on the ninth month.

to my milkdud, the master of the house, my heart & my world,

you have truly changed my world for the better. i have never known the trials that i know now, but when you smile at me, find comfort in my arms or willingly plant a slobbery, open-mouth kiss on me i know, that it is all worth it. this ninth month {that has now come & gone} has been my very favorite thus far. you have learned & accomplished so very much.

you have perfected the art of standing & walking-while-holding-on-to-furniture. grandma oldham watched you the other day & counted the 30 times that you made your way around the ottoman in our living room. like i said, you've perfected this art. you are so proud of yourself & excitedly breathe in & out so quickly that your dad & i are certain that one of these days you will in fact hyperventilate. you can pull yourself up on anything {furniture, the wall, drawer handles, cabinet doors, the oven, our legs} & i thoroughly enjoy the freedoms that this has allotted both you & i. exhibit a - i can stand at the kitchen sink doing dishes & you can find your way into the kitchen & turn the lazy suzan to your hearts content.

although many moms complain about messes that their children make, unless you are coloring on walls, i am thrilled with messes. messes mean that you are finding a way to entertain yourself & that makes me a happy mama. you tear down just about anything that is stacked or sorted within your reach. me & your dad got quite a kick out of this just the other morning when we stacked small piles of dvds on each corner of the ottoman. sure enough, after flinging one stack on the floor you made your way to the next stack & then the next & then the next making certain that every last dvd was swiftly cleared off the ottoman. it was hilarious. you are hilarious.

when you first learned that you could rip the books off the shelf you seemed on a die-hard mission to removed every last morsel off the shelf, but you have now graduated to a much less manic removal of the books & now take breaks from creating mayhem to sit & flip through your books. you have always had an affinity for turning pages while we read to you, but you have mastered holding & flipping on your own now & it is thrilling to watch you. you turn the book upside down & read it backwards & will then turn it over & read it again. you repeat this process over & over as if it were a new book each time you turned it. i certainly hope that you love books as much as you do know when you finally realize that they are more than just pictures {something that is lost on your father & i}.

you have become quite the conversationalist & a fabulous mimic'er. 'mamamamama' means you want food, you want more food, you want mom or you want to nurse {all of which are geeeenerally the same thing}. just in the past few days you have been saying 'yes'. not just 'ya', but 'yes' with an S. it has alarmed us a few times, but me & your dad are certain that you are now saying 'yes'. besides your usuals, 'dada', 'bye' & 'hi', you mimic every little thing that we do. any sound effect that we make while feeding you, while we are driving around town or while we are reading books you mimic to the very best of your abilities. i dont know why i am even slightly surprised that you want to be talking so much, you are in fact your fathers son.

you still love it most when you are outside. you love bananas & green beans best. you love music & playing anything as if it were a drum. you love waving at strangers & clapping for yourself. you love, love, love bathes. you love spending time with your dad. you love being tickled & wrestling with us. you love scooting around the house on your tummy, getting into the fireplace & attempting to climb into the tub. you love sleeping in your own bed. you love watching older kids play. you love the attention of both parents at once & we love giving it to you.

forever, your mama