Happy 9 Monthday to Wren

Wren is 9 months old today. For his baby book I am going to try and describe what he does and what he likes.

Wren's Personality
Wren is a fairly solemn little guy who smiles and laughs with people he knows but takes a while to warm up to strangers. When he meets a new person he simply stares unabashedly for A-G-E-S without expression. Once he knows you he likes to play games and gets excited when you talk to him.

Wren has a strong sense of what he wants: if you take away a toy he shouts and cries and screws up his face. At Mom and Tot yoga he clung to his toy despite attempts by toddlers to pull it away from him.

Wren and Frost
He loves Frost and will crane and stare and smile and become animated when Frost returns home. When we return from our morning walk he stares still and intent at the door at the top of the stairs because Frost often opens it and says "Good Morning" if he has woken while we were out.

Frost loves Wren but tends to overwhelm Wren with hugs and tries to carry him around. to save him from perceived danger. Frost is very anxious about Wren putting things in his mouth and choking so he spends a lot of time shrieking warnings and carrying Wren or toys to keep them apart. Today he asked me "how big the pipe" was that Wren breathes through. He was worried he might choke on fennel flowers.

He plays with Wren, rolling the ball to him, and does "shows" for Wren in which he leaps and rolls and jumps on the bed while Wren hoots appreciation and is nearly flattened by crooked jumps.

For all his love, Frost finds Wren a bit of a bother at times - he now has to keep his bedroom door closed and misses the long uninterrupted games we used to play.

Moving
Wren can crawl very well. Although he seldom goes up stairs he can do it. He can slide off a bed backwards but has not learned to go "feet first" off high things. Instead he does head first plunges if he is not caught and rotated. I manage to catch him most of the time.

Wren likes to stand up. Whenever he comes to a vertical surface, even a smooth one, he leans his hands against it and stands up. Once up he thumps it with his hand. He likes to stand at the gates and look through, especially when the cats are visible in the back yard or are eating at their food bowls.

While crawling, he ducks his head down to crawl down under things. When the ground is rough - like cement or twigs, he lifts up his knees and does an army crawl across the uncomfortable terrain.

Wren is quite self reliant for a baby. He does not make a lot of noise unless he is sad or needs something. Usually he moves around the living room and kitchen touching things on the floor, picking them up and biting them. He likes to hold large things in his mouth while he crawls. Alternatively, he carries them around in one hand while he crawls.

He does not stand independently, yet, but has started to "hover" without holding on after he lets go something he pulled up on. He can do this for 3 or more seconds before sitting down. I am not encouraging him. When he has pulled up on something low, he "cruises" sideways along it until he reaches something else of interest.

Communicating
Wren does not say any words but he likes to copy noises and movements. One of his favorite games is shaking his head side to side. I do the same and say "no no no" and then nod and say "yes yes yes". He shakes his head back with a huge toothy smile of pleasure.

We also have click conversations. He starts clicking his tongue then stops and looks at me. I click my tongue. He clicks and watches me. I watch him and click. We are both smiling.

The closest he comes to a word is saying a rough SHHHSHSH when I say "fishies". He has done this a few times and I think he gets the idea of saying the word but can't annunciate it fully.

Although he doesn't speak he understands some words clearly. If I say "where are the fishies?" he looks at the fish mobile. If I ask "Where is the ball?" he looks for the ball. If I ask "kitty?" he looks around for kitty. He also knows about Crows and birdies when we are going walking. When I say birdies he looks up. He is fascinated by crows and kitties on our morning walks.

.... to be continued along with a video of Wren playing the Glockenspiel.