9 months old!?!

Dear Ransom,

Time is ever flying by and sometimes I look at you and can HARDLY believe that you were that teeny tiny little ball of baby only 9 months ago.

This month you've been busy doing Spring Time Activities. You had your first Easter. Probably THE most important holiday there is, and I hope that as the years go by you do not just think of Easter as a time for candy and egg hunts ( though those are fun), but that it will also be written on your heart from an early age that we celebrate Easter as a remembrance for what Christ did on the cross for you, for me, for all of us. Now THATS something worth celebrating and remembering!!
As for this first Easter, our friends the Woods, put together a little "egg hunt" for you and two other babies. You were really NOT interested in the whole affair though you did shake the eggs when we handed them to you, since...who DOESN'T enjoy a round rattle?!

This month you also went "swimming" for the first time. I am personally hoping you will love to swim as much as your Mommy did-and I want you to develop a love for the water early. Of course this first 'pool' has about two inches of water in it, but you really love splashing and playing with your water toys so I think we're on the right track.

This month you've developed your waving skills from last month and now you actually know WHEN waving is appropriate and you also said your first word, "bye". You even chose the perfect time to show off your new skills since you and I went to visit our family in Texas this month and you were an ANGEL traveler. It was in the Atlanta airport that you decided to show off your ability to wave and say "bye" to other travelers who talked and waved to you. You won everyones heart. This was no small incident since on our plane from Atlanta to Houston there were high winds and we waited ON. THE. PLANE. for FIVE HOURS before we took off. This meant that you were quiet, happy, and contented for SEVEN HOURS in confined circumstances. It was incredible and I was SO grateful for your ability to go with the flow. The few times you did get fussy it seemed that it was fellow passengers that helped you return to happiness. You loved playing peek-a-boo with all the people in the seats behind us, and flirting at anyone that smiled or talked to you. Of course, you also looked cute since I had you wearing a t-shirt that said, "Congratulations you get to sit near me!" It was a joke, but I think in the end people WERE pleasantly surprised at how fun it was to travel near you!

Of course, our trip to Texas was great fun getting to see your Spicy and Papa, and Nana and Grandpa Bill and be there to help celebrate your cousin Kilsyth's first birthday. You and Kilsyth had a lot of fun together this trip. You spent most of the time watching her walk around and talk and point at things-I think it was the first time you MIGHT have wished you could be more mobile ( this is a good thing!! Since I really thought you would never be dissatisfied with sitting in one spot), and Kilsyth spent a lot of time sitting and talking to you loudly and trying to stick her finger in your mouth. You, surprisingly, did not mind at all and were very calm about having someone's little finger stuck in your mouth. You didn't even bite her! Probably from watching Kilsyth, you also made some strides in the crawling department, by figuring out how to get on your knees from the sitting position. You still slide down to a lying position almost immediately, but it was progress!!

Since returning home from Texas you've spent most of your time teething again ( if you're counting, you now have SIX teeth and from what I can tell you are working on a seventh and EIGHTH tooth...crazy!!)  and your appetite has severely suffered. It seems you have now become a LOT more picky about what you DO eat and have developed a not so lovely habit of gagging as soon as something you don't like touches your lips. Awesome.
Apparently your Mommy did something similar when she was little and Papa and Spicy where kind enough to remind her of her gagging stories all growing up. So, I will now carry on the tradition. Sorry Son.

Yesterday you and your Daddy helped me celebrate my first Mother's Day as a Mommy. I am so so blessed to have you and your Daddy in my life! I cannot think of a better gift. Though the fact that your Daddy fed you your morning bottle and got you up for the day so that I could sleep in was ALSO really nice. ;-)
But, to be perfectly honest when I woke up...all I wanted to do was to play with you! You are just THAT much fun to be around!

I love you SO MUCH,
Mommy

8 months

Dear Ransom,

You are eight months old today! With each month I hardly know how to write you...should it be a grocery list of achievements or more of a one snap shop of a particular moment that I don't want to forget? I'l go with a bit of both....
This month you've been working on how to become more "mobile"...currently you can scoot backwards(!!) on your stomach and bounce forwards when seated on your little rear. Who knows why you seem to find these two things easier than scooting/crawling forwards-but there you go...
You've also learned how to wave "hi" and "bye"...though you don't really do it exactly on demand but usually a good several seconds after it would be appropriate. Ah-well. Its cute nonetheless.
We've been spending a lot of time outdoors this month, since the weather has gotten warm-but not too warm ( at least just yet!) and you usually either spend your time bouncing in your outside exersaucer ( that I scored for $10!) and screeching at things that you're seeing in nature...or you lay on your back on a blanket and babble at the sky. Seriously, the sky is the best possible entertainment.
Your two favorite toys at the moment are your stacking rings, which you enjoy taking OFF the stacker and then waving around in the air one at a time. And then, you're all time FAVORITE FAVORITE toy...is...wait for it....an empty Emfamil Formula can. Its a little can that we got as a free sample before you were born and on a whim I gave it to you when we'd used up the formula. YOU LOVE THAT THING. You slam in on the floor, you bang on it with your fists or other toys and you wave it around in the air babbling at it. Pretty much making noise with that can is the greatest possible delight of your heart. Who knew?!
I suppose we should have never wasted any money on buying toys for you, because an empty can and junk mail envelopes will get you through the day.
One thing that WAS worth the whole dollar that I spent on it at a consignment sale, was a book called Peek-a-boo Zoo. Each page has an animal covering its face and then you fold down the flap to reveal the full face and it says..Peek-a...and then under the flap it has the animal's corresponding sound. When we first got it, I read through the whole book with you and you solemnly looked at all the pictures. The last page has a picture of a baby and it says, "And what do you say?" and then under the flap it says "BOO!"...and so I uncovered the baby and said "Peek-a-BOO says the baby!" and you just belly laughed!! It was as though you finally got the joke! All those animals had been playing peek-a-boo this whole time! And so we re-read the book, and this time you belly laughed at every single animal when it was revealed. What a great joke!

This month you decided that you wanted to go fully to having bottles for all your meals. This made me a little sad, since it was the end of an era for us, and it shows that you're growing up so fast! But I am SO happy that you decided to do this on your own terms and you absolutely love drinking your bottles all by yourself. Snuggling with you in the mornings with you and your bottle is still one of my favorite times of the day.
On a related note-you were teething again this month! And now you have a grand total of SIX teeth!!! Sadly this means that you are no longer a little vampire, but we had fun with that while it lasted ( which was several months!).


All my love,
Mommy

Seven months!

Dear Ransom,
Today you turn seven months old. And today totally snuck up on me!! This month has gone by super fast ( thanks to Feb being so short!) but you managed to pack a lot into it nonetheless.

You had your first fever ( due to your 6 month shots, boo!) , ate your first cheerio by yourself ( though you still prefer me to put them into your mouth for you), had your first busted lip ( during a particularly daring lunge forward to get a toy), your first ride in the shopping cart ( we cannot get through a grocery store trip without someone stopping to talk to you), your first real bath in the "big" bathtub ( you like this MUCH better than the little baby bathtub), you've discovered that your voice can reach all different ranges of pitch and you've been testing them ALL out ( especially the highest note possible-some that can only be heard by dogs), you also have learned how to growl and not really a "cutesy" growl either. A very manly loud growl. And all in all you've become an even cuter and more fun little boy.

Your current favorite game is when we stand far away from you and then run up to you and tickle you. After one round you start to anticipate what will happen next and start cracking up even before we start our run towards you...
Of course you also love peekaboo and anything that involves us tickling your neck and ears and of course the mirror...gotta love that mirror!

This month you also grew another tooth-a VAMPIRE TOOTH! And are in the process of growing the other vampire tooth ( as I so eloquently call it) and while I was seriously concerned that you were never going to get your middle teeth...I think those are starting to poke out a bit now too...which means you are OFFICIALLY advanced when it comes to teeth making.  This is one area in which I am NOT excited about you being advanced in...you have never really gotten over teething and always have at least one sleepless night and one grumpy attached to each new tooth.

This month you dropped your third nap, and I don't think I've fully recovered. I don't think EITHER of us have fully recovered!!  You definitely have more grumpy times in the evening, but whenever we take you outside and let you play in your exersaucer in the back yard you seem to last a little longer in "happy times". You also like to look at other babies and are very sweet with other children. They can pretty much take all toys from you and you will just sit and stare wide-eyed at them. I doubt this ability to share will last forever, but its cute while it lasts!

Love you with all my heart,
Mommy

Six Months

Dear Ransom!

Happy HALF A YEAR!!!! WOOO!! I feel like this month deserves some serious celebration! First of all you've had some major mile stones:
On Sunday the 23rd of January your first tooth poked through. This made SO MUCH SENSE since you'd spent the whole week previous not sleeping at ALL and causing me all kinds of grief.
Of course, I felt totally guilty for not giving you enough sympathy or pain relief during that week..but, lucky me, after a two day reprieve you started cutting your SECOND tooth and so I'd like to think I made up for my lack of sympathy for your first tooth with your second. ;-)
Along with growing teeth you also sat up all by yourself on January 28th. You did it for about a whole minute and grinned the whole time. Unlike when you rolled over, which seemed almost like an accident, the sitting up thing has definitely been a more conscious decision on your part, a decision that you are SUPER proud about. You usually have your arms outstretched like an airplane-for support and balance-most of the time and your current pass time is usually spent sitting surrounded by pillows on the floor ( your father is the one who surrounded you with the pillows, I had let you fall over three times before he took pity on you and gave you a little more "cushion", so you can thank him later for saving you from any permanent head damage).
You have also started eating solid foods this month. You started with avocado which you did NOT dig. ( but I'm sure once we add a little garlic, lemon and tomato you're gonna be singin' a different tune, baby! avocado is awesome!) but you soon moved on to sweet potato and bananas and you just finished off some summer squash and I'm getting ready to make you some pears today...so food is DEFINITELY a part of your days now.
Above all your Daddy and I are just trying our best to enjoy this season of your life....you grabbing ahold of the skin on our necks when we pick you up. The way you wrinkle up your nose when you do a cheesey grin. The way you close your eyes BEFORE you slam your toy down on the high chair tray in anticipation of the loud sound its going to make. The way you still love looking at your reflection in mirrors and how playing Paddy Cake will make you smile no matter what kind of a mood you're in. We love that your hair still primarily sticks straight up in a sort of rooster tufted on top of your head and we love that you can now put your own pacifier back in your mouth ( this is mostly just a really convenient thing).
Ransom, thank you for being such a bright part of our day...I can hardly remember a time without you and I am so very thankful for you in our lives.
Love, your Mommy

Five Months

Dear Ransom,

This month went by SO FAST! Probably because about half of it was spent in Texas and the other half was spent in preparation for some form of travel! Traveling with you is no small feet. In fact, the day after we got back from our trip to Texas we packed you all back up and we went to a Leadership Retreat for the weekend. Even though we were only going to be gone for two nights you still required your OWN overnight bag, your bed and your play mat.  Once again you found yourself sleeping in a walk in closet ( the PERFECT bedroom for a baby, by the way!) and being a very good little baby! I'm so proud at how well you've adjusted to your surroundings and I especially love how chill you are with people.
For instance, check out your body language in these pictures of you with your grandparents:


Not a worry in your little world.

One thing you've developed in the last month is the ability to suck your thumb....

And here's where I admit that I think its really cute. I mean, sure I see the future repercussions of this habit. a.k.a. your father and I can't actually TAKE AWAY your thumb like we could the pacifier. But you're just SO CUTE when you do it, and so grown up ( yes, I know how stupid that sounds) that you've finally stopped haphazardly sucking on your own fist and found ONE SPECIFIC FINGER....( only a mother would think that's a big deal. *sigh*) Anyway, I realize it'll be a problem later on if you persist in this habit, but at the same time it WOULD be kinda nice if you could suck your thumb at night instead of the pacifier and then I wouldn't have to get up and put it back in when it falls out. ( LAZY MOM ALERT!!!) 

I also gave you your first hair cut this month. I know. You're only 5 months old!! But it was getting seriously long around your ears and since it sticks up all over your head as it is, you were looking more like a bedraggled little girl than a bedraggled little boy ( which is the look we're totally going for. haha) so I did some trimming. You can hardly tell a difference, your hair still sticks up just like your Papa's hair. Something I noticed over the holidays. Maybe you take after your Mommy's side of the family after all! 

People continue to ask me if I make your hair do that and the answer is most assuredly a "No." In fact, I have tried to make it NOT stick up, and there is pretty much nothing I can do about it ( admittedly I haven't used any ACTUAL hair products in your hair because that is just WRONG to me. I mean, I don't use any hair products in MY hair, I'm not going to start with you when your only a few months old!) So, lucky for you the "fo-hawk" is still sort of in style. 

And so, sweet boy, you have reached the ripe age of 5 months. You are currently sick with your first full blown cold. Courtesy of your Daddy. Having both of my Boys sick is NO FUN! But you've been quite the trooper and mostly just been a little less active then usual, here you are taking a "rest" from playing this morning:

You continue to be a great joy to your Father and I and we love every day with you. Thank you for a wonderful month! 

Love, Mommy 

You survived your first Christmas!!

Dear Ransom,

You survived your first Christmas...outside the womb. Last Christmas you were technically on this earth, but you were giving me ALL KINDS of grief ( I quite literally survived on bread alone) and so I feel like you did a MUCH BETTER job this Christmas of bringing your Mommy joy.

For one thing, you did an AWESOME JOB driving the many many hours to Texas. It took us 14 hrs to get there, and 12 hrs to get back ( we still can't figure out why this is!) . And you were really a wonderful baby who only cried at the end ( and, well, I can't blame you-I kinda wanted to cry too!)

*side note* The only thing that would make you stop crying wants you started was this incredibly lame mobile app that I have on my phone. Its basically just revolving animals on a mobile that just go around and around and around. But you watched that thing for a good thirty minutes. Crazy.

You took awesome naps the whole time we were in Texas. Most of the time you were taking TWO HOUR NAPS. And you didn't give me any trouble going down for your naps even though you were sleeping in all sorts of different places.

You also did pretty well sleeping at night too. Not as awesome as your naps, but I really can't complain. You ARE a baby, afterall, and babies need their pacifiers and when those come out-well, all bets are...apparently. off.

*side note* At Spicy and Papa's house there are a LOT of mirrors. This was OK by you since the "baby in the mirror" is most definitely your best friend. No matter how sleepy or cranky you are, you can still muster a smile for the baby in the mirror.

You met all sorts of people and you were nice to all of them. This was important since there were a LOT of people that wanted to meet you, Ransom. And I was worried they would be disappointed by a crying baby. But even the time that you had been fast asleep and you woke up to find about six people with their faces thisfar from yours...you were still pretty chill about it. Nice.

This Christmas you met SO MANY family members for the first time, and you got to spend a lot of quality time with Nana and Spicy and Papa...and even your Aunt Anna and Uncle Ryan and Uncle Josh. It was truly a joy to see them enjoying time with you and it makes me happy to  know that we only have FUN to look forward to future Christmases.

Four months...

Dear Ransom, 

Four months ago at this moment I was laboring away for you to come into this world. Let no one try to convince you otherwise ( but since you're a boy it doesn't really matter) but labor is AWFUL. But, the great thing is-once you were in the world, the awfulness of that hard labor faded into the background-and you have been in your Daddy and my foreground ever since.

This month brought a lot of changes-I feel like of all your previous months, this month you adapted to life a lot. Up until now you'd struggled with going out into the "big wide world" and therefore I'd struggled too...what SHOULD we do together?! When SHOULD we leave you at home?! All these things were difficult, but then, as though all the practice ( aka all the times you'd gone out in public and cried yourself silly) paid off-and finally we went to bible study one Sunday night ( Nov. 14th) and you not only didn't cry...but you LAUGHED for the first time ever.
There we were in Bible Study,  I was trying hard to pay attention and you were sitting in my lap facing up at me...and then, I glance down at you, and it was as if you'd been waiting to catch my eye and you let out the longest, cutest giggle.
Needless to say, your Daddy and I probably missed a good portion of the proceeding parts of Bible Study because you had so distracted us. But, hey! We were getting somewhere!! GOOD distraction is MUCH better than the crying distraction of the past!!

This month you also got your first cold. Luckily it was just a "baby" cold in the scheme of colds-but you did NOT enjoy using the "snot sucker" ( and neither did I ) and you DID enjoy sneezing. In fact, every time you sneezed you'd let out a little giggle and smile really big. It made me think about sneezing myself and I must admit they ARE terribly satisfying.

The other MAJOR event of this past month was that you rolled over on December 1st.
I was on the phone with your Aunt Anna and your Daddy was playing on the floor with you, and you DID IT! It was SO exciting that I screamed. And Aunt Anna thought something horrible had happened.
But, really, you were very nonchalant about the whole thing and to be honest I'm still not sure what you think about the whole rolling over business. You've done it pretty much once a day ever since, but its hard to know if you're <em>really</em> doing it on purpose!

But, even if its not on purpose yet, soon it will be. Soon you will do many things purposefully and so I pray that you will choose to be purposeful in the good things of life. That you will be intent upon what is right and true.

This past month brought about other firsts, your first time celebrating your Mama's birthday and therefore your first time away from your Mommy and Daddy for more than a few hours! Luckily for all of us, your Aunt Anna came all the way from Texas to look after you while your Daddy and I got a much needed weekend away in Atlanta. You had a great time with Aunt Anna. In fact, its possible that you didn't miss your Mommy at all-especially since drinking out of a bottle is waaay faster than the normal way of doing things! ;-)
You also had your first Thanksgiving-we had Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of Navigator friends and you were passed around the group. You were very sweet and looked around intently at everyone. Everyone still talks a lot about how much hair you have, even though they are polite enough not to mention the ever growing bald spot on the back of your head! SEE?!? This is a good reason to hurry up and learn the rolling skill so you don't have to spend your time rubbing the back of your head on the ground ;-)

This month your name has been on my mind a lot. Mostly because your name is in one of my favorite Christmas Hymns. O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
In the hymn it says,

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! 

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

Sometimes I think about us, and how we are all-from the tinest baby (believe me, you are already very self involved! ) to the oldest man-held captive by our sins. But how WONDERFUL to think what the Lord has done for us, by paying the ransom and setting us free from sin and death! 

I am so glad you are here to celebrate Christmas with us this year, and may it always be a special time of remembering just what your name means and what it means for the world. Just like you-baby Jesus came into this world-and just like you he had to learn all the things you're learning, how to roll, how be out in the world, how to walk and talk...he had to go through all the hard learning experiences we go through just so that he could save this world! How amazing!