{Gavin 9 Months}

Dear Baby Gavin,

I am going to call you baby Gavin because I am scared that I will not be able to do that much longer! You turn 9 months old today, and we get to celebrate it in Ohio with your family here. You have been having a really great time here...you especially love to spend time with your Grandma and cousin Griffin. It makes your mommy get a little sad because she wishes that we were closer.

You are now a professional crawler, and you pull up on everything. You go very fast and sometimes (most of the time) you get ino things that you are not supposed to have. You have learned that it is not very fun being told "no" so now you whine and cry when you dont get your way. Uh oh! You love to bang your arms on everything, and "talk" to whatever you are playing with.

You continue to drool all over everything, so much that you have a rash on your neck and chin. We try to keep it dry, but the drool is non-stop. You also still eat everything, all the time. We cannot take our eyes off of you for more than 5 seconds. I am pretty sure you have consumed a leaf, dirt, bugs, string, paper, and countless other "things" that you are not supposed to eat. If it is on the ground you will try to eat it. (yes, we vaccume and sweep all the time, you will find things even after the house is clean!)

You are 9 months now, so you like to eat mostly table food. We give you whatever we are eating, so now I really have to make sure that WE are eating healthy:) You have now had whole wheat pasta, turkey, rice noodles, raisins, potato, cranberry sauce, apple sauce (the Jarred kind) and you have had your first few tastes of fast food. I know, I was not planning to give you fast food, btu we were out and we had it...so we gave you some! The first was a french fry and chicken from Wendy's. You liked it. Ok you loved it. The next was Skyline spaghetti and chili. You loved this as well. We are on vacation, I figure its ok!

You are about 20 pounds. Maybe more. You seem pretty heavy to me! We will see soon as you have your 9 month appointment when we get back home in a few weeks.

You are still nursing about 5 times a day, and I am so happy about this! This time we spend together is so special to me. I was so foucused on exclusively breastfeeding for the first year, and now that 9 months have passed, it seems like one year is coming too soon! You also get to drink water from your sippy cup and you get really excited, but then you choke on the water because you are too excited:)

Being away from Daddy and Grandma for this long has been hard. On you and your Mom. You get to talk to him on the phone each day, and you smile so big. Then you look around for him, and then you try to eat the phone. Surprise surprise.