Nine months

I looked at pictures as I was sitting in the car today after Akiva and Jordan fell asleep on the way home from the playground. It dawned on me that Akiva is a little more than nine months old and he has changed so much, Jordan has changed, and Lior and Sydney have changed. They are all growing up so fast I can not believe it! I feel like every time I blink they are doing something new, saying something new or trying something new.
It is of course most evident with Akiva who has obviously changed the most in the past nine months. Right now he is pulling himself up to standing and starting to walk holding on to the couch. Matt has tried to get him to walk with the same toy he taught Sydney to walk with. He took a few steps which I actually caught on video! He wants to eat what ever we are eating and knows when he is getting something different and tells you about it. He enjoys feeding himself but in the last week he realized that it is far more efficient to be fed and demands spoonfuls of food while he picks up handfuls and shoves them in his mouth. Today he started saying "mmm" after I gave him guacamole, he loves to eat!
I think he might like his sisters as much as like eating. They really like helping him, not that he needs it. Sydney and Lior have been trying to pick him up, unfortunately this maneuver usually involves a hand or an arm around his neck. The other day Lior called into me and said;
"Mom, Akiva fell off the couch!" I panicked because I never ever leave him on the couch, am I that spacey that I left him on the couch?
"Lior how did he get on the couch?"
"Syd and I put him there!" and then Sydney pipes up and says;
"He liked it 'til Jordan kicked him off!"
"Jordan did you kick him off the couch??!!"
"Yeah"
"WHY?"
"Cause I wanted to." She said with a smirk. I of course reminded them to leave their brother on the ground and never ever put him on the couch but I also stopped leaving him on the floor where my helpers could help themselves to him.
Most of the time they are great with him. Jordan brings him toys and kisses him constantly. She sits nicely with him and shows him pictures in books and loves to feed him. Sydney is great with him most of the time as well. She sat next to him in the shopping cart today and fed him a snack. She knows what toys he likes and are safe for him and only lets him play with those. Lior plays with him the most right now. We have a table that he can stand at that plays music and has flashing lights and he loves to play with it. Lior knows he likes it and when he is upset she will carry the table over so he can play with it and then stands there next to him and plays with him. She also is the most physical with him, if he is not crawling fast enough to keep up with her or if he can not get around something she will attempt to pick him up. He is loved!
Akiva has a great disposition, for the most part he goes with the flow. We have had a hard time with naps lately but I think we rectified that problem by dropping his crib all the way down. He can no longer stand in his crib with is head on the rail and scream for two solid hours. It probably also helps that he has a bad cold. He does not have the energy to scream! In a perfect world I would be able to let him take two naps a day on a schedule but since we are always on the go I force him to take a nap when he can.
Even though he does not get enough sleep he has a great sense of humor and is always smiling. He is one happy baby. He is also a huge flirt, his bright blue eyes just suck the ladies in and when he starts clapping it's just over and they fall at his feet. In the last few weeks he has started to blow me kisses when I continuously pucker at him. I just can not keep my hands off that cute little kid, especially after he says "ma ma ma!" or "da da da!"