Newsletter Ten

Dear Baby,

I don't know when or if I'll stop addressing you as "baby". These days you seem more like a little boy than you do a baby, but you are my baby even if you are constantly pulling yourself up to stand like a big boy to play with your circular saw and sleeping through the night.

Oh yes, that. You are sleeping through the night now and holy moly is that life changing! You wake up at 4am every morning but I am not complaining one little bit. I figure when Spring rolls around and the sun starts coming up at 5 we can go for a run together. For now I just lay on your floor and attempt to stay awake while you crawl from wall to wall and pull yourself up on every piece of furniture in your room.

You are finally crawling on all fours and on one occasion you stood on your own. I think it will be a while yet before you're walking, but you're moving in the right direction.

You cut your first tooth this month and we call you the One Tooth Wonder. One lonely tooth hanging out in the bottom of your mouth. It's pretty darn cute. You like to "share" your food when we're feeding you now. You'll pick up a piece and hold it up to my mouth. So far everytime you've pulled it back and popped it in your own mouth with a giggle. We'll talk about how sharing actually works later.

It surprises me sometimes how much you know. You'll crawl up towards a light socket, put your hand up and stop right before touching it, then look at me and shake your head "no" before moving on. That's not to say that you don't ever try to touch it, just that you know you're not supposed to. We'll also talk about how following the rules actually works later.

One of your favorite things is to read your books and you actually sit and pay attention to a short story now. When I open up a book you'll sit still for a bit and turn the pages as the story unfolds. We finally got library cards and I have a feeling we'll spend a good amount of time there in the future.

Your other favorite thing is to dance. You don't even need real music; Daddy makes a beat for you and you start bobbing your head, then moving your shoulders and finally kicking those feet.

I keep teetering back and forth between cutting your long, shaggy hair and letting it keep going wild. Both would suit you just fine. On one hand you are all over the place, dancing and squealing, grabbing the dogs and reaching for everything in sight. On the other you're still my little baby who curls up on my chest to snuggle in bed with me every morning.

As long as I get to rub my cheek on your head every day I don't care how much hair is covering it. This week has been a reminder that wrapping my arms around you and breathing you in is all that matters.

I love you always.

Mama