9 months!

We have been busy around here!  Patrick was out of town for a little while, then my parents came in town and we had Birthday Week Celebrations for Patrick's 25th!!  In between all of that, John Ryman turned 9 months!  I don't know why that seemed like such a big milestone- maybe because he has now been in this world longer than he was in my belly... or maybe because he seems to be acting like a boy not a baby!  I know he is still such a baby, but with his mobility, babbling and hilarious personality I just keep seeing this BOY grow up before my eyes.  Those rare moments when he slows down and wants to cuddle- oh wow- melts this momma's heart!

John Ryman, you make us laugh all day long.  You love to "dance" which means you shake your head back and forth.  You are very determined and if you can't get somewhere you want or your walking toy gets stuck, you grunt or let out a "roar".  Whenever you are doing something you know you shouldn't be doing and we catch your eye, you show us a sweet sly smile and start giggling!  You make the best expressions and noises- always entertaining us!

This boy is always moving.  Always Moving!
I rock you and feed you a bottle... you dance with your feet the entire time.  If you have your bottle alone... you walk and crawl around with it in hand occasionally stopping, tossing your head back and throwing the bottle in your mouth... then you just keep on moving.
After naps when I hear you waking up, the second I open the door you pop up smiling and proceed to jump repeatedly up and down.  Wish I could wake up that quickly!
If I let you play in the living room, you will speed crawl out of sight and hide silently in our bedroom closet, laughing when you finally turn around to realize that I was sneaking behind you the entire time!  Nana B. sure loved watching you get into everything because she said your mommy was the same way.  Busy bee.  Not bad, just ACTIVE.

Your curls are just adorable!  Your hair is really coming in lighter and curly.  Nana B. said that your mommy's hair was pretty curly in the back, but yours is a little lighter.  I've seen some cute pictures of your daddy as a toddler and he had some pretty blonde curls.  Funny to picture your daddy as a blonde :) but your light brown hair is still getting lighter and curlier like his as a baby!

You sure love your books.  I set up a little gate at your bedroom door so you could have quiet room time.  If the gate isn't up you just crawl from room to room, never stopping, but when it is room time, you love it!  You will sit in their talking happily and playing with toys, but you always end up in your book corner turning pages back and forth.  It is so sweet to watch you contently reading and babbling.
You are still saying about the same things as 8 months and love to blow raspberries!  You also learned to kiss (mouth wide open and you say "Muah") too cute!

You are doing great sleeping from about 8-8, never waking up!  I try to put you to bed around 7:30 on the nights we have community group at our house that way you can say hi to everyone, but you are asleep by the time discussion starts.  You still do pretty good when we stay out past your bedtime.  As long as there are people around, you enjoy being up late :)  You love trying new foods and feeding yourself.  You have a bottle & food at breakfast, lunch and dinner and then have another bottle before bed.  You love to take bites off a banana by yourself or pick up pieces of food that I share with you.  And of course, you love your oatmeal every morning!  I have officially stopped breast-feeding and you didn't seem to notice.  Weaning was pretty natural, possibly because you were already so used to a bottle.  Slowly over a couple weeks, breast-feeding time and my milk supply went down.  The morning and bedtime feedings were the last to drop because those were the only times you were quiet and still enough to actually breast feed.  Not sure if it is just because you are so active or if I wasn't producing enough, but I'm pretty sure you would much rather drink a quick bottle so you can keep on moving.  :)  I'm so glad I was able to breast feed for 8 months and I am still amazed that I actually just did that! Wow.
(I have put Fenugreek on my list for future babies and feedings to possibly help keep up my supply... any other future tips?)

You continue to be mommy's shopping buddy.  Smiling at every person you see or making interesting noises with your mouth ;) such a boy!  You only have your two bottom teeth, but those top gums are really looking different, so the others can't be far behind.  We both love this cooler weather and getting outside for longer periods of time.  Glad to start back our park days like we did when you were little!

We love you sweet boy.  You are such a JOY every day!