Today, you turn 11 months old. I am so sorry that I missed a month. I had gotten a little behind, and then the holidays kicked off and there was no looking back. Since it's been a couple of very busy months, we have a lot to cover!
You have come quite a ways in two months! You are a master crawler and have started to stand hands-free for brief moments. Once you realize what is happening, you usually lose it, but you have gotten VERY good at controlling your sit-downs. You will climb in, on, up, over or under anything you possibly can. We were spending some time at Mama’s friend Beth’s, house, when you approached your first ever staircase. I made the mistake of thinking you would just stand up, lose interest and move on. But instead, you stood up and decided you were no longer content with living life on a single level. You took off and when you got the first landing on the steps, I thought you would stop, but boy! I was so very wrong. You crawled all the way to the top of those stairs. I promise to never underestimate you again. You are a tiny man with great ambitions and the energy to achieve them!
Because of your adventuring skills. We have had to expand the containment wall. We now have a gate that runs half the perimeter of the entire living room. Basically, we live in a preschool classroom.
You continue to eat just about everything we give you – your diet is getting much more varied. You have only ever spit one thing out, the crust of a Pop Tart – which may have just about broken your father’s heart. (Pop Tarts are one of his favorite foods.) I think we may be approaching the end of your tolerance for pureed baby food, though. You’d much rather eat food off of everyone’s plate. After a couple of months of trying to use your sippy cup and just chewing on the spouts, it all seems to have recently clicked and are you have been drinking little bits of water. Tonight you even managed to take tiny sips from a straw! You make an adorable face when you get a small bit of ice cold water in your mouth – as if you’re not quite sure what to make of it. And then after a moment, you decide it is good and go back for more.
When you weren’t even two weeks old, you gave me a preview of what your pout was going to look like. These last few weeks, you have started using that pout to your advantage. We have laid foam alphabet tiles on the living room floor to create a slightly safer play space for you, but you mostly enjoy trying to pull them up. The other day, you were trying to pull them up and I told you, “No.” You stopped for a moment, and then went back to your task of trying to pull them up. Your dad and I said, “No!” in unison in a slightly firmer tone. You stopped, your head dropped, your bottom lip jutted out, and your face scrunched up into the most pitiful look. You whimpered for a moment and broke our hearts. Mere seconds later, your face returned to normal, you giggled, and you continued to try to pull up the tiles. I guess the moral of that story, buddy, is that we are totally in for it.
You have started to play games – peek-a-boo is one of your favorites. Especially over the back of the couch at Grandma & Grandpa Hayworth’s house. Another favorite game is “Let’s shove this under the couch!” It’s pretty much what it sounds like – you just like hiding anything that will fit under the couch. You will give a high five (or at least hit someone’s hand) and you have started pointing to EVERYTHING. You have also started holding out an object to show to people. Taco somewhat tolerates your presence now, but she is still very skeptical of your intentions. We continue to work on the concept of “gentle hands” and “DON’T GRAB THE KITTY!”
When you meet a new person or interact with a stranger, you are simultaneously flirtatious and bashful. You will look and smile, and then coyly look away and hide your face. And repeat that process over and over. You have a hierarchy of favorite people. The top slot seems to turn over quite often, but usually goes to Grandma Schmidt or me (thank you). Occasionally, you will show a preference for your cousin, Hailey, over everyone else.
For the holidays, Dad had two weeks off from school, and I decided to take two weeks vacation so we could spend some time as a family. The last Saturday of break, we dropped you off with Grandma & Grandpa Schmidt so we could have a bit of a date night. Upon arriving at their house, you practically dove into Grandpa’s arms and immediately started enthusiastically waving goodbye to us. Apparently you can only take so much family time.
You still love Thomas the Tank Engine and have also developed a love of Curious George. You will sit and pay attention to the television for a few minutes – and I have to admit that when you are still and staring up at that screen, I feel a little bit like a terrible parent. If you are reading this and have some terrible television-induced problems that results from screen time too early, I am so very sorry. Mostly, I think you enjoy the songs, sights and sounds.
I know I say this every month, but you are getting so big! Our scale at home tells me that you weigh over 18 pounds now. Although when I wrote your last letter, I was sure you were getting teeth number 7 and 8, it turns out that only number 7 came in. You now have four top teeth and only three on the bottom. The type A crazy lady inside of me who loves symmetry really wishes that 8th tooth would come through. Instead, you continue to gnaw on everything as though you may be getting teeth on the sides. I have seen no real evidence of them yet, but I try to check every night when we brush your teeth before your bath.
Although you have moments of complete calm, you have become quite a chatterbox. Your favorite sounds are “dadadadada,” “WOW!” and “whoaaa…” You will occasionally say what sounds like, “DAD?! DADDY!?” or sometimes it sounds like you are calling for Grandpa Schmidt by his first name, “ED?! ED!” You also love growling. But it is my absolute favorite when you say, “Wow!” There is often a big of gravel in your voice as you say it, and you genuinely seem to be conveying a sense of awe and wonder about the world. I hope you never lose that.
These last two months saw your first Thanksgiving and YOUR VERY FIRST CHRISTMAS!!! We spent Thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa Schmidt’s house and we visited Grandma & Grandpa Hayworth the weekend before. The week leading up to Thanksgiving, we made a trip to Chicago to visit with some of Mama’s family – we saw all sorts of cool animals and fish at Shedd Aquarium!
For Christmas, we spent a couple of days at Grandma & Grandpa Hayworth’s house and then came back home on Christmas day and had dinner with the Schmiercesonworths. You got to open your first presents, and by the second or third one, you were pretty darn good at ripping that paper. Although, you seemed to have more interest in the paper itself, than in the presents inside.
The day after Christmas, we had unseasonably warm weather, so we put on our jackets and took a family walk to the park. It was so nice out and the idea of having to make you wait until the springtime to experience the swings was unbearable. So we unloaded you from the carrier on my back, and put you in one of the baby swings. And as Dad pushed you back and forth, you had an absolute look of joy on your face! It’s gotten much colder again, so we will likely have to wait until the spring to return to the park. But as long as I get to see that look of joy, we will go every chance we get!
As your first birthday gets closer and closer and your first year comes to a close, I find myself getting more and more emotional about the end of your infanthood and the beginning of your toddlerhood. One of my friends recently shared this poem – it’s one of those super sappy, make-you-ugly-cry things that circulate the internet. And I read it, and I broke a little. Even though you are getting so big, you are still my little baby. And I am still getting used to the idea of checking off all of these “firsts.” I can’t even being to think about “lasts.” I know they are inevitable. But especially for these next few weeks, while you are officially still my baby, I will focus on embracing every moment.
Love,
Mama
