Nine Months

Jack Ryan, you are nine months old today! What are you up to these days?


You weigh about 21 pounds (we will get the exact weight at your doctor's appointment on Tuesday)

You are getting tall! You have a very long torso like your grandma Diane.

You LOVE to eat "people" food. You are very interested in everything that people around you are eating. You sit there like a little bird with your mouth hanging open until we give you whatever we have. I have not found a single thing that you will not eat.

Because of your interest in food, you have very little interest in your bottles. You still eat them, but sometimes it is a struggle to get you to finish them.

You have no interest in crawling so I'm pretty sure you will just start walking.

You are currently in a very needy stage. You want to be entertained...you don't like to just sit and play by yourself.

My favorite thing this month...you have learned to clap!! It is the cutest thing that I have ever seen! You clap at everything! I love it!

You are also very good at saying "hi" and you even say "hi Jack" when you see yourself. It is the cutest thing...I don't have a clue how you learned that, but "Jack" comes out "ack" and is pretty easy for babies to say (it was one of your cousin Rory's first words and your cousin Ava loves to say it). It's very cute though!

Your laugh is the sweetest sound in the world.


I love you so much! I can't believe you are 9 months old! I guess it's time to start thinking about a birthday party for my little man. May will be here before we know it!

Fear

I wish that fear didn't overcome me all the time. I am afraid of everything. Okay, when I say everything, I don't actually mean everything. I'm not afraid of spiders, or water, or heights. I'm afraid of things that I can't control...like someone I love dying. I'm not one of those people that is afraid of dying herself (well, more on that in a minute). I'm more afraid of being left behind if one of my loved ones were to die.

Ever since I have had Jack, my fear has reached an all time high. I worry about everything! I worry that he isn't eating enough, that he's eating too much, that he has a fever, that he isn't sleeping enough, that he isn't reaching milestones when someone else says he should. But, most of all, I worry about what would happen if he had to grow up without me.

This has been constantly on my mind for about two weeks. You see, I am leaving for a conference in Boston on Friday. I will be gone from Friday morning until Wednesday morning. I have cried nearly every day thinking about my sweet baby boy. I am sad about leaving him, but I am freaking out about flying. I hate flying in general. I have always had a fear of flying (okay, not the flying part...the possibility of plummeting from the sky).

I just want to have a safe trip and to get safely back to my house to hug that baby boy. I hate letting fear overtake my life. I'm trying not to let it, but I have to say, I'm not being very successful. But, how can you not want to get home to this sweet face??

Eight Months

Jack Ryan...you are 8 months old. Okay, you have been 8 months old for over two weeks...mom is just really slow with the posts! What are you up to these days?

You wear size 9 month pants and mostly size 12 month onesies. You have a very long torso!

You sit up on your own, but sometimes you forget to catch yourself when you fall backwards!

You have absolutely no interest in crawling! We are pretty sure you will go straight to walking!

You say "hi" all the time. You especially like to say hi to your cousin Rory.

Speaking of Rory, you are obsessed with him! You think he is the best. He is 11 weeks older than you. You two spend lots of time with Papa and Go Go during the week. He is teaching you all sorts of bad habits...like how to hit mommy. We hope that maybe you will learn to walk from him too.

You absolutely love "people" food. We haven't found anything that you won't eat yet. Current favorites include cheerios, mashed potatoes, french fries, hamburgers, chicken, and avocado. You sit there with your mouth open like a little bird until we put something in it!

You are a horrible nap taker. You take a short nap in the morning and a short nap in the afternoon. It's really hard for mom to get anything done when you won't sleep! I can't complain though, because you sleep for over 12 hours at night.

You now have six teeth! Four on the top and two on the bottom. The four on the top all came in at once. That was a very rough week for all of us! Poor baby!

Your monthly photo shoots are getting interesting...you refuse to leave the sign alone!


I can usually get one photo out of the group where you smile!
And, your hair is getting crazy! You can have a little mohawk.