2009: Best Year Ever

While 2008 was the worst year of my life, 2009 brought the fulfillment of my most cherished dream: motherhood. 2009 was the year of Miran!

He is 9 1/2 months now and really changing into an older baby--physically and mentally. For one, he looks different, more like a toddler and less like an infant. For two, he has finally started babbling (just in the last few days), and that makes his "speech" sound so much more sophisticated. He also now seems to understand "no" -- when he's trying to put something into his mouth and you say no, he stops, looks at you, and even sometimes cries (whereas before he'd just look at you, confused, and keep trying to chew). His day generally comprises:
--waking up (between 6 and 7) and nursing
--happy play in his play area in the nursery, or in his Baby Bjorn playpen/crib, or with Mama and Daddy on the bed (today all three of us snuggled for almost an hour!), etc. He likes playing with toys, chewing things, looking at things, banging things, "reading" books, and so on. Out for a walk if it's not too cold. Sometimes a visit to or from someone, like Granny.
--bedtime between 7 and 8. Recently he's been waking up a lot in the middle of the night, but we're hoping he'll go back to sleeping through soon.

He still has one or, increasingly, two meals a day plus a fresh fruit snack.

He's a great baby. A curious, alert, sweet, smiling baby. He does get fussy, but only with a reason, and he's pretty easy to console when this happens. We just delight in him!