Life is a runaway train you can’t wait to jump on: Nine Month edition

G is at the very end of his ninth month and he’s officially been out in the world longer than he was in utero. Funny how it seems the pregnancy took so much longer than the time it’s been since he’s been born. You’d think sleep deprivation would make the clock to move slower, but that ain’t the case.

His personality is really starting to shine through, and I’m more amazed everyday at what a little stinker he is going to be. I’m going to make a prediction that he will have a dry sense of humor that will crack people up.

Most of the time he is this very stoic little man.

But then he’ll flip a switch and break into a mischevious grin that just owns me.

He has become a little speed demon this month, crawling and exploring and basically into everything he can possibly manage. If a door opens to a room where he is not allowed he will yell “EEEEEE!” and high tail it right toward the open advantage. He cracks me up. He has been pulling up for a while now and cruising the furniture. Now he will let go of the furniture and stand for just a second before plopping down on his bottom. I feel like walking is not far away. My little baby is becoming a little boy.

And his hair is getting so long!! Check out this baby mullet he’s got kicking!

We have got to get an appointment to get a haircut soon. I can’t wait to see how he does with that.

You never know what you’re going to get in the sleep department these days because teething makes it so unpredictable. When a tooth is starting to break through he will still wake up screaming sometimes. But for the most part he is sleeping really well at night finally. Daylight Savings Time has us all messed up. His usual bedtime used to be at 7:00, but now that we “fell back” he’s doing good to last until 6:30 pm. But he’s sleeping until about 6:30 or 7 am most days, so that is great! He officially has four teeth with two more on the way. They seem to be arriving two by two like Noah is delivering them. He has the cutest little gap between his two front teeth. I am going to miss his little gummy smile though.

Teeth aren’t the only thing that are growing on this child. We had to move the straps up on his carseat again because he’s gotten so long. His legs are so long they have to be bent now in the car. I know he will be more comfortable when he is forward facing in the carseat. We’re not far from that! He’s standing at 30″ tall now, which is just incredible to me for a 10 month old. At his doctors visit he weighed 21 lbs 10 oz. His fat little feet are growing so fast I’m having a hard time keeping shoes that fit him. We finally found Stride Rites in extra wide widths to fit his feet. This pair fit him just a few weeks back but now they are snug. The pair that best fits him now are size 5WW! But that’s better than Bargain Town feet, right?

His babbling is starting to take on inflection, like he’s asking a question and repeating a statement, but all in baby gibberish. But he can comprehend a whole lot of what we are saying, and it’s very obvious at this point that he knows when he’s doing something bad. If he goes to do something that he knows is wrong, he will stop and look back at us first and pause to see what we are going to say, which is usually “No.” In fact it’s been a month of “NO!” at our house. No, you can’t stick your fingers in the electrical outlets. No, you can’t crawl up inside the refrigerator. No, you can’t eat the fake rocks in the bottom of the fireplace. No, you can’t poke Woodrow in the eyeball (even though Wood doesn’t seem to mind).

It’s near impossible to keep up with him and get anything else done around the house. So I try to find the balance between keeping an eye on him while doing other things, but that doesn’t always work out. Some days I stick him in the playpen so I can get things done without worrying about where he is or what he is getting into.

But here is a hot tip for all you moms out there who don’t have a playpen handy. This assures you hours of entertainment.

Step one– Cut a hole in a box

2. Put your son in that box

3. Let him open and close the box

And that’s the way you do it.

It’s my son in a box…

But if I didn’t keep him boxed up he would find every shred of anything left on the floor. Just in the past two weeks I’ve swiped a few leaves, three sticks from a wicker basket, a ring from the milk jug lid, a piece of plastic from a dvd case and a nickel from inside his gagging mouth. I’m not used to having to go over my floor with a fine tooth comb to find all the potential choking hazards.

And now guess what is in my dining room?

Oh yes, we have a fun month ahead of us. My house is about to become baby gate central. He’s already penned in my office most days. He doesn’t like that too much, and some days I swear I can see his mind plotting the great escape.

Yesterday was his first Thanksgiving, and we spent the day with our families. We started out with lunch at J’s parents house with Granny, Leslie and Russell in attendance.

G had mixed veggies and pears while we chowed down on all kinds of great Thanksgiving food. Then he scooted all over the house in his Tot Rider while we visited with each other.

J was sick yesterday, so I took him back home to rest up while G and I went down to my aunt’s house for the rest of the day. My cousin Matt is in town with his family. They just welcomed sweet baby Carter into the world about 3 weeks ago. He is absolutely precious. He weighs just 6 lbs, and I do believe he is the tiniest baby I’ve ever held. I was scared I was going to break him.

On Sunday before Thanksgiving, G was a part of the baby dedication at church. The preacher prayed over him and asked us to raise him in a Christian home. It was a special day, and I’m glad I did it. The same preacher who conducted our wedding ceremony was the one to dedicate G, so that was really cool.

He received a Tiny Testimony baby bible and a certificate of dedication. We also got two beautiful roses. Talk about a great thing to be thankful for this year! I am so incredibly in awe of my son. He is so beautiful, and I thank God every day for the opportunity to be his mother. I could never have imagined what life would be like with him in it. But now that he is here, I can’t imagine life without him.

I made the promise in front of the church to raise you in a Christian home, G, and I plan to try my best to do that. There are a lot of things in the religion department that I’m working on right now, so bear with me, okay? I can’t promise that your Dad and I know all the answers, but we both trust in God to work out all the details in the end. May the Lord bless you and keep you, little dude. You are the most precious thing that I have ever done in my entire life, and I love you with all my heart.