The Vanderwalls: Three-quarters of a year! Whoa!

Noah Baby,

I cannot believe that you are 3 months away from having your 1st birthday. That is just insane! You are growing and changing on what seems to be a daily basis. Mommy just wants you to stay little.

You've come up with several pretty awesome accomplishments this past month. You're not crawling yet, but you are awfully close. You can army crawl when you want to get something that is just out of your reach. You can also assume a crawling stance and go backwards. However, you do not do either of these things very often. Mommy and Daddy really need to hop on baby-proofing the house.

I think that last time I wrote, you had 2 teeth. Well, you now have 4. Both the middle two on the top and bottom are in and boy, do you love to find things to exercise them on!

Your hair is growing at a speedy rate. It is still very fine and quite blond. We chuckle about it a lot because it looks exactly like Daddy's. You wake up with what Mommy calls, "wings," nearly every morning and you and Daddy look like twins. I think it is going to be curly, or wavy at the least.

I'd have to venture a guess and say that your favorite toys are your hands and fingers. You are mesmerized by them. You will twist and turn them every which way, point at things, cross your fingers (you love this one), open and close them, etc. all the while staring at them like they are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

One other hand-related accomplishment as of late is that you've mastered the art of waving bye-bye. Now, whenever someone waves at you, you will wave back. You also wave every time you hear the words, "bye-bye."

Books have become of much more entertainment to you recently. While chewing on them might be more fun than reading them, you do like to listen to a good story, as long as you get to touch every picture.

A couple of week ends ago we were at Costco and were enjoying some of the samples when we discovered that you really like quinoa. So, this has been the food of choice around our house for the past week or so. Serve it up with some applesauce, warmed slightly, and you're in 7th heaven.

Tomorrow we will be going to the doctor for your 9 month checkup so I will have some stats to add to your next blog. We haven't weighed you or measured you for a couple months so I am very curious to see where you're at.

Daddy is in Seattle for work all week. We already miss him like crazy, but we're "face-timing" him every night. You get a kick out of hearing his voice and seeing his face on Mommy's phone.

This week, you graduated from your infant car seat to a big boy seat. (I know, you're such a tiny tot that you lasted in your first seat for 9 months. That's what happens when you come early :)). Thank goodness! It is no longer a struggle to get you in your seat.

You contracted your first cold. It arrived the Sunday before Christmas and lasted for 3.5 weeks. Mommy and Daddy felt so bad for you because we could tell you were miserable, but we couldn't do much, other than wait it out. You were a very good sport and didn't hardly whine. We're thankful that you're back to full health now.

It is so fun to live everyday life with you! Mommy and Daddy love you immensely! Until next time...