9 months (9/22/12)

baby boy, you have changed so much over this past month.

you have officially said your first word, mama, which makes me all sorts of giddy. you are pulling up on everything and your balance is actually fairly good. you also surprised us by standing on your own for a few seconds. your crawling has evolved into a mix of the army crawl and up on your hands and knees and you have moved up from the baby room to the crawler room at church. you also got sick for the very first time this past week. the sickness was terrible, but i enjoyed the extra cuddles. you are always on the go and love to be doing something so cuddle time is few and far between these days.

things are really starting to get crazy now as you continue to get more mobile. you just love messing with everything that's on the coffee table and have recently learned to throw things, which is adorable and annoying at the same time.

i've been giving you Cheerios and letting you learn to drink from a sippy cup. the other day i left you for a couple of minutes and when i came back you had busted into a bottle that i had filled with Cheerios and you and the dogs were having a feeding frenzy in the floor. i'm pretty sure you are the dogs' new best friend. the half eaten Cheerios hanging from your mouth and stuck to your face were quite the glorious sight. i'm certain you are already a Cheerio fanatic like your momma.

one of my favorite things is being able to tell that you are smiling from almost any angle because of your fantastic chunky cheeks. they are seriously my favorite and i wish i could keep them forever. but one sad day those cheeks will thin out, like your daddy's i'm sure, and you will be too old for this momma's kisses. just know that there once was this sweet baby boy and his cheeks were all mine.

p.s. can we go to neverland? i don't want you to grow up.

love you baby boy,

momma