9 months old!!!!

Today Jacob is 9 months old-- the amount of time that he was cooking in my belly-- unbelievable! He is doing so much now that I don't know where to begin. Jacob has been clapping, waving bye bye, and making an Indian "aaaa" (hand to mouth) singing sound. He says "mama" (only to me), "dada" (knows dada, yet overgeneralizes the sound), "da" if he wants something ("daj" in Polish means give me), "na" or "ne" - new sound (we think it means no), "baba" (sometimes for bubbles), and occasionally he'll say "ball" and vocalize "t" for kot (cat) or tickle or toes. He also uses his pointer to identify objects, people, and to indicate his wants. Jacob enjoys playing with Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma all the time. He has a few favorite toys which include different versions of a ball, ball popper, his car (loves to ride on it-- without us holding on to him), shape sorter (able to place all 5 shapes in the openings), blocks, water bottle (yeah, still a favorite!), shakers (will respond when you say "shake shake"), stackers, phone (loves to chit chat), and lots of kitchen stuff- bowls, Tupperware, whisk, funnels, lids, spoons. One of the most enjoyable play activity is a chase game and peek-a-boo. He laughs so hard that he gets the hiccups. Jacob looks at books when sitting in the highchair and eating food. He eats a number of things right now. Recently I have introduced a yogurt (which has been a hit), multi-grain Cheerios (surprisingly give him the willies), green beans (yum), parsnips (always mixed with something), watermelon (can't get enough), and real peaches (much more tastier). We are busy all the time, yet maintain a regular nap schedule -- always home in his crib. He gates up usually around 6:30 takes a morning nap around 9 a.m and an afternoon nap around 1 p.m. Every morning he hangs out in bed with us and the first order of business is pulling daddy's ear (ucho) and nose (nos), as I label the parts in Polish and Daddy suffers. Yet, I think it's beneficial for both- Scottie is learning quite a bit of my native tongue along side Jacob. When the weather is nice (like today50 degrees) we go to the playground. Jacob loves to swing, climb the structure, and go down the slide. In honor of his 9 months we went twice to the park today, JJ was a very happy boy. Anyways, the boy officially has taken off and now he is cruising. Today he took a couple of steps forward holding on to his car. He tries to climb everything (the dishwasher, table, car, the fence, us). Jacob loves to turn the light on and off. He still loves bath time and lately has been a "crazy man" with his splashing. He can bring down the water level to two inches in two seconds. Needless to say, the bath time is usually cut short. Jacob usually wakes up once a night for a brief nursing. During the day we go to playgroups and see friends. I don't take him out shopping that often because neither of us enjoy it that much. Anyways, now his favorite song is "if you're happy and you know it" because he can clap and stomp his feet. Jacob understands quite a bit. When I say "bubbles" he knows exactly which bin they are located in. He understands malpka (monkey), lew (lion), kot (cat), pies (dog), krowa (cow), baranek (sheep), ryba (fish), ball (pilka), daj (give me), idz (go), gdzie jest (where is), samochod (car), skacze (jump), choc (come here), gwiazda (star), "niam" (eat), pic (thirsty), woda (water), kwiatek (flower), swiatlo (light), toes (paluszki). crab, mis (teddy bear), oko (eye), buzka (mouth), nosek (nose). He is just a funny kid! In terms of his measurements- he weighs 22.4 lbs and I don't know how tall he is, but he is in 12 month shirts and 18-24 month pants.Next week we have his 9 month doctors appointment so I will have more accurate results. Jacob's hair is getting long (does he need a haircut?) and he still toothless (lucky for Mommy). So, you've just read my condensed summary. I just wanted to add that we are absolutely in love with our little man!