9 Months Old.



To our sweet baby Girl Aubrey.

It's August, kids everywhere are headed back to school and you turned 9 months old. We are learning more about you each day as you learn more about the world around you. Up until now, your world has pretty much been limited to the 3 foot radius surrounding wherever we sat you but that all changed when you started crawling. You were army-crawling last month but we were able to keep up with you and keep you out of trouble easily. That didn't last long at all before you mastered full-fledged, full-throttle crawling across the floor. You are fascinated by all the new places you can travel as well as all of the new things you can reach. You have quickly become an expert in pulling yourself up to a stand on the furniture or in your crib. And soon after that, you started cruising! Mommy and Daddy have had a hard time keeping up with how fast you are growing and now have to physically keep up with you around the house. You not only graduated to size 4 diapers this month but also, because of your newfound mobility, you graduated out of Bed Babies and moved into the Lambs nursery class at church. There are lots of new toys in this class but you aren’t quite acclimated to all of the new faces and commotion just yet. Luckily, your good friend LeeLee is also a Lamb. You get to see her not only on Sundays but during midweek swimming sessions too. You love swimming more and more each time we go. And you really enjoyed swinging at the park for the first time this month, more trips are certainly to follow. We took two trips to Hartsville this month: the first for Mommy's birthday party and the second for a family reunion. Daddy and Aunt Jessica planned a party for Mommy with a band and 30 different deserts. Mimi helped with the party and Grandma and Grandpa J. came to help celebrate, or maybe more so to see you. The next weekend, we went back for Mimi's family reunion. You had your picture taken in a really old rocking chair and also rode in Mommy's Papa's golf cart. It rained most of the day though so we weren't able to swim. We watched the Olympics and ate a lot of good food. At home, you continue to expand your palette. Mommy has been feeding you 3 meals a day, along with your milk. Your culinary repertoire now includes bagels with hummus, macaroni and cheese, yellow peppers and prunes. Prunes really make you poop. And all of these new foods have really changed your poops too. No need to go in too much detail there, we don't want anyone to get sick. While eating at the table after a Saturday afternoon of shopping with Mommy and Daddy, you got an apple-banana fruit snack stuck at the back of your throat. You gagged a little then threw up a belly full of milk. It really scared Daddy but Mommy knew it was a normal part of learning how to eat big people food. One thing that will help you eat big people food is your first tooth, which has finally poked through your gum. This has unfortunately but expectantly made you a little grumpier at times and has also contributed to a case of sleep regression. You have reverted back to waking up several times in the night this month, meaning you've spent more time back in Mommy and Daddy's bed. We don't want to wake up our roommates. Daddy's good friend Page moved in with us when he got a new job in town while he waits for his family to move here. Then Mommy's friend Anna moved in with us while her family's new house is built. You liked it when her son Corbar spent the night. You were very nice to share your toys. You have lots of new toys now too. Mommy volunteered at the consignment sale and was able to shop early. She found so much for you that Mimi had to come help her. At the end of day, after you and Mommy and the dogs and Aunt Anna and Uncle Page are all asleep, Daddy takes a few minutes to enjoy the quiet of the house and cleans up all of your toys. Mommy and Daddy have plenty of favorite times of the day with you, like watching you wake up, or smile with a mouthful of mangoes, or hear you laugh at a sneeze. But Daddy especially likes cleaning up all of your toys. It reminds him how lucky and blessed he is to have this house and to have you in it...and everything around it. You are now 9 months old and that means you've been outside of Mommy's belly longer than you were in it. A year ago, we were busy filling your nursery room with toys and clothes. A year later, you are filling our house with love.