dear baby a.

happy 9 month birthday today, sweet cheeks! 

i can't believe you're 3/4 of a year old. oh, how quickly time goes by. i wish i could slow it down, but then again, things keep getting more and more fun with you that i think i would be missing out on a lot. we went to the dr today and they determined that you are ridiculously disproportioned. your head is huge and you're way short. it's weird. but at least it makes for you being adorable! here is what you're up to these days:

-you've learned how to army crawl. you can get up on your hands and knees, but you can't quite go anywhere yet. i think it's because of your big head and belly.

-you are eating all kinds of foods. you seriously eat anything that i eat. except for the really sugary stuff. which i eat a lot of. you choke a lot too. which scares the crap out of me. i thought that you could handle bigger stuff and just bite it off, but you don't. if it can fit in your mouth, it's going in there.

-you love mirrors. mostly, you like seeing me in them, but you'll take whatever you can get.

-have i mentioned that you take a binky now? it's awesome. sometimes you will wake up from your nap, then find your binky and fall back to sleep. it gives me so much time to get things done!

-you shake your head when i shake mine. it's tots adorbs.

-you are starting to babble 'mama' now! you've been saying 'dada' for a while and dad doesn't hesitate to rub it in. ;)

-this may sound crazy, but i swear you keep trying to say copper's name. every time we say it, you give a cute 2 syllable noise or just say 'per'. i'm pretty sure you're copper's best friend.

-you can walk along the coffee table downstairs! puffs are your biggest motivator. you get really frustrated when you don't get them right away though.

-your giggle is absolutely contagious!

-you have a hanging toy in your car that sings songs when you pull the cord. every time i put it up when I put you in your carseat, you give me this grin like, "hey, are you looking?" and then you pull it and smile so big and look over at me to make sure that I saw it. it pretty much makes putting you in your carseat the best thing ever. 

-speaking of you and your carseat - you love it. very rarely do you cry in it and if you do, it's because you're hungry. and even then, you are a rockstar and usually just fall asleep in a few seconds. it makes life so good that you love it!

-after waking up every two hours at night for like a month, you slept the whole night through for like 5 nights in a row, and now the last two nights, you've woken up once. that's not that bad really, but i just want you to sleep through the whole night always. :(

-you now throw full-on temper tantrums. if i take something away that you shouldn't be playing with, you throw your head back and cry so hard. it's sad, but really funny.

-usually when you wake up from your nap, instead of crying these days, you just babble all cute-like to yourself. then when I come get you, you stop whatever you're doing and stare at me before you get wiggly and bounce up and down and giggle. it's the best post-nap greeting ever.

so much of your personality is starting to show. you still aren't much of a snuggler at all, which honestly makes me super sad, but i love that you are happy and content when i'm holding you. you act like it's your happy spot and that makes me happier than i can even put into words. i've had you in the boba wrap a lot this week and i love being able to kiss your little head any time i want. also, you love seeing yourself in the mirror when you're in that thing. you laugh like none other. people used to say that the love they have for their kid makes their heart want to burst and i never knew what that was like until i met you. my heart has felt like it's wanted to pop out of my chest multiple times this week! you have been the best thing that has ever happened to our family, little girl and i thank God every day that i am blessed enough to be your mama. i love you, sweet pea.

love,

mama