Nine Months In - Nine Months Out

Dear Abigail,

Congratulations, my sweet baby girl! You are nine months old. It took nine months to bake you, and with nine months on the outside under your belt, you are definitely ready to take on the world. You have reached so many milestones just this month alone. First daycare. First cold. You wave hello and goodbye. If we say, "bounce," you bounce (and it's adorable!), you have two teeth, you understand the word, "no." In fact, you shake your head, "no." And the biggest one of all - the one that actually made me cry because I was so happy to watch it - in real time - while it was happening - AND we caught it on camera...you CRAWLED! Finally!

My gosh we love you. Such a busy bee. Such a smart girl.

As for me - now that I've had 18 months to get my head around this whole mommy thing, I think I've finally found my groove. It's funny how all of a sudden things kind of just gel. A few weeks down the road, they blow up again. You collect all the pieces and fashion them together, but nothing fits quite the same as before, but with a little of this and a little of that, voila, you've pieced it back together. Then it blows up again. Rinse, repeat. Until finally, if you just take a step back and look, it's almost like you've made something new from something old and it's even better than before. A beautiful mosaic. A work of art. It's like they say, when you look at a Monet up close, it's kind of a mess. You have to step back to really appreciate it.

Abigail Marie Weygandt, 9 months.

So, Abbey, I guess what I'm trying to say here is, "go get 'em." Plaster on that beautiful, silly little grin of yours, and just go for it. Grow and flourish and always know that no matter what, your Mom is proud of you, your Mom is there for you, and even if it looks like a mess when you're in the middle of it, it's a masterpiece in the making.

I love you,
Mom.