9 months

Dear Ivar,
Today you turn 9-months. And you just get more fun.

You delight us every day. Like the day I came back from walking around Lake Harriet with you and while giving you a bath found that you had tan lines in the rolls of your thighs. You are a very healthy eater and love all foods so far, though you give us a good gag show with avocado (but you still eat it!)

You are not crawling yet, but still get to where you want to go by barrel rolling side to side, all the while kersplatting on the hardwood floors. In the early mornings I set you up in the living room with all of your favorite toys and then head back to bed, and just this week I found you had almost made it to the kitchen! You also can scootch yourself backwards but tend to get stuck under the couch a lot because of this maneuver. And that is very frustrating for you.

You have acquired a scream that would rival any middle school girl sitting in the front of a roller coaster. It is high pitched, abrasive and terribly unnerving. Unfortunately, you have learned that it is effective. So we’re trying to ignore the pterodactyl that has moved into our quiet little home, but it’s harder to do than you’d think. Hopefully the scream is just a stage.

The flip side of the scream is that you have an opinion and are really starting to show us some personality. You’re still fantastically social. Today your dad and I took you for a walk around Lake Harriet and you stuck your arms straight out and waved your wrists and smiled at the runners as they ran by. You gave sweet smiles and we got lots of quick remarks of “cute baby” “he’s waving at me” or “hi buddy.” It tuckered you out and after a while you fell asleep in the stroller.

It was odd to have you lying back in the stroller, because your normal posture is very upright. Especially in your umbrella stroller, you rarely sit back. You’re very interested and eager to see what is up ahead In fact, when I see you playing with your toys on the floor I am often reminded to roll my shoulders back and sit up straighter myself..

You sing our names as a sweet background to our days. Mamamamamama and Dadadadadada are babbled lovingly all day long and you often times will make us stand quiet for a bit as we listen to you talk to your toys.

We love you more and more Ivar. I’ve stopped lamenting your changing and growing because your new tricks, ever-growing thighs and new sounds just give us that much more to love. And we love and adore you like crazies.
Love, Ma mama ma ma mamama