nine months.

it's hard to believe that the 1st of June makes you nine months old. you've almost spent as much time out of the womb as you have in it. our sweet, playful nine month old baby boy.

i found myself looking through all your newborn pictures just the other day. you, wrapped so tightly and snug in your swaddle, with such sleepy eyes. i can't believe it is the same boy who now races from room to room, pulling things off shelves, climbing up stairs and furniture, yanking on cords, shuffling through books and trying to eat shoes. you, the boy who frequently shows us his now, toothy grin - with your fourth tooth just peeking though - and laughing at everything.

i dare say this is your most fun stage yet - though i'm sure we've said that every month. it is so exciting to watch you now do things with intent. you discover, and learn so much every day. you clap when you are  happy, when you see your daddy and when you want to play. you love balls, and will squeal with delight as we pass it back and forth. you love to play chase and will laugh the whole way as we follow you up the stairs. you are so fearless, and will now take your hands off whatever you are holding onto, to stand - if only for a few seconds - to show us you can do it all by yourself. you have the best facial expressions. one of my favorites is your scrunched up eyebrows and puckered lips, as you try to figure something out, or play with something new.

you are the cuddliest of all babies. you snuggle in so close at night, insisting that we are always touching. you lay your head on our shoulder when you are tired. you will crawl into our lap, stand on your chubby little legs and wrap your arms around our neck, and then crawl away again. just checking in. you reach your arms up, or tug on our pant legs to be held, and will grip onto our clothes if we try to put you down. you prefer the view from our arms.

you are finally loving food. really loving food. you went straight to the table foods, showing us that not all babies follow the book (if we hadn't figured out that you are the complete opposite of the average baby, already). you will eat anything off our plate, and love all the big boy food. you are still a champion nurser, and insist on it frequently. it's hard to imagine you ever growing out of it. but i'm in no rush. i love it just as much.

you have spent nine months making each day better than the last. nine months of us holding our breath as you try out a new skill, hit a new milestone or show us a new trick. nine months of charming complete strangers. nine months of a kind of happiness only relatable to those that are experience life with a first born babe.


you make us so happy. you make us so proud.

happy nine months love. xo.