Dear Bennett Grace (9 months)

Dear Bennett Grace,

You have seriously grown up before our eyes this month. You never cease to amaze us with a new skill, sound or word. It is almost unreal what all you can do when you set your mind to it. You are a constant source of entertainment for us and your smile is so warm.

Here is a little of what you've been up to:

-A couple of days before Christmas you started crawling. You didn't ease into it either. It was like you flipped a switch. You were stationary one minute then zooming everywhere. You are so fast and always on the move.
-One of your favorite things to do is sit down and rotate in a circle to take everything in.
-You are so curious. You want to see and touch everything.
-You pull up on everything and you try to stand on your own but then you fall down and get right back up. You are so determined.
-Speaking of determined, you love to get into things that you are not supposed to. You hear a lot of "no ma'am" and you shake your head "no". We try not to laugh but its really cute.
-You are getting good at following commands too. I don't remember if I mentioned it before but if we say wiggle-wiggle-wiggle or bouncy-bouncy you wiggle or bounce. It is precious. You've been doing that for several months.
-You are also loving to cruise around the house pushing your walking toys. You zoom with them all over. Your little legs used to wobble but now they are quick and strong it is amazing!
-You also love to "put things where they go" it is so funny to watch you. You know where things belong and you try to put them in the right place. You do that with your toys and also with other things too like the remote control. We got you blocks that fit into a bucket and you are getting good at putting them on the lid. You are so proud of yourself :)
-You talk talk talk. You still only use a few "real words" (daddy, bye-bye, hey and thank you) but you mimic other sounds really well and so you babble non-stop. You have little conversations with yourself and your toys and it is so precious. Sadly, the mmmmm sound has not made way into your vocabulary.
-On New Year's Eve you got your first tooth! It is the bottom front right tooth. It is all the way in now and you can see it really well when you talk or smile.
-You love to pick up things especially tiny things and pass them back and forth between between your fingers.
-You love to feed yourself. You feed yourself puffs but you are really getting interested in what we are eating so we have let you have a tiny bit of pancakes which you loved. We are starting to introduce finger foods to you and we know you will love it!
-Mommy is still making your baby food. You eat three meals a day now. Oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. A fruit and veggie for lunch and 3 veggies for dinner. If you are really hungry sometimes we give you an extra fruit for dinner too. When you decide that you don't want a food you will swat at it and shake your head no. We try not to encourage you but sometimes it makes us laugh. Right now you do not love green beans or bananas.
-You are still having bottles 4 times a day with 6 ounces of breast milk.
-You have your last bottle at 8 and then go to sleep around 8:15 and sleep until around 8 in the morning. You sleep on your tummy with your hands tucked under you and your tush straight up in the air. You love to wiggle down into the corner of your crib. When you fall asleep if we are holding you, you put your hands up by your head and purse your lips. You look so smoochy.
-This month you have been staying with Daddy as he prepares to start a new job. You will go back to staying with Gigi next week when Daddy goes back to work. You have loved spending time with Daddy and he has loved spending time with you.
-On the day before you turned 9 months old, January 17th- Papa D's birthday- it snowed! You loved your first snow. We took lots of pictures!
-You also had your first Christmas this month and we took way too many pictures! You are having a ball playing with all of your new toys. You got so many presents and saw so many family members! We were so blessed to have you with us this year.
-You love reading books, especially pop up books and books that rhyme. You love when we sing songs and read books to you. Your Mimi was so impressed that your eyes as we point to the words in the books. She won't let mommy bust out the flash cards just yet :)
-You also are really into knocking things down. Mommy will stack up your toys or blocks and you knock them down and smile so proud. You are so precious angel.
-You are still true to size, wearing mostly 6-9 and 9-12 clothes. You are still in size 2 diapers. We will find out your other stats at your doctor's appointment this week. We can't wait to see how uch you have grown.

Shuggie, we can not believe that you have been on this earth almost as long as you were in Mommy's tummy. The thought that in three short months we will be celebrating your birthday is almost unreal. You are so smart and beautiful and special. Each day with you is such a blessing. We love you so much baby.

With love,

Mommy and Daddy