Dear Beau,

Eight months old as of November 8th, 2005.
Could a boy be any cuter? Look at those toofers. You're at this cute little two-teeth stage which brings a lot of drool, chewing and pain. Pain on your end and sometimes unfortunately on mine. But hey, you've been good for a while now.
I weighed you yesterday at your great-grandparents house. (For some reason, we do not own a scale-probably a good thing.) You are a robust 24 pounds. I'm pretty sure your brother is still 27 pounds, so I figure, unless he has a growth spurt, you're gonna pass him up here in the next few months. You are moving leaps and bounds, standing up and cruising around furniture to your hearts content. We've even got you to stand all by yourself for seconds at a time, and today I caught you actually trying to stand up by yourself with nothing to hold on to. Yep, I'm pretty sure you'll be walking by Christmas. And this is a good thing because then you wont have to hold onto my legs all the time to hold yourself up.
You are interested in absolutely everything and becoming quite adept at getting where you want to. You have chewed up many a leaf from my plants, and try to grab the camera whenever it is pointed at you. ( Which is a lot, particularly because your brother has made a pact not to smile for me. Ever.)
The other night you tried to actually get down the stairs towards daddy's studio. Your head can fit through our homemade little barrier there, but fortunately your big diapered but wouldn't fit through the rungs and I found you before you figured out how to make it fit.
You still wont go down for a nap in your crib so I've been letting you sleep on the couch or in my arms. I believe you've only fallen off the couch once, but I put a ton of pillows right below it to catch you. So the only reason I knew you fell is because I heard a little of your normal grunting noise and then you came crawling around the corner. However, these are not amongst the most dangerous of your sleeping habits. You end up in bed with me and Daddy at some point every night. The other night we were so exhausted, we didn't notice you had woke up- and you tried to crawl all the way to the end. (It would be a good three and a half foot fall if you did fall.) Fortunately, your Daddy heard you headbutt the footboard and quickly retrieved you. Then you tried it again a few minutes later. You are gonna have to start sleeping in your own bed here pretty soon. Just too dangerous for you! And that disturbs our sleep even more than your wiggly little butt!Let's see, what else can I tell you about yourself. Aaah yes, you still absolutely adore your big brother (heaven knows why sometimes.) Several times now you've crawled down to his bedroom door while he is taking a nap, fussing for him to come out. And you put up with all the, ehem, things, he does to you quite well. You're gonna be a tough one you are.
Oh yes, and you also love, love, love guitars. You are right at Daddy's feet the minute he pulls one out. We are predicting that you'll be a virtuoso by the time you are six. But no pressure here...
Beau, my prayer for you, and your brother, is that you grow up to be Godly men. Not just your average Christian, but men who really love and obey God. Men who serve Jesus and others. I also hope that you both will my closest friends and able to talk to me and share your dreams with me. I promise to support you and be encouraging in your endeavors. (Unless you want to fling cowpies for a living. LOL!)
I love you so much, don't you ever forget it!
Love,
Momma