Eight & Nine Months Old!

My dearest little Emma,

Please forgive Mommy for being so late with recapping your past two months.  Every time that I want to sit down to write it all down, I either cannot spare the time of leaving you to play alone, or am far too tired in the day to do it.  Like every other month before, time keeps going by faster and faster and I feel like I blink and you are another month older.  Yes, I say that all the time, but it couldn't be more true.  Sometimes I sit back in amazement looking at how big you are now and try to piece together how in the world we got here so fast.  I suppose for the rest of your life I will be in that constant state of wishing time to go slower so that I can soak up each moment of your life before it flies by.

You have grown and changed so much over the past two months, I am constantly amazed at you!  Your funny little personality is showing more each day.  You are still such a happy and fun loving baby who isn't phased by a whole lot.   You are usually pretty go with the flow, but now when you want something you are quick to let us know what you want and what doesn't make you happy.  You have learned who you feel comfortable with and Mommy wins for being #1 in your heart.  I suppose that you do love your Daddy as much as me, but you get so excited when I walk in the room after being gone away that if you could, you would jump right into my arms.  Mommy is the one you want when you're sad or wake up in the middle of the night crying.  Daddy can calm you for only a minute or two, but your sweet little puffy eyes stare down the door of your bedroom waiting for me to walk through and "save the day."  Honestly, I adore that you adore me.  Even in my sleepy 2 am state of mind, I absolutely treasure getting to cuddle you so closely to me as you drift back off to sleep.  I wouldn't trade that feeling for 10 hours of sleep every night.   One of the favorite things that you do that Daddy & I love is that when you are so tired and sleepy you insist on holding so tightly to one of our fingers with your whole hand and you don't like to let go until you are completely out.  You are so cute sucking your thumb with one hand, and gripping our hand in the other right near your face.  As long as you know that we are still there, it's as if you know that everything is right in the world and you can safely fall asleep.  If I could capture any moment in time, I think that would be it.

You are learning and discovering new things every day, and it's fascinating to watch your curious little face as you examine the world around you.  Whenever we go, you are quiet and soaking everything in as your little eyes dart back and forth throughout the place we are at, as you are trying to figure out what and why everything is there.  You squeal with delight when you find a new thing that you love and find fascinating and it's adorable to watch you giggle and laugh over it. 

You aren't crawling yet and you definitely have strong feelings about us trying to make you do it.  You have let us know that you are happy where you are, and aren't ready for us to force you to do anything of the sort.  One thing that we are learning about you is that when you have your mind set about something, there isn't any changing it and you are gonna let us know that for sure!  You scoot your little self around and roll in delight to where you want to go, but army crawling and inch worming is about all that you want to do.  You are clearly more interested in standing up and trying to move around that way rather than crawling on the floor.  I am anxious for you to start scooting around, and you appease me from time to time, but then plop yourself back on your backside to play with your toys in delight.   You're definitely a funny little girl!!

One thing that you are not shy about is your love of FOOD!! You love getting to eat "big girl" food and trying things off Daddy & mine's plates at meal time.  Your buggy little hands are always grabbing at anything that's near you and if we aren't quick enough it's in your mouth before we know it.  There isn't one thing that you won't try and you finish everything we give you.  You are such a good little eater and it's so cute to see you grin from ear to ear as you feed yourself.  You LOVE green beans and spaghetti noodles the most, and they usually end up all over your face.  You are such a pro at feeding yourself now, and even try to grab at the spoon when Mommy feeds you so you can attempt to do that too.  I don't usually let you get too much into it or else I would be scrubbing walls every meal time, but we let you get in there from time to time and you love the independence of it.

Emma Charlotte, you are such a joy and you have taught me so much in your sweet little 9 months of life.  I love watching you learn and grow every day, and you make me fall more in love with you each moment that I spend with you.  You are such a blessing from the Lord and we thank Him every day for you!  Promise Mommy that you won't turn ONE too fast, pretty please?!