to our 9 month old cruiser

so one super cool thing about papa's new apple tv is that the screensaver is all of our photos on rotation. so i can sit and literally watch your entire life, all 9 months of it, roll by. your papa and i will sometimes sit and just stare at the pictures as they pass, saying things like, "look how tiny she was!" or "who is that baby?" you have changed and grown into this little tiny person with a larger than lifer personality. and we love you so much, we just want to eat you up.

9 months and you have definitely shown us how much you like to move. you will let us hold you, but not for too long. if we try to hold you too long, you push against us with your arms and use your little legs as if you were trying to scale us like a rock climbing wall. you much prefer to get places on your own. you crawl everywhere now. you no longer stay in one room but have taken to taking "tours" of the house, crawling around in circles checking things out. you are not the world's fastest crawler. slow and steady is more your speed. but if your speed doesn't tell us when you are excited about what you are heading for, your squealing and panting does. we call you our little puppy lately because you love to pant. sometimes you even carry toys around in your mouth as you crawl! and the last week you started this purring noise, so now you sound like a kitten too.

not only are you crawling, but you are cruising. you pull yourself up on anything and hold on as you take steps. i swear you pull up and sit down at least 500 times a day. you have stood for a second or two on your own, and will hold our hands and "walk" for a few steps. you have started to show an interest in climbing as well. you have managed to climb up onto the first step of our stairs, and sometimes when you stand at the ottoman you lift your leg and pull with your arms like you want to crawl on top of it. i imagine soon we are going to find you up on some shelf somewhere.

eating is going good again. you definitely prefer foods that you can feed yourself. rice cakes are a big hit. pieces of fruit have good over well too, and so did that strawberry sorbet your papa fed you when mommy wasn't home. you also like those meat dinners in a jar that look so gross but you seem to enjoy them. you like eating, but you let us know when you are finished. and you really don't like having your face wiped when you are done. but you will open your mouth to "brush your teeth." speaking of teeth, your top two teeth are poking through.

you are clapping like crazy, and make a "yay" sound when you do so. actually it sounds more like a moaning "eeehhhh" but we get the point. it seems like you are doing some pointing too, and you are making so many sounds we are convinced that you are trying to say something.

you still love baths and now try to stand up when you are in there. you have figured out how to lean your head back when mommy washes your hair.

you will sit for books more and more, and you love that baby talk book we checked out at the library. you like the pat the bunny book, except you get mad at the page where you have to look at judy's book. but i think your favorite book is the bathtime book. you like when we get to the last page and the book squeaks, and then you like to turn the page so we can tickle that piggy's butt at the end of the story. we have to read that several times before getting out of the bath. and as far as toys go, you like anything that isn't really a toy at all. you like the dvds, the paper recycling, papa flip flops, the bongo drums...the list goes on and on. you do have a love for any sort of stuffed animal, and will crawl over to the pile of them and just lay in them sometimes.

you are understanding so much of what we say. like when we say and do the sign for eat, you open your mouth and get excited for what's coming. when we say, "arms up" when we are changing your clothes, you put your arms in the air and "help" us pull your shirt over your head. you have started looking towards the ceiling when i say that i am going to turn the lights on, and you will oblige when your papa sings his "heinie up" song when he changes your diaper.

you love people, especially other kids. and while you sometimes need a minute to warm up to people before they hold you, you are all about flirting with strangers wherever we might be. you flash a smile and a wave like you know the power it has over people.

you definitely know the power it has over your mommy and your papa. we love you so much that sometimes when those pictures roll by on the tv i just cry at our little tiny greta. it is so amazing to see how we have shaped you, but also to see all the things about you that have been "you" since the very start.