Dear Henry, I won’t say “Aw! 9 months! You’ve been on the outside as long as you were on the inside!” because that’s a nauseating cliche and surely when you’re older we’ll roll our eyes at statements like that. That being said, I can’t believe you turned 9  months old yesterday. I love the loud “slap, slap, slap” of your hands as you crawl across the floor. I will miss that sound when you start walking soon. You crawl so fast we can barely keep up. You know your name now so when you travel too far we say, “Henry!” That’s when you turn and give us your “Aw, shucks!” grin before turning and crawling some more.

We have to sweep the floor after every meal because of the mess you make with the finger foods you’ve been trying. Finger foods are a 95% to 5% affair, with just 5% actually making it in your mouth. It’s not unusual for you to have multiple baths in a day because you smear baby food in your hair and all over your body. When we wipe your face you act like we’re pouring acid on your skin or something. It’s dramatic. So, often we just throw you in the tub. Oh! The bathtub. Yeah, you constantly try to climb out of that, risking your life and taking years off of  mine. Little daredevil. This  month you went to the beach for the first time and loved the water and eating sand. You will see the video of your first time in the ocean below. Yeah, I should have edited it, but I figured you would enjoy rolling your eyes at me and Grandma’s friend who’s recording this momentous occasion as we fiddle with the phone.(Here is a very similar post and video of your sister 3 years ago this week! )

Last night you gave your mama a belated birthday present and slept through the night! We are SO PROUD of you. We knew you could do it! This week we let you “cry it out” while I live tweeted the whole affair with the hastag #HenryCIO14. Go ahead. Roll your eyes. It helped me be distracted from your cries. You make our lives better, Henry. I love you, my sweet, sweet boy. Love, Mama P.S. Here’s an outtake this month from our monthly photo shoot. Yes, your daddy is wearing Angry Birds pajama pants. I feel you may be rolling your eyes.