Nine Months

On this very special Friday the 13th (and they are all special in our household*), we celebrate our son's first nine months on the planet. This is a pretty big milestone for me, because it not only marks the length of time that I spent pregnant (well, actually I was pregnant for 41 weeks, but who's counting?), but it also is the last big marker before his actual, real first birthday (according to novelty baby picture frames, anyway).

He is amazing. He has gone from a tiny little blob of babyskin to a DUDE who can walk around the house holding onto the walls. When the nurses handed me the tiny, helpless person at the hospital, the LAST thing I'd thought he'd do was walk, and yet....

He can laugh. He can converse (in growls). He can give me kisses when I ask for them. He can open and shut doors of all shapes and sizes. He can make a mess of his bedroom.

He is like a walking photo album because when I look at him, I see so many different members of my family in his facial expressions. He makes me feel at home.

I tried to have him pose for his official nine-month picture to go into the aforementioned novelty baby frame, but this was the result:


It's not just him that has come a long way in the last nine months. Bill and I have learned SO MUCH about what makes this little guy happy. I remember how hard it was in the beginning. The greatest blessing of my life has been to be able to watch this little man grow everyday, and it hurts already to think that he'll one day be out on his own.

A good hurt, which is, incidentally, my definition of the word "parenthood."



*No, we are not horror film enthusiasts or anything. I met Bill on a blind date on Friday the 13th, we later married on that date, and Joe, in all his glory, was born on Friday, February 13th, 2009. A most auspicious day, indeed.

**We've come a long way in our videography skills. We like to think.