Current Dislikes: Airplane take-off, matzoh ball soup, and strangers