9 month old C

It has been another busy, busy month.  C still only has 6 teeth.  His drooling has been crazy for the last couple of days.  I'm thinking teeth 7 & 8 on the bottom are about ready to erupt but as of tonight, they have not.

It is funny how quickly babies change.  I just read through his 8 month post and it talked about how I do double takes at seeing him sitting up.  Now, I am constantly calling, "C where are you now?"  He is a mobile little guy.  He can crawl across the room very quickly.  There is no sitting still now that crawling has been mastered.  He loves to be on the go.  Life is getting much trickier with him being so mobile.  Diaper changes are a nightmare/wrestling challenge.  Choking hazards are a constant concern because he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.  He loves to go 'scavenging' under the kitchen table.  He can always find a rogue cheerio or something under there.

C truly found his 'voice' this month.  He loves to make noise.  It is getting more and more difficult to carry on a conversation with Jut because he just makes noise...as loud as he can.  When he and X both get started, it is loud!

Sleeping is still an issue....  He usually sleeps until 5ish in the mornings though.  So, that is  better.  He doesn't like to go to sleep.  He fights it as hard as he can.  I've been putting him in his crib more and more because I'm worried I'll drop him when he's fighting being rocked.  He is one tough little guy.

C had his first bleeding incident this month.  He is just learning to pull himself up to a standing position.  He was on his knees outside at the front steps.  He lost his balance smacked his mouth on the step and then clunked his head on the cement.  I thought that he was crying  because of his head hitting the cement...until I saw all the blood on my shoulder.  Upon closer inspection, the poor little guy had put his tooth through his lip for the first time.  If he's anything like X, after the next 50 times, he won't even cry anymore because it will just be part of life...oh the joys of life with boys.

He pulled himself up for the first time earlier this week on Jut.  He's repeated it a couple of times.  For a little guy that doesn't put any weight on his legs when you try to stand him up, I was surprised to see him do it this early.  But, he tried and was successful.  He's also entered that constant biting stage as he tries to pull himself up...and with those 6 sharp teeth, that is not pleasant and I'm trying to break him of that habit quickly.

C spent his first week at Rock Lake Camp.  He loved it.  He loved all the attention.  He loved the lake...although after the first day of scooping rocks out his mouth every 2 seconds, he didn't get in again.  It was a fun week.

So, it has been another fun month of adventures. We'll see what month 10 brings us!  :)

10 years...

Jut and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this week.  Fun times.  We had Joye come up and watch the kids while we ran away for about 26 hours.  It was a fun time to meander and do some of the things we used to do before we entered this wonderful world of parenting. We did a bit of reflecting and planning but mostly we just enjoyed being "us".

It was funny to think of the things that have changed in the past 10 years...

• We've lived in 4 houses in 3 cities
• Jut has had 4 different jobs in 3 locations
• We've added 3 children to the family
• We've bought 2 vehicles (one of which was a minivan which Chris said previously that she'd never own and now loves) and gotten rid of 3...we've lived with only one since January 2008
• We have one completed Master's Degree and one halfway completed Master's Degree between the two of  us
• Chris is a SAHM, which she never desired to be...but now wouldn't change it for the world
• We've lost 1 father, 3 grandmothers, and 1 grandfather (3 of those in the past 12 months)
• We've traveled across the world to Sri Lanka
• We managed to conquer all our debt and live debt free for several years...but now that minivan changed that for a bit again
• Added a brother-in-law to the family
• We put an offer on a house...but then backed out when the seller wouldn't agree to our concessions

It has been an amazing 10 years full of twists and turns and we can't wait to see how God leads in the next 10.  We didn't envision where we are today 10 years ago and I'm sure we can't imagine the paths that God will lead us to in the next 10!  We are blessed beyond measure.