Growing Graham: 9 months

Okay, so I did a little bit of photoshopping on this. But I didn't have to do
anything to his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes look like that normally!

I can't believe that this boy is already 9 months old! And he won't slow down, not even to nap.

Graham hates taking naps. I think he feels like he's going to miss out on something if he does. He nearly squirms out of my arms when I walk into his room to lay him in his crib. He screams, cries, arches his back, kicks, pushes away with his little hands, and rolls over and over when we go to lay him down for a nap. But at night he goes to sleep without a fight! After dinner and a bath I'll usually nurse him until he's nice and full, hand him his favorite cotton blanket (which he immediately sucks on and snuggles with), and as we walk from the living room into his bedroom, he closes his eyes. By the time I'm through singing the single verse of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" he's out. I lay him down, cover him with his quilt, and I don't hear anything from him until 4am.

Speaking of, he still can't quite sleep all the way through the night. He makes it to 4, sometimes 3:30 or 5:00, but never until 6am or later. And he's always ravenously hungry when I go in to get him at that time. He eats until he's full and goes back to sleep, usually until 6:30 or 7:00am.

Bob gets up with him in the morning since I get up with him at night. I sleep until 8, sometimes later, and when I get up Bob always tells me how happy and fun Graham is during those fun couple of hours they have together. And when Graham sees me after I finally get up, he can't contain his excitement and I have to hold him.

He still rarely snuggles. But when he's sick or tired, he tends to lay his head on my shoulder when I hold him. But that only lasts for 10 seconds if I'm lucky.

He babbles all the time now. He's exploring the sounds he can make, from the high to the low pitches, the ways his tongue moves, the way it sounds when he moves his lips, etc. He's gotten away from blowing raspberries and into making "ba-ba-ba-ba" sounds. Often times, he'll whisper that instead of saying it loudly.

And Graham has an entire range of faces that he makes. Most of them are hilarious.

He absolutely loves bathtime. When he's cranky or too tired, he loves it less-so, but usually, he gets so excited for it. As soon as we go in the bathroom and I push open the shower curtain, he starts bouncing in my arms. I can't lay him down to undress him anymore--he has to be standing by the tub, watching the water fill it. If I try to lay him down to strip him, he won't stay still and keeps trying to roll over to the tub so that he can try and get into it. And if I don't get him naked quick enough, he tries to crawl into the bath tub without my help. He just can't wait to get into that warm water! And the funny thing is, once he's sitting in it, he usually just wants to stand back up and explore every corner and play. But he's happy the whole time. Until I rinse his hair by pouring water over his head. It startles him and he whines afterward. But he is getting more used to it and sometimes just wipes his eyes and continues on with what he was doing before.

This kid eats a lot! I don't really know what's normal, but on any given day, he'll eat 8 containers of pureed baby food (3.5 ounces each), mashed beans or avocado or banana, about 4 ounces of infant cereal, as well as breastfeeding 5+ times a day. I'm already having visions of what he's going to be like as a teenager. I don't know why I'm surprised though, since his dad needs about 3000 calories a day to maintain his weight. I probably should have considered that in preparing to have a baby.

But he's still so skinny! The other day I tried to see how much baby fat he has on his tummy. I pinched it between my thumb and finger, and it was all skin, measuring maybe a quarter of an inch. He's still toned and mostly muscle, although he has a single little roll on the inside of each thigh still. And it's so cute!

We sure love this boy! Sometimes, Bob and I make up our own words to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Mine usually go like this:

I love you my Baby Graham.

You're my favorite little man.

And one day you'll grow so tall,

But I'll still love you--height and all.

So for now you're Baby Graham,

And I love you, yes I do.

And I mean every word of it!

Family Christmas Card

We took our family portraits while up in SLO for Thanksgiving. Here was our Christmas card that we sent out to our family and friends this year.

On the back was this update:

Bob is currently pursuing a career in real estate and is planning to have his license to become an agent shortly after the beginning of next year. He still enjoys surfing when he can get out in the ocean and looks forward to having more free time in the coming years after he is finished with school and the startup of his business.

Janae is maintaining a blog and a small online shop where she writes about and sells her designed and handcrafted creations. She's anxious to further her ambitions in self employment and has high hopes for the future. She enjoys cycling when she can and spending time with Bob and Graham.

Graham (8 months old) is growing into a happy and hilarious boy. He loves to play and laugh, is extremely outgoing, and rarely sits still. His favorite foods are sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, and applesauce. He crawls everywhere and tries to climb up furniture, people, out of his crib, and on top of anything that is taller than he is. He's eagerly awaiting the time when he can stand and walk by himself.

We wish to express our gratitude to you for your love and friendship. We also wish you a blessed, merry Christmas and a happy and productive New Year!

Of course, we didn't get these sent out until after January 1st. Maybe next year we'll get them out on time.