9 1/2 months

Nine months is just such a sweet, sweet age. You have gotten good at giving us tight hugs! You even give our friends hugs too which just melts their hearts. They say, "She's hugging me right now?! I've never had a 9 month old give me a hug before! That's so sweet!"

You are always smiling with a big wide open mouth like this "O". When you're concentrating really hard you clench your lips together with your two bottom teeth sticking out to the side; it has somewhat of a Popeye effect. Speaking of teeth, you have your third tooth! It's not one of your two front teeth, its one off to the side. I wonder, how common is that? I hope your two front teeth catch up quickly! Grandma A said that either Amy or Kristi had the same thing; so I guess you're not alone.


My mouth is always open!

You love to be held, especially by Mommy! The stranger anxiety phase has started, which can be quiet endearing when you reach for me and clamor out of someone else's arms, but quite trying when you scream until I return.

You finally got the hang of crawling! For weeks we've been gently coaching you on how to crawl and, in an instant, you can. Now I wish that you just laid on your back! What was I thinking? Stationary babies are much easier! I realize now that we have a whole new level of baby proofing to do. Why do I coach you to "move on to the next thing" and ask you to stay little at the same time? It's this constant push-pull of "Try new things! Do this now!" and "Don't grow anymore! Stay little!"  One minute you are in the kitchen under the table eating fuzz and the next you're in the opposite corner of the living room trying to eat leaves from the plant, but not without first stopping to play with the covers on the outlets. When you're not going from laying to sitting and sitting to rolling, you're standing. Standing, standing, standing all day long. You pull yourself up in your crib and can finally get your hands on your monitor! That's exciting! No more playing with the monitor, we had to move it.

There is one most adorable thing OF ALL that gets your Dad and I staring into your video monitor night after night sighing Awwwwwwwwww. A month or two ago we started putting a cuddle toy in your crib for you to sleep with; your silky, plush frog blanket. At first it only entertained you if you were awake, but now it is your constant companion in your crib. You look for it, roll to it, grab it, throw it around, hug it, reach for it, and when you finally give in to sleep, it's tucked in right under your arm. Sometimes you lay your head on his head. We're so glad you like your Froggy; watching you cuddle with it is the cutest thing ever.

 Play date with Ryan, 10 months

 You have turned your standing toy into a push toy. You stand behind it and use it as your walker to get around the living room and kitchen. Apparently no toy is too heavy or too big for you! You'll get where you want to!