To My Sweet 9 Month Old Baby Girl

Sweet Pea,

This month marks the month that you have now spent the same amount of time in the real world as you did growing inside of me!  Crazy thought!

This month you consistently will clap for yourself or other people, give high fives to those around you, and do other silly things to get a reaction from people.  You love to make people laugh and you adore any kind of attention you can get.

You crawl crazy fast now, and everything has to go right in your mouth while you are exploring the world.  One night Daddy was playing tennis with his friend, Wyatt, and you snuck a leaf in your mouth without my seeing.  I didn't know it was even in there until you started coughing and gagging on it, and I was able to get it out of your mouth.  It was kind of scary for me, and I've had to watch you a lot more carefully now to make sure you are kept safe.

Your hair is finally long enough for me to put two piggies on the top of your head.  You definitely look like your nickname now--Bug.  They are so cute, I melt a little every time I see you with them.

You cut FOUR teeth this month, bringing your grand total up to six little teeth in that cute mouth of yours.  You, my little bug, were a monster while you cut all of those teeth, and you did not want to take naps.  When I would lay you in your crib, you would just stand up to the side and cry and scream and not nap at all.  You were also running a fever and had a runny nose and were so sad with all those teeth coming through, so I spent a lot of time snuggling you and trying to help you feel better.

Your daddy and I celebrated our third anniversary this month, and we decided to take a family day-cation up to the zoo. You really enjoyed yourself and loved having so many different things to look at.

We celebrated our first Strawberry Days with you this year as well.  That week we were also babysitting my cousin's three little boys, and they got to celebrate with us.  We went to the carnival, the parade, Huck Finn Days, and entered you in the baby contest.  It was a fun week, and you loved having those boys to play with too.  You actually love all little kids in general, and love being around them and trying to copy them. Are you sure you were supposed to be an oldest child?

Other favorites this month were going to Seven Peaks a lot--your favorite is the wave pool, and visiting Thanksgiving Point Gardens--you still love going for walks and being outside, and you love playing with your cousins.  You are growing up so fast!

Sadiebug, you are precious.  You are sweet, you are kind, you are so important, and I love you so much.
Thank you for being my very own,
Love,
Mommy

To My Sweet 8 Month Baby Girl...

Sweetheart,

This month was such a fun month with you!

At the beginning of the month, your Aunt Rilee left for her mission.  It's a weird concept to think that while she will be gone you will change SO much and SO quickly. We've promised to keep her very up to date with letters and pictures, and she has loved hearing about you.

One of your favorite things you figured out this month was how to pull yourself up to standing next to objects. You love grabbing onto the handle on the drawer of your dresser and standing up next to it.  One day when I was trying to lay you down for your nap, you pulled yourself up to the side of the crib and stood there giggling at me.  You were in a very silly mood, and every time we would make eye contact, you would get a new wave of giggles started.  I even got out the camera and took a video of you, and whenever I watch it, I can't help but get the giggles myself.  Your happiness is so contagious!

Another silly thing you have been doing is you will crawl up to something like a wall or a doorway or the leg of a table and head butt it by rocking back and forth, and while you bonk it with your head, you will do this cute little snorting sound.  After a while of this, you will sit back and clap for yourself.  Speaking of clapping, you are doing that all the time now, and you love having people clap for you too, you get so excited and will clap back.

For a couple days in a row, you would tuck your toes into the bottom of your pant legs so you would be standing on them, and then crawl right out of them.  I could not keep your pants on you to save my life!  I guess that trick got boring because you lost interest in your trick by the end of the week, and started keeping your pants on again.

You love taking walks, and me and my friend Katie will take you and her son, Coleman, out to walk around at different parks.  You are loving the warmer weather, and love being outside.

We took your first major vacation this month.  Uncle Phil, Aunt Jenny, and our family all went to San Diego together for a week, and we had so much fun!  The first day we went to Sea World, and your favorite thing that you got the most excited about were watching the puffins, falling asleep with your sun hat over your face during the dolphin show, and having so many people pay attention to you.  We had so many people stop us and tell us we had one of the cutest babies we had ever seen, and we can't blame them, you are hands down the cutest baby we have ever seen too.

We took you swimming at our condo for the first time.  I was afraid you would be scared while you were in the water, but you were so happy and kept kicking your little legs and squealing.  We were hoping you wouldn't mind the ocean the next day when we took you to the beach, but we were wrong!  When we put you in the water, you cried because you thought it was too cold!  However, the beach was not a total bust, because you loved eating the sand by the handfuls (you had the weirdest diapers for the next few days), and crawling over to strangers and smiling at them.

Our last day we took you to the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier that they turned into a museum.  You loved being carried around and looking at the displays.  There were some old men that worked at the museum, and they thought you were so cute, they gave you your own wing pin to wear, which was so cute.  That night we went to Old Town to visit the Mormon Battalion museum, and then went to dinner.  It was colder that evening so we visited some shops to try and find hoodies to wear.  Phil already had his hoodie with him, and he was worried about you getting cold, so he took you and cuddled you inside his hoodie to keep you warm.  After a long week of fun, and after getting all cuddly and warm, you fell right asleep in his arms, and it completely melted his heart.  Right now Uncle Phil and Aunt Jenny are trying to adopt a baby, and getting to play with you for an entire week had them all wrapped around your little chubby baby fingers.  They love you so much, you are lucky to have them in your life.

Sweetie, so many people love you, and you are a blessed little girl, and don't you forget it!
Of course, no body could ever love you more than your daddy or me!
Love,
Mommy