Sam and Max are nine months old

Max and Sam, sitting around the house

Sam and Max can now freely sit on their own, which was something they couldn't do only a few weeks ago. If you recall from the last post, we did "sitting practice" where I held either Sam or Max between my legs so that they were in a sitting position, but I was providing the balance by gently squeezing them with my legs. If I had let go at that time, they would just topple over. About two weeks ago they began to balance entirely by themselves for brief moments, ten or twenty seconds. We did more sitting practice (with and without my help) and over a few days they eventually became able to sit indefinitely--basically until they got bored and crawled away. They seem to really enjoy sitting, I believe because it entirely frees up their hands to play with toys and explore. For now, when they move down from sitting to crawling they can't get back to sitting without our help, but I'm sure they'll figure this out soon enough.

The boys have changed in so many ways in the past few weeks, and it's been really enjoyable to see them develop so quickly. Some other recent changes:

• Their top teeth are coming in
• They've started babbling "Bla bla bla bla"
• They can crawl quickly now!
• They can pull themselves up to the bottom rack on our kitchen island

To the photos!

Sam having fun in the playground

Sam all dressed up for a walk

Max looking a bit surprised

Sam enjoying his new freedom to crawl all around the kitchen

Max, Mom and Sam, smiling for the camera

What cuties

Max and Sam, flopping around on the ground

Max and Sam in the buff and on the move

Max and Sam showing off their sitting skills

In the above photo you can just see Sam's top teeth coming in, accompanied by all the drool on his chin. This is my favorite photo of the past few weeks.

Max looking suave

Max enjoying a cuddle with Dad. Just look at those eyes!

Sam and Max say "Bye for now, see you all next time!"