Happy 9-Month Birthday!!

Happy 9-month birthday, Braeden!! I know you're going to have a wonderful day today, crawling all over the house, playing in the grass in the front yard.

You're not a baby any longer. It's sad in a way to see the days of babyhood give way to your toddler period, yet I love seeing your little teeth when you smile at me, I love chasing you around as you crawl so fast towards your dog to say good morning, I love seeing you enjoy your meals. I love watching you wave at daddy and me when you see us in the morning, and at various times throughout the day. I love how you still want to cuddle, although not as often as you did when you were younger. I love watching you play with your toys, figuring out new ways of doing things. I love hearing you say "yeah," "hey", "daddy", "mama". I love everything about you.

Braeden weighs 20 pounds and is 30 inches long, is one very happy fellow. He's one very busy little guy too, and over the next few months he's probably going to be even busier. You see, Braeden now has a modeling contract. This was a totally unexpected turn of events, but living where we do, not totally surprising. It's only for 6 months, and only for the odd print ad, but out of 100 babies, he was one of 8 selected. We're taking it all one step at a time at this point. If Brae isn't happy with photo shoots, we're finished. His happiness is the most important thing. On the other hand, if he's able to do a few shoots so we can put aside some money in his trust fund, he'll have a nice little nest egg down the road for college, or for whatever else he may want to do. The law here requires a trust fund be established to protect any money he earns. Never would we let anyone exploit our little man in any way, nor would we do that. But we'll give this a chance and see how it goes.

Braeden's met each and every milestone to date, and goes in 2 weeks for his 9-month check-up and more of those charming shots - only 2 shots this time thankfully. We've got some questions for his pediatrician on the #3 dinners. Those dinners have such big chunks in them that he doesn't enjoy eating them, and all of them have carrots as the top ingredient. Brae and carrots do not agree with each other, so I'm not sure where we'll go from here. He's loving his finger foods, so is able to handle chewing without a problem. #3 fruits and veggies are great, it's those dinners that are the problem. I'm sure there's an answer.

I'm sorry I don't post much, but it seems like the following we had with "Our Miracle Baby" has disappeared, and I keep a written journal so don't post here that often now. I'll keep updating occasionally though. It's hard to believe we'll only be saying "Happy __-Month Birthday" two more times - then it'll be his 1st birthday - hard to believe he's nearly a year old.