Dear Griffin: 9 months

Dear Griffin,

You are NINE months of age and then some. There is no excusable reason as to why I am late with this month's letter...I just am. You and the big bro keep me some kind of busy these days, and any down time I have is spent not on a computer. This has been a wonderful month for us, little man. You have grown so much in only one month and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

This was an exciting month for you. You spent some time at Geez and Gam's house because me and your daddy traveled a lot in the first part of the month. You rode the four wheeler while you were there and I'm under the impression that you will be just as obsessed with it as your brother, and will one day kiss it good night and tell it you love it just like Clark. Perhaps the most exciting thing that happened this past month was that time you fell off of your changing table and broke the fall with your face. Ouch. It happens, I guess. You handled it just fine and within a few minutes you were back to Old Griff. Made me love you even more, if that was at all possible. My goal for the next month is to not let that happen again. We'll see how that goes.

Your greatest accomplishment over the past 30 or so days was your new found mobility. The day you learned how to belly crawl was the day you ate your own poop. Remember that? It was an unfortunate experience and I accept all of the blame for letting that happen. But since then, you have taken off. You are everywhere. It is not unusual when I put you down in one room, walk into another room to do something, and look down and find you at my feet begging to be tripped over, which happens at least eight times per day. You are quick and sneaky like a little fox. A common activity you enjoy is to pop your little head into a room and creepily just stare at me until I notice you. I'm not calling you a creepy baby, but that could easily be one interpretation. You are not on all fours yet but can boot scoot and boogie your way around by army crawling anywhere you want to go. You are doing that cute baby thing where you get up on your hands and knees and sway back and forth, so I know the real deal crawling isn't too far away. But the commando crawl is super cute and I love watching you move your little booty to get where you want to go. Your other preferred mode of transportation is your walker. You adore that thing, and have traveled many miles around our house in it. I am so impressed with how well you can make turns, maneuver yourself out of less than ideal situations (like getting stuck in our tiny laundry room), and run away from Clark when he is chasing you with a pair of scissors (yes, that actually happened, and I'm not proud of it).

Lets talk about your ears. They stress me out, Griffin. I don't understand them at all. You have been to the doctor six times in the past three months because I was convinced you were getting a horrific ear infections. I was right four of those times. The doctor chalked the other two visits up to teething. I was super excited to pay $45 each time to find out you were teething. So that was awesome. But your poor ears seem to just be no good, kind of like your dads. It appears that you have a steady supply of fluid built up in your left ear that just won't go away, so it is likely in the next month or two you might need to get some tubes to clear those suckers up. I don't know exactly what the procedure entails yet, but your doctor and your daddy have assured me it is not a super huge deal, so we will just fight the good fight and get you better. I hate seeing you grab at your ears and look like your in pain. It hurts my soul.

You continue to be the champion of all babies when it comes to eating. Jeez Louise, Griffin Rice, you can take down some baby food. You average 12-15 boxes of Gerber 2nd or 3rd stage baby food per day. As you can imagine, this gets expensive. I am slowly but surely introducing real food to you in an attempt to stop the madness of messy, empty baby food containers all over the house. So far, you love cheese, bread, graham crackers, goldfish, cheerios, yogurt, Lima beans, paper, plastic, and anything that exists. You are constantly chewing on, and swallowing, anything within reach. I have taken baby proofing our house to a whole new level, constantly making sure there is nothing bad for you to get your hands on. I promise, to the best of my ability, to never let you chew on your own bowel movement again.

You spend a lot of time in your car seat and you are perfectly okay with that. Clark goes to "school" (Mothers Morning Out) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so those are the days I cram ALL of our family errands into. When we leave our house at 8:45, we usually do not come back home until about 2:30. You are so good at falling asleep in the car, looking out of the window (you LOVE when your window is rolled down and you feel the wind in your face), and keeping me company on the road. You are so easy to get in and out of the car and go right along with whatever I am doing. You are wonderful in shopping carts, on my hip, in a stroller, or wherever I decide you need to be at the moment, like rolling around on the floor at the post office. I know I say this all the time, but I get compliments on you everywhere I go. You are so content. Always smiling. Always happy.

Being completely honest, you truly are the happiest kid I've ever come across. It takes no effort at all to get you laughing. Your dad pointed out the other day that taking your picture is so easy because we don't have to distract you or do something silly to make you smile. You smile about 80% of the day. And you laugh so much, especially at Clark. Nobody on this earth can make you as happy as he does, and he knows it. He knows what gets you tickled and does his little Clark the Shark antics all day long to keep you laughing.

Something I've noticed specifically this past month is how you are slightly bashful! When somebody talks to you, it is likely that you will smile really big and then turn your head and bury it in my shoulder.  You do it every single morning when I get you out of your crib and bring you into my room where daddy is getting ready for work. Daddy will simply look at you and you smile really big, poke your little hiney out, and turn your head away from him. It's so flippin' cute, Griffin. It is one of my favorite things you do right now.

You are so big Griffin Aaron Rice. I think you weigh about 22 pounds and are 28 inches long. I was looking at you just last night as you were sitting in your high chair munching on some graham crackers and realized just how big you really are now. You take up all the room in the high chair. Your feet don't dangle in the air anymore. You don't slide around in it like you used to. You fit in it perfectly. How did that happen so fast? It wasn't too long ago that you barely could fit in your Bumbo. Slow down, Grif. I'm trying to catch up.

Bath time is definitely all of our favorite time of every other day. Or maybe every three days. You know how it is. You splash water all over the bathroom. Clark makes you laugh so hard. You chew on toys and eat the bubbles. And then afterwards, I bundle you up in a thick warm towel and try not to eat you up because you smell so delicious after baths.

You are such a strange little sleeper. I have yet to figure out why you wake up EVERY SINGLE NIGHT at about 10:30 and scream for three to five minutes and then fall back to sleep. You sleep all through the night most nights, but it is not unusual for you to wake yourself up at random parts in the night and let out some little squawks every now and again. And let's be honest...you are not the world's best napper. You sleep exactly one hour in the morning and about an hour and a half in the afternoon. Your bedtime is anywhere from 7:00 to 7:30 and you generally wake up at about 7:00am, but lay in your crib and do a song and dance for about 20 minutes. Walking into your room after not seeing you in 12 hours is my favorite ritual. We are both so excited to reunite. We hug and you bounce in my arms and you do your super cute baby babble with a little bit of sleep in your eyes. I love every second of our mornings together.

In a week and a half, we are going to put you in your car seat and take you to Seaside, Florida where we will spend four days with all of your Rice-side aunts, uncles, cousins, and Geez and Gam. I'm so excited about this I can hardly stand it. If you recall, you were not a huge fan of the beach last time we adventured out to Florida, but I have a feeling this time will be different. I'm going to bring a huge blanket for you to sit on and an umbrella for you to sit under and let you eat as much sand as you want. And if you happen to still not like it, there are unlimited aunts and uncles and grandparents to keep you company elsewhere.

I think that about covers your latest month, Old Grif. I expect this next month to be super fun. You are probably going to start pulling up on furniture and getting bloody lips and noses because you are not the most coordinated baby in the land. I cannot believe that the next letter I write you will be because you have turned ten months old. That is so hard to comprehend. These nine months have gone by about as fast as my labor experience with you. And that is not a lot of time. Your daddy and I love you more than you will ever understand. Each day is so full of joy for us and that is because you and your brother are in our lives. I just can't imagine what life was like before you were here. You are the sweetest and happiest little thing and nothing you will ever do will change how much we love you. I can't wait to see where God takes you in this lifetime. You will make so many people happy if you just stay exactly the way you are right now.

Love,
Mama