Nine Months Old!

How big is Ethan?  So big!

Dear Ethan,

Seriously... are you this big already?!  I can't believe you are standing up and holding onto things.  Last week you turned nine months old and in only three short months you will be considered a toddler.  How is that possible?  

You are so much fun!  You are high energy, happy, loud, curious and extremely passionate about life.  

You love your brothers and are highly entertained by their silliness.  If James is in the room you are looking to see what he is doing and he is frequently wrestling with you, rolling on you or knocking you over while laughing hysterically.  Boys are a whole different ball game.  I knew this was coming, but I didn't bargain on it happening this soon!

You are still wearing mostly 6-12 month clothes and some 12-18 month.  You wear a size 3 diaper and size 4 at night.  You nap twice a day from 9-10:30 and 2-3:30 or 4.  Some days we get very long naps out of you and some days hardly any at all.  But you sleep through the night consistently from 7pm-6 or 7am.  You have just started to wake up and entertain yourself naturally rather than crying immediately.  The other day I left you in your crib for about 30 minutes after you woke up because you were so content in there entertaining yourself.  It was lovely!  

You are still not crawling, but you roll absolutely everywhere.  No matter where I put you down, you don't stay there.  It's quite entertaining to watch you go across an entire room!  You go from sitting into a crawl position, but then just fall down on your belly and surf.  When you realize you are not going anywhere you start rolling.  You love to stand holding onto something and are starting to cruise a little bit around the furniture.  You like to walk around while we hold your hands.  You still love the walker and are content to spend time in there rolling around exploring or chasing the dog or your brother!  I love when you become determined to get somewhere.  You tuck your head down and rip across the floor on a mission and then bang forcefully into a cabinet like you're playing bumper cars.  If I open the dishwasher, the fridge or any other type of door, you are there in a flash ready to explore.   

It is so interesting to see your personality emerging and realize that you are so different from your brother.  Just now I caught you in one of the kitchen drawers chewing on something.  When I came over to take it away from you, you took off in a mad dash and then pitched a fit when I grabbed it away from you.  I have a feeling I am going to have my work cut out for me!  You love "non" toys.  Your absolute favorite thing to play with in James' room is his noise machine.  I shove it under the bed and no matter where I put you in the room and how far under the bed it is, you usually still manage to get it.  You are very determined and I have to say, I love this about you.  I'm sure it will get you into trouble a time or two, but I can tell you are going to be a hard worker who doesn't give up until he achieves his goal.

You're eating like a champ and we are starting to work our way off of purees and into more table foods.      You still drink four bottles a day and love yogurt melts, cheerios, puffs and mum mum.  You will eat a banana if I hold it for you and you have just discovered cereal bars!  This month we are going to try eggs, yogurt and cheese.  

Ethan, you sure can tire me out, but I absolutely love you!  You are one of a kind designed by God and  sweeter than anything we could have ever imagined.  You bring such joy into our lives each day and we are blessed because of you.

The boy grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him.

~Luke 2:40