Matthew,

You turned 9 months old over 2 weeks ago and it has taken me this long to write about all the exciting developments in your little life. It’s not that I’ve been too busy but, rather, there was just so much that happened in between you turning 8 and 9 months that I simply didn’t know where to start. And you know how it’s easy to just put things off when you don’t know where to start on a big project, rather than jumping in and tackling that big task?…well, you will once you’re a little older, say, high school age. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

You continue to grow and grow, of course, but all that rocking and rolling and scooting and crawling (yes, you’re crawling!) has served to slim you down a bit. Your super chub is beginning to disappear (though you’re hanging onto those chunky monkey thighs, which I love)!

1 month                                                          9 months

So I mentioned you’re crawling. You are super stoked about it! Of course, the first object that motivated you to get a move on was mommy’s coffee mug. You have a thing for coffee mugs, I’m guessing because your daddy and I live off that magic bean thanks to you-know-who (that’s you, in case you were wondering). It was so cute, for the first week or so of your crawling days you would work up the strength to crawl in the general direction of a toy or coffee mug, crawl 5-10 steps, and then stop and roll over as if to indicate, Whew, I’m spent. Don’t worry, you’ll get better at it and will be breaking land speed records soon enough as you propel yourself forward on all fours. (I should mention that, three days into crawling, you tried to pull up onto your toy bin and, after having one hand slip down, you gave yourself a nice mark of bravery near your left eye, as seen below. Oops!)

The day after you ventured into the world of crawling, you decided it was time to start pulling (er, actually, pushing) to a stand. You don’t waste any time, my friend. It was the cutest thing ever. You slowly crawled toward me as I sat on the floor. You approached my criss crossed legs, put your hands on my one knee, stuck your padded diaper bottom in the air, straightened out your legs aaaaaand…did not stand. You were stuck in a teepee position, almost like Downward Dog but with your hands up on my knees. You tried again and again, and we finally figured out together that you could push to a stand if you crawled to my lap, I put out my hands at about the height of my chest, you put your hands on mine, and I resisted you as you pushed into me and walked your feet in. Tada! You have such a look of pride in your eyes every time you do it…and then you don’t know what to do from there. Haha. The life of a learning baby.

At nine months of age, you are not really that interested in feeding yourself finger foods but, much to your parents’ chagrin, you do love to grab the spoon while we try to feed you. It takes forever to get through a meal most days because you are a grabber, but you love to eat, so we’ll take it.

By the time you turned nine months old, we had officially packed up the bottles and put them away on a high shelf where we hopefully will have a use for them when your little brother or sister comes along. Bye bye bottles! So glad to have those behind (actually, above) us.

As you continue to grow, so does your head. You were blessed with your daddy’s big noggin and, before you turned 9 months old, you had officially outgrown your sunhat that is meant for 1-year-olds. We headed to Old Navy in search of the perfect hat for our boy and I’m pretty sure we found THE cutest (two- to three-year-old) little boy hat ever.

Exhibit A:

You are super handsome and your big blue eyes become brighter and happier every day. Don’t be discouraged when those little old ladies in the grocery store and at the park comment something to the effect of, “Oh what a beautiful baby girl!” even when you are obviously wearing all blue. That just means your bright blue eyes will be irresistible to the ladies when you’re older (and we’re ready for ‘em!).

Your personality is really starting to be revealed as you explore and communicate. You still love movement — bouncing, jumping, crashing, being thrown in the air, and anything involving being upside down. You especially love to let daddy hold you in weird positions (I call this your ice dancer pose because, well, yeah).

Now that you are crawling, I’ve noticed you have become much more aware of the differences between familiar and unfamiliar territory. You stop at the threshold of a room before deciding whether to enter or not. You become very quiet in new situations and, as predicted when you were a newborn, you are quite the observer. In a room full of people, you prefer to stay on the edge of the room and watch what everyone else is doing before joining in. It’s so fun to see you take it all in. Your stranger anxiety is still present and you will literally cling to me in the presence of overly enthusiastic strangers. I’m not gonna lie, it makes me feel quite special to have you want me in those situations.

You’re still not an awesome sleeper at 9 months of age and it’s kind of a sore subject in our household, so let’s look at a cute picture of you and move on, shall we?

Your babbling has become so fun and varied and you are now capable of saying “baba” in a non-meaningful way. It’s so fun to go back and forth with you speaking in a language understood only by infants and their parents. You babble with your parents and you babble when no one’s watching. I could listen to your sweet little voice babble all day. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard…up until you start blowing raspberries with all your might and literally soak my face with your spit. Then I’ve had enough of your sweetness and am ready for a washcloth.

You are working hard to push those first top teeth through (four! to be exact) and, as usual, everything goes in the mouth. Thank goodness for Sophie the Giraffe! In addition to mouthing everything, you are being a good sport at trying out new, chunkier foods. You used to gag when a puff or other finger food was placed in your mouth because you really didn’t know what to do with it or how to move it around. But through practice and creativity, you are now able to try out foods like quinoa, mashed black beans, chunks of avocado, and even mashed up chicken breast. Mommy got this great mashing bowl that has made it super easy to make foods that are just right for you. What a great adventure that lies ahead of us in the food department.

Matthew, we have had a ton of fun with you this past month. You are learning and growing at an incredible rate and I find myself hanging onto the moments where you want to cuddle and melt into me (mostly when you’re sleepy or in the presence of strangers). You really are no longer a baby and although I mourn the loss of those sweet, cuddly days of babyhood, I am super excited and proud of you as you move into the days of toddlerhood. You are just a few short months away. For now, I am treasuring the time I have with you and am loving all the adventures we take on as a little family of 3. We love taking you to swing at the park, ride in the shopping cart at the grocery store (a first in month 9), and picnic on the grass by the ducky pond.

I love you and cannot wait to see what the next month holds as you venture out into the big world as a new crawler.

Love, Mommy