9 Months!

9 months!

 
8 months

7 months

6 months

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Victor Albert,

What a big fellow you are!  You have been very busy these past days.

* Two teeth are prominently displayed now, on the bottom.  You put them to good use.  Preferred substances: wood, the edge of the pack-n-play, and Momma.  We need to have a serious heart-to-heart about that, son.

* You typically stay fairly close to me during the day.  When I'm ready to head to another room, I say, Come on, Victor, let's go!  And you generally drop what you're doing and crawl after me. 

* The crawling is accelerated by peek-a-boo around the doorway.  How you love playing peek-a-boo!  Almost nothing gets bigger chuckles than when we throw a towel over your head and pull it off with a flourish. 

* You are now quite an active bather.  You will try to haul yourself up by the hanging shower nozzle, lean over the side of your little blue bathtub to fish the drain cover off the bottom of the shower (gross!), and make crazy big splashes with arms and/or legs.  We appreciate the aerobic activity that this allows for the bath-giver.  You're keeping us sharp, son.

* We continue our daily constitutional walks.  The neighbors are getting pretty used to seeing us out, though the mode of transportation varies (umbrella stroller, ergo carrier, jogging stroller, arms). 

* You are a real good eater of solids, continuing to wolf down your cereal with any combination of fruits, veggies, or those oddly-textured meat/fruit combinations that Gerber makes.  You have just begun eating little puffs with greater dexterity, although Momma still breaks each little Cheerio-sized piece into 5 smaller fragments.

* Sleep.  How we savor these nights of fabulous, cry-less sleep!  You go down around 6:45pm and generally don't make a peep until sometime in the 5 o'clock hour (but we don't get you up til 6am).  Mom is feeling like a whole new woman, these days.  We think the secret was Grammy's new homemade snuggly sleep sack.

* We are beginning the challenging lesson of learning what "no touch" means.  Some days you do really great.  And sometimes you're a rascal.  But little by little, we'll get it.

*  You have been going to the nursery at church for a couple months now.  You always get a great report.  What's not to love, with all those toys and books and nice folks to play with, huh?  And we love having you along to help with tear-down.  You're good with those crates, buddy.

* Lately you have been giving the best snuggles.  You will wrap your arms around Momma's or Daddy's neck and just nestle in there for a big hug.  O, how I cherish those snuggles!  Don't ever outgrow that, okay, baby?

The challenge of parenting grows as you grow, and that sense of bewilderment and puzzled questions is not unusual these days.  But God is faithful, and we're trusting Him to help us train you and shepherd you and love you in all your growing and developing ways.

We love you, Victor Albert!

Momma and Daddy