Henry at Nine Months

Dear Henry,

I'm listening to you talking to your blankie as you settle in for your afternoon nap.  It is so fun that one of your favorite things in your little world is the blanket that I knit for you, and your special "blankie" chuckle is so funny.

 

I can't believe we are at nine months.  At nine months you are such a little person.  You are so smiley and happy.  You are busy busy and always moving.  And you know what you like...and what you don't like!  You like, for some reason, to sit on the kitchen floor, and you like to roll your truck around.  You like bread and shredded cheese.  You like splashing in the bathtub, and you like to be picked up.  You like any necklace that I'm wearing and playing with my water bottle.  And you do not like when I take the water bottle away (cue the first temper tantrum, awesome).  You don't like having your face washed.  You don't like being left alone in a room too long.

 

You may not be in a full-fledged crawl yet, but we finally put up the baby gates, since your backwards scoot gets you about anywhere you want...and a few places you don't want, like under the couch and stuck under the folding chair in your room.  You are a great eater--and like your dad, you seem to prefer dishes with lots of flavor (last night you chowed down chicken curry) over things that are plain jane (you have to be coaxed into green beans).  At your nine month appointment, you weighed in at 20 lbs 2 oz (50th %) and are 30.35 inches high (95th % and going strong!).

Last night I snuck into your room to check on  you before I went to bed.  Your binky had fallen out and your arms were open wide, and your long eyelashes were spread out on your cheeks, and I was overwhelmed with you all over again.  Happy nine months, Baby Boo.

Love,
Mama

2013

Hello, 2013.  Here it is, the end of your first week, and my last published blog entry is dated November.  No, we have not yet figured out how to post more new pics yet (I got this one by deleting a couple duplicates), so yes, there are a few entries waiting in the wings.  I hope to wrap up 2012 before we are too deeply into this new year.  Hope...

I am a strange mix of relief and regret over the fact of January this year.  December was chaotic, what with Jason away for two weeks and me back at work and Henry in the midst of resolving some angst about daycare.  I feel like I didn't quite live up to my hopes for Henry's first Christmas season.  It got too blurry and busy.  We completely failed to go see Santa.  We don't have a single picture of the three of us in front of our tree.  For the sixth year in a row, our neighbors did NOT get cookies.  I feel a bit like we spent the whole month of December prepping and planning and getting it all ready, and then we ran out of time to sit by our tree and just soak it in.  So the lights inside are down but the lights outside are up, and in the in-betweeny time that is late-December/early-January, my own angst is starting to wane.

My goal for 2013 is to simplify--as in, decide what is actually important and then let. the rest. go.  Should be interesting.  I'm not good at letting the rest go.  At all.  But when I manage it, I find it easier to be joyful, and my goal for 2013 is also to be joyful.

Henry's favorite book is "Hello, Bear," hands down.

There are a lot of quiet things going on in our house.  I've finally found a place in our kitchen for sippy cups, and we cleared out a section of the bookshelf for "Hello, Bear" and other new favorites.  Jason is playing his Christmas computer game, which means we've officially turned a corner in this "having a kid" life and are no longer just in survival mode.  Today I finally tucked away Henry's 0-3 month clothes--which, like January, was also accompanied by a weird mix of sadness (a little) and relief (a lot).  We stayed up too late watching Downton Abbey last night (so worth the two cups of coffee today).  One of my January (and February, and March) projects is a new baby afghan with pink in it--we always knew Casey was destined to have girls!

I've been obsessively reading Harry Potter again (which has, incidentally, shown me every single crevice of free time in my day (and a few times when I should be feeding my baby or emptying the dishwasher instead of reading) during which I could read a different book later).  I shifted to part time last week, working one day a week for now (and two days a bit later)--I almost choke on my panic every time I think about it, but if I can just learn to let the rest go, it might actually work.  Jason and I got a babysitter and went out to one of our favorite DC restaurants on Saturday.  Everything about it--food, conversation, using a regular purse--was mind blowing.  At home, we've been eating a lot of soup lately.  Soup, and roasted vegetables.  Henry somehow ended up on his hands and knees for a brief moment today, and my life flashed before my eyes. 

Anyway, there's a snapshot (without, incidentally, many snapshots).  Happy new year!