dear little prince | nine months

dear little prince,

happy nine months! whew, that has flown by like crazy. and in the past two weeks, it feels like you have busted out of your baby-ness and moved full-force into little man mode. your last developmental leap yielded some amazing things. i can tell a difference in your eyes. they look deeper and wiser and older and more mischievous. you are curious. you are sweet and intense. you are opinionated and forceful. and then you throw me that charming grin and reach up for me and hold my finger in your forceful fist... and you kill me, little mister.

this phase is such a fun one. and all kinds of exhausting too. chasing you. watching you. teaching you. entertaining you. cleaning you. you are a force. and such a crack up. you are down to two naps a day now, which only adds to your grown-up-ness. elinor and i wake you up in the morning and the second you see us enter your room, you are up and grabbing the rails of your crib and bopping all over the place while hooting and hollering and smiling away. and then, you nurse as soon as possible. once your liquid portion of your mealtime is complete, you enjoy an intermission of playtime with elinor while i fix breakfast. and then, more eating. oh, the eating. three solid adult-sized meals a day in addition to your four liquid feedings. and those four liquid feedings are SOLID ones too. i don't know where you are storing all that volume... perhaps in your forearms. but seriously, the food consumption. yikes.

your usual day looks a little something like:

8am > 10'ish ounces of breastmilk followed by a breakfast consisting of 1/2 cup of coconut milk overnight oats with superfood/probiotic powder and hemp seeds and a banana or cup of fruit. 12pm > 10'ish ounces of breastmilk followed by a lunch consisting of 2 egg yolks and 2 tbsp pasture butter/1 avocado and 1/2 beans. 4pm > 10'ish ounces of breastmilk. 5:30pm > a hearty portion of family dinner (usually eating more than elinor who is known to put away the food...). 7:30pm > 10'ish ounces of breastmilk before bedtime.

like i said, yikes. it makes me full just typing it. but you are putting it to good use. you are crawling all over the place. you are pulling yourself up (sometimes, lifting your feet off the ground which is a feat that i couldn't even manage as a junior high kid in PhysEd). you are cruising all over. you move from the table to the couch in one step. you try to climb the stairs. you lift objects that our twice your size. you are go-go-go until you wear yourself out and then you are all about your rest.

you love your sleep. and when you are done and ready to sleep, you are done and ready to sleep. you give me dreamy eyes and have a distinct sound that means: okay, bedtime. now. it's time. and while you don't suck your thumb like your sister, you do have your own little calming routine. you grab your special swaddle and pull the corner of it to your mouth, rubbing it on your nose while you make a little sucking-fish mouth and humming softly. it's precious. you are a total dreamboat.

you make hilarious sounds and try out funny antics in order to garner attention. you mimic. you move your head around in exaggerated ways to get a fresh vantage point and to make us chuckle. you love to play with your sister.  you love light. you are incredibly serious and intense and analytical at times, and a total goofball at other times. you are a yogi baby. you love to bounce to music. you have a fantastic furrowed brow. you love water. you wave like a maniac to say hello. you have one tooth that has popped through and at least one more on its way. you chew on everything. your current vocabulary favorites are: baba, bobobo, dada, nana, momo, mama, oooohh, pppfff, hhhiiii, and of course, boeuf. you are all kinds of expressive and letting more and more out every day. it is a blast getting to know you. from what i can tell, you have a lot of your mama in you. certain traits will serve you well while other traits will require some serious honing and refining. we have already engaged in a few battle of the wills. and i am certain that there are more to come. you are no joke, little man. but i know that by the grace of God, you will be used mightily. we pray that we can steward your life properly. that we can train you and discipline you. that you will fear the Lord. that you will hunger and thirst for righteousness. that we can point you to your Savior and that you will know your great, eternal, essential NEED for Him. we pray that you come to know Him at an early age. that you will profess Him boldly. that you will be a force for the Kingdom.

all our love,

mama + papa

and now, for some sassy eyes, serious stares, and major shade. his stink face. it's pretty great.