dear august rose,

You are now nine and a half months old! I failed to get your 8 month letter written, so there is some major catching up to do. (I also forgot to take your 8 month chair pic, but I took these right before your 8 month birthday, so they'll have to do...)

Your eighth month was eventful, for sure! You got your first tooth about a week after you turned 7 months old, and your second followed a week or two later - both on the bottom and cute as can be. You started crawling the week before you turned 8 months old. You love being able to get around! You'll crawl from the kitchen, down the hallway, into the living room and into your room, then back again. Not long after you started crawling, you started pulling up. And THEN you started clapping. I felt like you were doing something new every single day there for a while!

Your ninth month has been full of fun, too. 

At nine and a half months, you weigh 20.5 pounds (77%) and are 28 inches long (68%). You've started cruising along the furniture, and you've also started letting go and standing by yourself for a few seconds at a time. Your little legs look so cute when you're standing.

You're pretty much eating only table food now. You're doing really well at feeding yourself, and I cannot get enough of of the way you concentrate and use your two little fingers to pick up bits of food. It's real cute. You have liked pretty much everything you've tried, but I think your favorites are peas and bananas. You're starting to use the sign for "more".

You are getting to where you play with and alongside Merit a lot throughout the day. You love her so much and always want to be where she is. She loves you just as much, but isn't sure what she thinks yet about you playing with her toys. I think she is in for a surprise once you're able to have a strong opinion about things yourself! You've been sleeping in the room with her for almost two weeks now, and so far, so good. Merit loves having "sleepovers" with you.

One of your cutest new tricks is waving and saying "HHHHIIIIII!" You almost always have your mouth wide open when you wave (always with your left hand), and sometimes you manage to get the "hi" out. You're also saying "dada" A LOT, "mama" a little, and you got really good at "papa" while we were in Abilene. Another cute trick is playing peek-a-boo. You laugh and laugh when someone plays with you. You'll mimic us and try to cover your eyes, then throw your hands out to either side. You haven't quite gotten the cover your eyes part down yet, but you look so precious trying.

In late April, we celebrated your first Easter. You had a great time watching Merit hunt eggs in our yard at home. Can't wait to see you join her next year.

We spent Easter Sunday in Jackson with Grammie, Popsy, and your Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa. You wore the sweetest little pink romper with an embroidered Easter lily that I had found at a thrift store about a year before you were born. When we found out you were a girl, I remembered that pink romper in the closet and was excited that it still fit around Eastertime.

At the beginning of this month, we spent a week in Abilene with Nina and PaPa. You were so interested in the cows when we visited the farm. I know you are one day going to love that place as much as I do.

Oh, sweet baby August Rose. I can't help but have the giddiest smile every time I pick you up. Usually because you're giving me one right back. You are beautiful in every way, and I'm so glad that you're mine. It is still hard to believe, but I'm glad nonetheless. 

I know you'll be one in no time at all, so I am trying my best to soak up these baby days with you. I find myself trying to memorize your chubby feet, the sound of you oohing over something you find interesting, or the look of your smile with only two little teeth. I love all of you with all of me, baby girl. And don't you ever, ever forget it.

much love,

your mama