Nine Whole Months

My Little Lovie,
As I rocked you to sleep tonight I couldn't help but feel overly blessed and thankful for you. Your presence in our life is such an overwhelming gift! The sovereignty of God still amazes me when I look at you and realize YOU were exactly the baby we were supposed to have and I remember all that God did to put you into our arms at 2:50 am on April 16th. You have changed our lives and you are such a joy to watch as you learn, grow and discover new things.

As far as learning goes... you can now wave bye-bye. You learned this while we watched cars go by outside of Momma's office. You can sign dog, but you don't seem interested in learning any other signs. You still call me and most other things "Dada" but you also definitely know who your Dada is. You refer to Thatcher as "Sss" and since we got home from Bangladesh you love him more then ever. You finally crawl on all fours. You perfected this skill during your eleven days at Granna's. I think having carpet really helped. You also pull up ALL the time and your favorite means of movement is for someone to hold your hands so you can walk. You also stand alone for 15-20 seconds at a time if you're good and distracted by a toy in your hands. It's funny to watch because as soon as you realize you aren't holding on to something you fall back onto your booty. You also shake your head no-no all the time. You started doing this on the floor so you could feel what was under your head, but now you do it a lot and smile so sweetly. I think you're starting to figure out what that means because you are starting to hear that phrase much more often because you're so mobile.
Growing... we go to your nine month check up this week so we don't know your stats exactly, but right before Christmas you weighed a whooping 24.9 lbs! So I imagine you're still somewhere in that neighborhood. Your first tooth also came through while Momma and Daddy were gone. Tooth #2 is coming quickly. I can feel it, but you can't quite see it yet. I was beginning to worry about you getting teeth, but everyone kept telling me the longer it takes you to cut teeth the healthier they'll be. Who knows if that's true or just a wives tale, but you sure took your time with those.

We had your first Christmas this month and it was hectic! We always have a lot of Christmases to attend, but add in the fact that we were packing for seven family get togethers and an eleven day trip overseas, things got a little nuts. The night before we were to embark on our journey from home you woke up running fever and had the worst night of your life. We missed one and half Christmases the next day to take you to the doctor. You had your first ear infection and round of antibiotics.

You were just a pitiful baby! It was the saddest thing. But after a couple rounds of your medicine you got to feeling much better and were a good sport for the rest of the holiday and were almost back to new by the time we had to leave on the 26th. You loved opening presents and playing with new toys.

But as usual your favorite entertainment was your big cousin! She did a pretty good job at keeping us all entertained this year. That girl is a mess, but you LOVE her!
Leaving you was just awful! I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it, but your Daddy really thought us both going was the best thing. I'll never forget having to put you in your carseat at the airport and watching you drive away. Seriously it was so hard. I knew people were praying for me though because I was at least functional the whole trip. I missed you horribly, but we both survived! I have never been more anxious to get home or to see someone! I think I kissed your face raw the first couple days we were home.
You continue to bless our lives and our family in ways we didn't know we were missing out on. You are so funny and a joy to watch. You are still so sweet all of the time and your personality fits right into our family so well. I can't believe you are NINE months old! It seems like just yesterday you were born in some ways and in others I can barely remember life before you were apart of it. You have taught us so much about ourselves, the character and love of God and about what is really important. We love you so much and we're so proud to be your parents! I'm so glad I'm your Momma!
Momma