This is the latest I have ever been with your newsletter. Life seems to have gotten caught in a whirlwind of activity and between the holidays and your papa being out of town for days on end, this is the soonest chance I've had to get you caught up on the last month.
Crawling, crawling, and more crawling! You haven't quite mastered the coordination but the skills are there. Sometimes you look a bit like a drunk, other times your back end seems to be moving too quickly for your front end, and then there are these moments where you'll just be too thrilled to move at all and you just stay on all fours and squeal. And what is it with you making a bee line for the one electrical cord in our living room?! It's not even very noticeable, hidden behind a chair, off in the corner. Nevertheless, there you were, little fingers reaching, stretching for that cord and then shoving it into your mouth as quickly as possible. Even though I've hid the cord you still look for it, waiting for ol' mama to slip up so you can gleefully suck and gnaw the electric wiring to your hearts content or jam your tiny little baby fingers into the wall outlets. Here I'd thought I'd baby proofed the room. Apparently I was only fooling myself.
Gone are the days of plopping you in the center of the bed to get your bath ready, or leaving you in the middle of the rug in the living room to amuse yourself with the toys only within reach. You are ALL OVER the place, kiddo! And it seems with this new found talent you are much more independent. As soon as you got the basics of crawling down you were like, "See ya, mama, you old hag." Now you are content to play by yourself for hours, not that we would ever leave you alone for hours, what with all the running around keeping the shoes, ornaments, rugs, and dust bunnies out of your mouth. And you WANT to be moving, all the time. You will hardly sit still long enough for me to snap a picture.
One afternoon in particular, I went to lunch with a girlfriend and her 10-month old daughter sat serenely in her high chair, playing quietly, eating daintily, and generally being quite lovely. I, on the other hand, had a raucous ape attached to my head, that spit up on my leg, chewed my face, tried to grab my food, drink, silverware, and napkin without diversion, and I struggled to eat my meal with my single available hand let alone have a coherent conversation. What a fiasco! Ha! I've come to realize this is the way of boys. Even at this young tender age the difference between you and little girls is apparent. Your personality, demeanor, activity level, EVERYTHING screams "boy"!
We made our first trip to Reno, since you've been born and there were so many new people showering you with love and attention, it was wonderful. We did our best to keep you on some sort of schedule and we did get a few good naps in. Despite our best efforts there was one night when you were so exhausted you fell asleep drinking your bottle. This has never happened before! You stopped eating and everything. When I picked you up to put you in bed you didn't budge, not when I set you down, not even when I kissed your head. You slept for almost 13 hours straight!
We brought back a lot of wonderful memories and a cold that no member of the family escaped including yourself. It was the first time we've had to use the nasal aspirator (aka enema bulb) on you and you did not like it one bit. No Sireee! After all the efforts, the whining, tears, howling, and whatnot, we finally stopped trying, occasionally swiping a Puffs Plus across your dripping nose while you were looking the other way. We were all in the throes of recovering from aforementioned illness when Thanksgiving came around and we decided to go to our friend's house after all (aren't we considerate friends?! ha). We ate a lovely dinner while you sat on the floor and chewed an unsoiled diaper and painstakingly took apart the contents of your diaper bag. When you got bored with that we passed you around the table so everyone got a chance to hold the cutest baby with a dribbly nose. Definitely a Thanksgiving to remember.
Your fine motor skills are really starting to show, you can pick a cheerio up with just your thumb and pointer finger and convey it successfully to you mouth. Of course you still put your whole fist in there, cheerio and all, on the off-chance that, just maybe, you might miss the cheerio. Chicken was a huge hit, not that flesh-colored paste that comes in a jar, but REAL chicken, from the deli, torn into little bite-sized bits. Your interest in toys has grown by leaps and bounds. Right now, tupperware and balls (of the inflatable variety) are your favorites. You have started to show a dislike for certain textures, like when you shoved that bit of faux fur on my winter coat in your mouth and showed your immediate disdain. Cat hair warranted a similar reaction.
I had grand plans to take you to see Santa this Christmas and as of yet those plans have not been realized. Your papa got a driving job that has him out of town 6 days a week until after the holidays and between errands, work, laundry, and life in general there just hasn't been a minute to get you to the mall and see ol' St. Nick. I'm not so sure you could spend hours waiting in line just to yank an old man's whiskers right out of his face. Maybe next year. In spite of the hustle and bustle I still try to appreciate all the little moments I get to spend with you. And those little moments are what truly count.
Love Forever: Mama
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