9 Months

This happy boy is 9 months old. I've said this numerous times in Isaac's life, but I love this stage in babyhood. 

Isaac is still a big fan of the bath. At 7 each night, Isaac can really start unraveling, but when you put him in the bath-- this happens! All smiles. He somehow just completely loses the sleepy sadness, and he becomes so happy all over again. 

Isaac had his first Christmas. He could not have cared less. As previously mentioned, Isaac had a pretty rough Christmas Eve, but Christmas day was fine because he was kept comfortable with Motrin and Tylenol. 

Isaac really loved the Christmas tree, and he really, really loved going for that sock monkey ornament whenever he could. My parents got him that ornament, and it was like he knew it was his. 

Isaac has started to prefer eating whatever we're eating. That's a nice cornbread mess he made. He's eaten Chick-fil-a nuggets, meatballs, hamburger, cooked celery and carrots, pancakes, black/kidney/white beans, strawberries, bananas, toast, and probably a lot more that I can't remember. And Isaac has officially started to get HANGRY. When he wants to eat, he wants to eat immediately!

Isaac is pulling himself up on everything he can. But he often stands on his toes like above pictured. He's starting to take less and less tumbles, too. Which is nice!

This is Isaac's preferred way to suck his thumb. Thumb in mouth, my hair in his other hand. Sometimes he even tries to grab my hair and accompany it with his thumb. That's not my favorite. 

Isaac has gotten 2 teeth. The pediatrician thinks his top teeth will be dropping in any day. Sarcastic yay! 

Isaac has started to show that he really loves me. And I mean that by the fact that he prefers I hold him. He likes to be near me even if we're all just playing on the ground. He's not quite to the status of a koala baby, but some days he's close. He'll come crawl up to me while I'm sitting down and just lay his head in my lap while he sucks his thumb. It's pretty sweet. 

I've been feeling pretty mushy for this little guy. A family I know up in North Carolina at my brother's church has walked the unfathomable road of losing one of their children. Their precious little girl, Sarah, was born just a week before Isaac. She was born with an incomplete heart, and that precious baby fought for a tough 9 months. But she died this past week. It's been heart wrenching to follow their journey. I've cried and cried for this family's loss, for that Mama who held her daughter's body as she left earth for heaven, for the reality that we live in a broken world where babies die of unhealthy hearts. It's been overwhelming at times. So I've held my Isaac a little tighter, a little longer (as much as the squirmster will allow). I've taken more pictures of the boys. I'm well aware that I have 2 healthy children in my home, and they are gifts. 

It's been a tough week for me as I've pleaded to God to save Sarah. He chose not to heal her on this side of Heaven. But as I hold Isaac before each nap and bedtime, I humbly thank Him for entrusting this baby into my care. Because I know he's not mine. He ultimately belongs to Jesus, and this week has been a good reminder to love my boys well while I have them.