3 months from a year

Or in other words.. 9 months. 

The title is what I say when Im thinking about how much longer I have for breast-feeding. 
The latter is what I say when I think about how old my baby is.  It seems younger somehow.

With Aiden I LOVED all of the milestones he hit and I couldn't wait for him to hit the next.  With E I'm finding myself a bit more reluctant to give up the "babyness".  Maybe it's because this is the last journey through baby-hood we will make, or maybe its because I know what craziness lies ahead.  Either way, the milestones are proving themselves to be a bit challenging for this momma to get through without tears.  Case in point:  putting away baby clothes.  The first set I put away my mom was here so it helped.  The second set, I sat in my basement and bawled.  Like, hard.

Maybe that's why I'm finding it difficult to post the pictures I took this morning.. on this, his 9 month day. 

I can hear you speed read to get to the pictures..

 

 

It's impossible to take our monthly pictures in the chair anymore.  This happens in a matter of seconds.

So we headed outside to see if that would be better..

 

 

Those eyes.  That smile.  Those dimples.  His happy demeanor is so contagious! And he is simply that:  happy. 

Now, don't get me wrong, the older he gets the more he "tells us" what he wants.. or doesn't want.  For example, when you aren't keeping the food coming fast enough he lets you know by yelling.  Or when you try and change his diaper or dress him and you aren't entertaining him enough to distract him, he will yell at you and try to escape.  But 98 percent of the time, he is happy.  :)

He is moving around like crazy now.  He crawls at full speed..sometimes his arms can't keep up and ends up falling on his face, ha.  He pulls himself up on everything he possibly can and he is even standing alone for short spurts of time.  He will go from object to object standing if he is close enough.  It's crazy to think Aiden was walking by now.  E doesn't show much of an interest in walking quite yet so it may be some time before he works on that skill.  Which actually is fine with me (see paragraph #3). 

He loves to eat "big kid food".  He will still eat the pureed, mashed baby food, but he prefers chunks. And if we are ever eating something that he doesn't have he gets pretty jealous. :) 

His role model is Aiden.  He wants to do everything Aiden does.  Everything.  He wants to be where he is, play with what he is, make the same noises he does.  Sometimes he just watches Aiden and smiles that big ol' smile. And Aiden eats. that. up.  I know I've said this in previous posts, but the bond forming between them is incredibly awesome to watch.  I had a "flash forward" moment just yesterday when Emmitt was climbing up Aiden trying to get his toy, while he sat on the floor and played and Aiden kept saying "No buddy, stop!"  And E wouldn't stop.  As a matter of fact he started "yelling" and then Aiden gave in and laughed.  I tell you what.. what a moment that was!

He says "Da-da" (all the time!), "A-den", "Pa-pa", "Baf" (bath), "Mum", and we think he said "Dy" (Lilly) a couple times too! 

9 month appointment next week!  I can't wait to see how much he has grown!

Happy 3 months from a year/9 months, baby E!