Jack has a really bad canker sore in his gums just below his bottom teeth. He said it was a bad guy. Then a few minutes, after we put and numbing gel on it, he said, "my sore is walking away."

Jack was so quiet today. He played by himself a lot and didn't make much of a fuss about things. He asked me to play with him once, but I told him we'd have to play later -- I was trying to get the kitchen cleaned up. And he just said, "okay" and went to play by himself. I need to spend some real time with him tomorrow. As I was praying tonight, I felt like he might need some love and attention, he might be feeling lonely. 

Sawyer is getting more and more fun with each day. He turned 9 months on Sunday, yesterday. He laughs and smiles and gets excited about things. He interacts more with us too, not just solely anxious to be down exploring on his own. 

I wish I could burn in my memory when I puthim down for a nap today: he was so sleepy, and I held him in my arms like you do a tiny baby. His arms were all in front and his hands folded right in front of my face. I sang softly to him and kissed his little hands during the breaks in the song, and he giggled quietly and looked at me with such adoration. I just sank into that moment with him. I don't get many cuddles from him; he's a pretty busy fellow. So those few minutes with him were immensely precious. 

Also tonight when I was putting him to bed, I read him an animal noises book, and he gets a kick out of the animal sounds in that book: chimp says "oo, oo", elephant says, "braloo", froggy says, "ribbit, ribbit". He laughs and looks at the picture with such interest. He's just a delightful little creature, and I can't get enough of him lately. 

I tickle him every time I get him ready for bed. It's part of our bedtime figurine routine, and he loves it! He has the sweetest little baby giggles. 

He stopped nursing completely a few weeks ago, around the beginning of the month. He just started throwing a fit whenever I tried to nurse him. And it happened a handful of times before I finally accepted that we were done. I was sad about it for several days, that we were done with that phase. But, I'm feeling okay about it now. 

I've been feeling a lot of spiritual growth the last few weeks, and feeling like I've received some revelation -- answers to questions I've had. Especially as I've been studying the last general conference talks. It's been a really great experience. I bought the journal edition of the last general conference, and I've been marking it up and noticing themes and making connections and writing my thoughts. I've loved it! In grateful for this today.