Dear Eisley,
Today you are 9 months old. The amount of time that you have been out into this world almost equals the amount of time that you were in Mommy’s belly. Your Daddy and I find it quite hard to imagine that you have filled our days with love and smiles for 9 whole months. It seems as if just in the past month you have grown quite independent. Long gone are the days that you were our tiny little baby who would rest comfortably in our arms or on Daddy’s chest. These days you are a mover and shaker. You picked up crawling about a month ago and just in the last week or so you have decided that crawling around on rugs or blankets is for amateurs, choosing instead to explore the rugged terrain of the downstairs tile. And when checking things out from floor level isn’t really your chosen perspective, you have decided to try standing on those cute chubby feet of yours. Needless to say, you have sent your procrastinating parents into a babyproofing frenzy.
You now have 6 teeth, and each one of those teeth make your smile all the more beautiful. You are using them to chew up some food, and that is quite the big girl thing to do. You love chewing bits of banana and apple, pineapple and mango. You also really enjoy grinding your teeth a bit until Mommy can’t stand it anymore and covers her own ears with her hands and makes scrunched up faces. It really is quite a sound!
Teeth grinding music is not the only sound we hear from you. Our house is filled with the best babbling you could ever imagine. You are saying ‘Mama’ and ‘Da…Da’ (that one’s not quite fluent yet), and we think you might be starting to try out a ‘d’ sound for “dog”. You also like to make lots of other sounds that are beginning to take on the resemblance of a very serious conversation. We promise that we are listening.
You had your first Easter this year, and celebrated by hunting eggs with your cousins (actually, Daddy was quite the egg hunter) and you also visited the Weynand ranch for the first time in Hondo. You were so good and everyone was really excited to see you.
And in this past month something else very special happened. On April 18th, at around 8:00 in the evening, you made a new friend. Your friend Samantha joined the world and we couldn’t be more excited. Your mommy and Samantha’s mommy have great plans for the both of you. It will be so much fun watching the two of you sweet girls growing up together.
Mommy took you to the doctor yesterday for your 9-month checkup, and you are doing so well. You are 17.1 pounds (which is a little on the small side but you are expected to be about 19 pounds at 1 year) and 28 inches long. And lo and behold, your head has made it into the 50th percentile! We knew we had a smart one on our hands. We went to the appointment cheerfully knowing that there were to be no shots…hooray! Well, as it turns out, no shots but 1 finger stick for anemia testing. Mommy groaned in agony when we were informed of this fact. You did amazingly well though, and only cried for a few seconds. You almost were oblivious to the fact that the nurse had to squeeze your little finger for over a minute to get enough blood. All you needed was a snack or two to forget what was happening. Right before we left the doctor’s office, we scheduled your 1-year checkup. Mommy got a little choked up at the thought of you turning a year old. Our dear, sweet, wonderful baby growing up so fast.
Mommy and Daddy can’t wait to see what is to come between now and your 10th month. Throughout all that you do, and all that you are, remember that you are our most precious gift.
We love you,
Mommy and Daddy
Dear Eisley,