Little Rosey's Adventure: 9 Months? Unbelievable.

The worst part about putting so much time between blog posts is not knowing where to start. So many things change each day…week…let alone month with a baby! But, rather than overanalyze, I'm just going to jump in.

Tomorrow is Rory's 9 Monthday! For some reason, 9 months feels like a big one to me. Feels like I really am losing my little baby to a little boy. I am so happy and thankful for his health and growth, but I am sad for my little guy to be growing up so fast. He is embracing this much better than I am! I swear he is changing right before our eyes!

Rory hasn't really caught onto crawling, but through swift spin-like maneuvers he is able to relocate himself across any room, usually winding up stuck underneath some chair. While you probably wouldn't want him on your potato sack race team, I'm confident he'd win at Dizzy Bat.

This week (coinciding particularly with being reunited with Finn) he has decided he much prefers to stand. Literally, prior to Monday he may have held himself up on something twice…but when I picked him up after work Monday, he'd been standing all day and his legs were shaking!! He can't stand on his own yet, but he's got the one-handed balance down pretty well after 5 days of practice.

Finn has also nudged Rory into the realm of eating. We haven't seen dramatic changes at home, but apparently when Finn eats, Rory wants to eat - everything! We are so excited and thankful to have Finn in Rory's life for just this reason! What a lucky little guy to have such a good pal around! Shauna says they are slowly learning to share…briefly.

And finally, Rory loves to talk. If the last month sheds any light on what kind of kid he'll be, it won't be a quiet one! He wakes up talking, goes to sleep talking, and sometimes talks in his sleep. He does take a moment to warm up his voice when others are around, but for Joe and I, he has a lot to say. He's definitely got "Da-Da" down pat and we are currently working on "Duck". I'm confident "Ma-Ma" will come soon enough, so we're grabbing ahold of his natural "D" pronunciation. The other night, he laid on our bed holding Green Eggs and Ham over his face. I swear for 10 minutes he just talked, like he was reading the book! I recorded the audio (lights were off so it was too dark to see) but it was amazing! (He's very advanced.)

Our life outside of Rory's has been a little hectic. Our wonderful Shauna had emergency surgery and thus we quickly realized how valuable she is to our family! We knew before, but it was a good reminder to be thankful for her and her health every single day. Rory is so glad to have his Miss Shauna back!

Also during this time, all three of us came down with the flu - an experience I hope we don't relive for many many years. It hit me on the evening of July 4th (luckily I was able to enjoy a wonderful picnic beforehand). Having the flu yourself is bad enough, but for everyone to have it is almost unbearable. But we survived and I'm one step further from my phobia of puking.

We are gearing up for another trip to St. Louis in the beginning of August! The occasion: Rory's favorite Aunt Caitlin is getting married!!! We can't wait for the big day. Can you believe that this will be Rory's 5th trip to St. Louis? Goodness gracious, he is well traveled. If you are looking for me while we are in town, I will likely be at the swim pool. Feel free to join. :)

In our spare time (hysterically laughing) Joe and I have started picking up some hobbies. Joe and our friend Derek are currently brewing their second batch of beer. Final results of first batch are still TBD. I have been hit with another round of the crafting bug and am sewing together greeting cards for an Etsy store! It will take a long time - at this rate I can do about 1 card a day. :) And, as a side gig for supplemental income, I'm going to try my hand at flipping BOB strollers on Craigslist. (I'm only kind of joking.)

Well, I have some videos for your viewing pleasure, and pictures of course. We hope you all are feeling loved today in the aftermath of another shooting. Please know that the three of us love you all dearly.

Love,

Rory, Robyn, & Joe