And now we are 9 (months)

I cannot believe nine months has gone by since B has been out in the world and in our lives. His arrival was eagerly anticipated, but in no way could I have imagined how wonderful it would be to be his mother, and how he would bring joy and love (and a little bit of much-needed perspective about what's important) to our lives.

What I also could not have anticipated is how enormous he would be -- considering we brought him home at 5.5 lbs and 19.5 inches, that he is now 31 inches and a whopping 25.2 lbs is simply shocking. He's enormous. And funny and very mobile, although he still prefers the army crawl to the standard hands-and-knees version. And he can stand up all by himself, which is pretty terrifying.

Every day he seems to learn something new -- he claps, gives high fives, feeds himself, drinks from a sippy cup -- and he knows songs. I can sing one song and he will be sort of disinterested, but if I sing another (She'll be coming 'round the mountain, in particular) his face lights up and he bounces up and down. His brain is evolving daily, and I can practically see it happening.

We are so so lucky.