ten month old. you’ve officially reached double digits. double digit months. like, you’re only two months away from turning a year old.

!!!!!!!!

your daddy and i were talking about how weird it is that you’re just two months away from having been around for a whole year. well, technically, you’d have been around for a year and nine months in my belleh but still. we don’t really include that in your birthday. that’s just how it works.

we kind of can’t believe it. it doesn’t feel like that long at all. you’re a vacuum for time, you. stop it!

o.O

this month was another fun month. we’ve been so blessed to have family and friends that have traveled across the country to meet you and spend time with us. your grandma nancy and grandpa daryl came and visited us for a few days. that was fun. they actually watched you for us in the city (san francisco) while your daddy and i went to see an andy warhol exhibit at a museum close by. it was weird being without you but i won’t say that we didn’t have a great time. your grandparents loved watching you and are so tickled with you. i know that they are just itching for the day that you can spend the weekend with them.

soon after their visit, your auntie angel came and visited again. that was sort of spontaneous and happened at the last minute but she is going to be going to east asia in august, for a year (!!!!), and we wanted to make sure that she got some good nephew time in before she took off. she stayed for nearly two weeks! and while she was here, we had a few fun firsts!

we took you swimming for the first time. you were pretty skeptical of it at first (the water was still pretty cold) but after you got used to it some, you were quite the fan. i hope to get you lessons sometime soon.

and while auntie angel was here, we went back to santa cruz where you rode on your first carousel ride. and boy, were you so taken by that whole event. at first, you were nervous about it, then fascinated, then thrilled. by the time we got off and we were putting you in your stroller, you were pulling at the little bars on the “fence” around the merry go round– you wanted back in! it was absolutely precious. there’s plenty of time for more carousel rides, though. however, before we know it, you’re going to be dragging us (okay, you won’t really have to drag us) on roller coasters and making your mom sick. i can’t wait.

i was so glad that we got to do that in santa cruz, though.

this month you’ve been such a big boy. you’re eating chicken and more solids although i kind of hesitate to say that you’re really “eating” them. at the most, you’ll eat a regular tablespoon full. and we’re lucky to even get that much in you. usually, when we offer you something, if you’ll even take it, you’ll only take about two baby spoonfuls before you’ve had enough. it’s all right, though. God’s thought of all of that and designed the human body *so perfectly* that your mommy is able to provide you most of all the nutrition that you need your first year of life. it’s pretty amazing. and while it has been challenging, it’s also been beautiful and you’ve been really awesome with it. on breast milk alone, you’ve grown from tiny five pound baby to our little 20 pound chunker. however, even with that said, it is really neat to see you open to eating more. you seem to be partial to chicken and scrambled eggs. and you’re also quite the fan of potatoes and, sometimes, green beans.

sometimes, you like to snack on these little puffs that gerber makes. you like the banana and sweet potato ones. and you’ve even learned to feed yourself which is really cool. sometimes, we’ll see you pick something up off your tray and put it in your mouth but then we’ll see it come right back out with your finger. sometimes it falls in but sometimes it doesn’t and i don’t think you realize what’s going on. you just look at me with this unsure look on your face and a piece of green bean stuck to your finger.

this month you’ve learned all sorts of neat things: feeding yourself and you also started strumming your hand over your mouth to make a “bluh, bluh, bluh” noise. you said your first word, “momma” and while you’ve been saying what sounds a lot like “ma ma ma” for a few weeks now, it is this month that we’ve noticed that you’re intentionally using the word. although, sometimes daddy gets called “momma,” too. but that’s okay. it still counts (you say it when you want something and it’s no longer a ramble). <3 i was almost positive that you were going to say, "da da" first.

oh! and you've got two more teeth (the two on either side of your top two front teeth). so, you have four on top and two on the bottom. this brings your tooth tally to SIX. so crazy.

you aren't sucking on your thumb anymore and while that is totally okay, it can be a bit challenging to soothe you when you're feeling fussy. in those instances, you really only want to nurse. and that really is fine. we are fortunate that you're not a really fussy baby.

this month did, however, bring you a friend and your first time around another baby. your daddy's best friend- michael, his wife lauren, and their baby noel surprised us (or your daddy rather) with a visit. noel is two months younger than you.

tangent: everyone thinks that you guys are going to get married but i'll tell you right now that you don't have to.

/tangent

when you first saw her, you looked so smitten with her. you just sort of looked at her dazed with a dreamy smile on your face. and then she screamed and grabbed at your face and you cried. thankfully, you both eventually got the hang of one another and played together quite well. aunt lauren has a video of that. but you were a little fussy during their visit and i know that it had a lot to do with the fact that you'd never been around another baby or other kids before and it was very new to you. all us grownups just watched the two of you the whole time that they visited, amazed at you both. i hope that, even if the two of you don't get married like everybody seems to foresee, that you are still good friends and that you look out for one another. michael and lauren are very dear to our hearts. michael has been like a brother to your dad and your dad has known lauren for a long time. they are such a great family. and like family to us.

<3 <3 <3

you still aren't crawling but you're rocking back and forth on your hands and knees when we set you down that way. right when we think that you're about to crawl, you fall on your belly. you are our little clever monkey, though. you've figured that you can get most anywhere that you want to go by rolling over and rotating over and then repeating that. it works but i wish you'd just crawl already!

you do like to dance. whenever you hear music, you bop up and down with a pleased look on your face. it's so funny and so neat the way you babies just know to do that. 'cause seriously...i really don't think your dad or i dance like that. or maybe we do. ...i can tell you that i am the crappiest dancer ever. :i

you love remote controls (and always the one we're holding)! daddy usually takes out one of the batteries and lets you go to town on it. if he doesn't do that, you always seem to hit the right buttons. like the one that will "scan" through the channels or the one that will take us to telemundo. we've considered getting you your own but it will probably work out that you will eventually not want the one that you're actually supposed to have and still just want the ones that we have. you’re a stinker like that.

you’ve grown out of your little bath seat so you’re taking big boy baths now. this month you learned how to intentionally make a splash. i remember the look on your face when you saw what you could do. so pleased. and then you wouldn’t stop. it was great.

you also do the cutest little thing where you clasp your hands together. you’ll just randomly do it and you look like such a polite little man. it’s just squinchy and i want to eat you for dinner. <3

i feel like i’m missing stuff. i know that i am. there’s just been so much that has happened this month. it’s been an exciting one.

i do know that my favorite moment of this month would be realizing that you already have quite the strange sense of humor. one night, your daddy and i were laying with you in our bed and, i don’t remember where it came from but, i said, in a silly voice, the words: “elton john?!” to you. and you just busted out laughing. for like two weeks straight, we could say those words to you…sometimes we wouldn’t even have to say it in a silly accent and you’d still laugh. it was so hilarious! it’s sort of died down some but, if we can get you in the right silly mood, we can say it straight face, and you’ll just start cracking up. it’s weird and strange. but it’s so us. i will admit that if you didn’t have even just a little weirdness going on that i’d be a tad disappointed. but you do and you’ve already done your momma proud!

and in more ways than just your silly little humor. you have such a gentle, wonderful spirit about you. i already know that you are going to love and care deeply. and that brings me so much joy.

God made you in His image…and He resides in your heart. i can see it already.

you are beautiful in Him and i am so rich with the opportunity to get to see this and be your mom.

i love you,
momma

here ya’ go, jeremy! you were my motivation to finally get them up!

what a fun month this has been. you seem like such a different baby.

aaaahhh– you’re actually such a little boy! have i said that before? i am sure that i have. and i’ll just keep saying it until you really understand what i’m saying, become miffed, and let me know that you are not a little boy, and that you are a BIG boy. it is no question that will happen. it’s just when.

and too soon.

but yes.

this month was so fun. and full of firsts.

like EASTER. your mother, being the stickler for holidays that she is, definitely went all out and dyed eggs with you (you watched and smiled). and the easter bunny most definitely came and left a basket full o’ treats on the dining table. you cried when you saw it. yes. it was that beautiful.

you’re so sensitive already.

your daddy and i thought we’d do something spontaneous for easter and go to monterey.

tangent: please be spontaneous, son. and find someone that will be spontaneous with you. it’s wonderful and fun and oh so adventurous. i want your life to be filled with wonder, and fun, and adventure. over-flowing even.

/tangent.

monterey is a beautiful little city in california. we went there when we were pregnant with you. so, i guess that’d make the easter trip your second time going. monterey has a wonderful aquarium there. we thought it’d be fun to visit as you’d shown a fascination to the aquariums in wal*mart. ;p daddy and i had been to the monterey aquarium one other time so we spent much of our time there watching you take everything in. you were soo fascinated. it’s so exciting to watch you see things for the first time.

the day after easter, we decided to make it a full weekend and see the redwood trees at muir woods. it was daddy’s first time going, too (i had went with auntie angel and her friend a.k. when they visited last year). we hope to take you back to see these places again. california is a great state full of beautiful, beautiful sights and neat experiences. if it never happens that you make it back here with us, i hope that you come here. whether alone, with friends, with friendly strangers, or family. it’s definitely worth it. and if you drive, take i-10. it’s beautiful.

this month, you also got to meet your mom’s mom (your grandma) for the first time. she came to see you for several days that went by in a flash. the first time she saw you, she was getting into the back of our car to sit with you after we had picked her up from the airport.

she put a twenty dollar bill in your hand.

yes. when i went back to pull you out of your car seat, you were just holding on to that cash and looking at me like you didn’t know what to do with yourself but you liked it. it was hilarious. supposedly, the money thing is a filipino thing. whenever you bring a baby to visit a relative for the first time, they are supposed to give you money. or something. that’s what your grandma told me. and i have no problem with that. we’ll see how long we can milk that one. ;p but yeah. her being here was so amazing. and crazy. and absolutely beautiful. there is nothing like seeing your mom hold and love on your baby. and boy did she ever hold and love you a lots.

while she was here, we took her to the usual san francisco spots that we’ve taken all of our visitors but we also went to sacramento for the first time (it was mommy and daddy’s first time, too) where we got to meet your auntie anita and her daughter and kids.

when we dropped grandma off at the airport, and i went to get you out of your seat, you were sitting there…with yet another twenty dollar bill in your hand. looking at me like you had no idea where it came from. oh, your grandma. she is one of the most generous people i know. she gave you so much more than the forty bucks you held in your little hands.

this month also brought you to your first baseball game. while daddy’s worked at cornerstone, he’s been able to score some pretty amazing seats to oakland a’s games. neither your dad nor i are huge sports fans but we do love the atmosphere at baseball games so we were excited to take you to your first one. our houston family and friends probably threw a fit that your first game wasn’t to see the astro’s. but yeah. it was such a cool experience. we got to sit in second row seats behind third base. the people working guest relations were so smitten with you that they give you a little oakland a’s bear and posed with you for a picture before we left. you make friends everywhere you go!

this month you got yourself two more teefs. your two, top, front, teeth. it’s so strange seeing four little teeth when i look in your mouth. or just even when you smile big. i really didn’t think they were going to come in so quickly. but they have. and you’re still as cute as ever. you also have a mean bite on ya’, too. i think you’ve drawn blood on your father once. thankfully we haven’t had too much of an issue with the biting while nursing. i was really nervous about that one.

it’s been neat watching you notice and learn new things. you’ve become a lot more aware of strangers. where you used to give anyone a big, welcoming smile, you now just give most of ‘em a blank stare. it’s kind of hilarious when they’re really getting into trying to make you smile and you just stare back at them unamused. sometime if they catch you off guard, you’ve even started crying. it’s so different than the way you used to be. however, i know that you are becoming more aware of your surroundings and the people around you. so, this is a good thing.

you can roll over from back to stomach now. and you’ve started rotating to get a better look at what’s around you (or to keep tabs on mommy and daddy). i was so tickled the first time i noticed this. i left you on your tummy facing one way for just a bit and came back to you facing the other way with an amused and triumphant smile on your face. cheeky little monkey.

you seem to be taking to napping in your crib pretty well. your favorite sleeping position is on your side.

you’ve caught onto the idea of cause and effect. you’re quite the fan of peek-a-boo and you’ll catch on to things like me making a certain noise when you touch a certain part of my face. and what’s really cool is seeing you take one thing in your hand and clanking it against something in the other hand. and then the pleased look on your face after noticing the nice, loud CLACK that you’ve created. i love it. it’s so hard for me to bring myself to quiet you down when we’re in environments where repetitive, loud clacking is probably not appropriate. so, we try to avoid those sorts of places if possible.

phoebe cates is learning to trust you more and more every month. this month, she’s actually hung around you long enough for you to pet her. we’re working on a gentle pet and you’re doing pretty well with it but, of course, sometimes you get so excited and a little stroke soon turns into a fierce grabbing of the hair with a wild look in your eye. …and phoebe’s out of there. it’s progress, though. we get so happy to see you two getting along. she already loves you even though she is cautious of your erratic baby movements. we know this because she still checks on you whenever you cry loudly. it’s cute.

this month we had a little bit of a scare after your nine month check up. your first two measurements were normal. weight at 19 lbs 15 oz and in the 46 percentile and height at 28.5″ inches and in the 66 percentile, however, your head circumference was at 18 3/4″ and in the 97 percentile. there was no real concern until she compared your current measurement with your previous head growth recordings. she said that, even though you were right where you should be developmentally, that there was more rapid growth than she was completely comfortable with and, because of that, she wanted to do a head ultrasound. thankfully, the head ultrasound produced nothing but normal readings…and an interesting hair-do from the jelly they put your head for it.

we were SO relieved and thankful. turns out the big noggin is not just a typical big baby head but also it’s in genetics. your father has a biggun’, too. i share this with you because it was a big deal in our lives for a week or so (we were a mess with worry…and then relief)…and also so that you have this record should your potential babies have big heads, too.

you love to drink water. you’ve sort of upgraded to a straw. and i say, “sort of” because you’re not really sucking from the straw so much as you’re letting the water just fall into your mouth as we hold the straw to your mouth. it’s still cute, though. you get so excited whenever you see us get the straw ready.

speaking of this, you don’t really like drinking water any other way than straight from the glass (as we hold it) and as mentioned with the straw. you don’t want anything to do with the bottle or the sippy cups we have for you. oh well. you may just oohh and ahhh us and go straight to a glass. you amazing baby, you.

my favorite moment of this month would probably have to be getting to see you really click with your dad. you two have become real buds. i really noticed this when watching him throw you on top of his shoulders while you laugh and excitedly grab at his head. or in the way that you get excited and bury your face in his shirt when he holds you. and the way that he just melts when he looks at you. it brings me so much joy to see the two of you together. i can’t wait to see the years bring you even closer. there are so many lessons and fun to be had. he is crazy about you, son. he loves you so, so much. seeing him as your dad is just another way that i am so proud to be married to him. y’all are my beautiful boys. and i love you both so much.

happy nine months, little prince.

love,
momma

he was SUCH A TROOPER.

he smiled at both nurses right up until the needle went in his arm. cried a lot, of course. i’m sure that there are some adults that cry just as much. and, as soon as the needle was out and he was bandaged, he was all smiles. and with a red, tear soaked face. he even gave the nurse that stuck him a huge smile before we left.

it is so hard to see your child in pain and not be able to console him right away. at one point, i looked down and saw the needle in his arm and had to look away just as soon as i had looked…singing “the wheels on the bus” in his ear to comfort him.

don’t know if it was more comforting to him or me.

he was so brave, though.

so much so that i couldn’t help but buy him a toy while at the store. his first toy car. teaching him that it goes, “vroooom!” he finds that most amusing.

one of these days i plan to be on top of this. i plan to be one of those awesome mommy bloggers.

i just haven’t figured out how to slow things down a bit.

if you’re curious how things are going in our life, i update the twitter pretty regularly. and you can always catch me on facebook if we’re facebook friends. if we’re not, we probably should be.

well wishes to all.

<3

there are a lot from last month, though. i don’t usually like to post more than one picture from any certain day to keep a pretty decently modest picture summary but i had way too many favorites to pick just one or two so, in effect– PICTURE OVERLOAD!

as always, hover over pictures for alt-tag descriptions

there have been the months (every month) that i have written that time has flown. this month really has. and not in just all of the ways in which you’ve grown but in all of the things that have happened in just a matter of 30 days. or at least all of the things that seem to have happened.

after about your sixth or so month i started cheating and writing little notes of things that happened throughout the month to refer to when writing your letter. i just knew that the day that i’d sit to write it, my mind would draw a blank. as it often does.

but yes. i find myself sitting here without my notebook scrambling for memories. and all i can really wrap my head around is that you’re a month older, a month more amazing, and that your daddy and i love you even more than last month.

however, there really was more to the month of march than just that. and for that, i rummaged through the many bags i have sitting around the house to find the notebook to refresh my memory.

this month has gone by so fast that i worried that i didn’t write much and found myself panicking at the idea of having to rely on my memory but, as i look at it now, i find relief in the small things i took the time to scribble down.

this past month you’ve gotten even stronger than the month before. you haven’t started crawling but we can feel your strength in the way that you push off of us or bounce up and down when we hold you. you’ll be sitting in our laps and something excites you and you giggle and bounce up and down. sometimes, it feels like you’re about to jump right off of our laps. i can’t say that i am ready for that just yet.

thinking about that and the way you are now, i am not exactly sure when you’re going to be moving around like that. you. are. lazy. you just really love to be held and cuddled. i leave you on your tummy for some time to see what you do. it’s really hit or miss. there are times that you are fine with it and you’ll lay there pushing yourself up. i know that you are strong because you’re holding yourself up all the way down to your waist and for extended periods, however, you aren’t really interested in going anywhere.

you’re sitting up pretty confidently for long periods of time and balancing yourself really well. sometimes i’ll watch you sort of sway and then catch and steady yourself from falling. it’s really cool to see you’re realizing what you can do.

you’re able to stand for short periods of time. but only if there’s something in front of you to support you. after about 15 seconds, your knees give and you fall or you’ll start crying because i think you’re probably really weirded out by the whole bearing your own weight thing.

there’s no rush, though. there’s no doubt that you’ll be getting around on your own in no time and then i’ll be longing for these days when i could set you down in one spot and know that you weren’t going anywhere.

you love being outside. whenever we go outside and i say, “outside! it’s so bright and sunny!,” you smile big and look around excitedly. one time when daddy and i were strolling you out of a store, the wind hit your face as soon as we walked out and you shrieked and smiled big, gasping as the wind hit your face. it was SO. GREAT watching and hearing you experience a friendly breeze that way. it was almost as if you were “officially” meeting one for the first time.

you have been “talking” a whole lot more, too. especially when by yourself. you’ll just go on and on and on. sometimes, you even replicate the sound of something. whether it be the text message chime on my phone or the sound of the way i say something simple like, “hel-lo!” of course, you do this when i least expect it and pretty much NEVER when i try to get you to.

you’ve become quite a fan of taking your socks off of your feet. one afternoon, i had set you down on a blanket after getting you ready and left the room to get something. less than a minute later, i was back and both of your socks were off. one of them lay next to your foot and the other was in your mouth…like a little bone. i definitely laughed…and you grinned big with the sock in your mouth like you knew you made a funny.

you have been teething lots and have four teeth to show for it! yes. FOUR. for awhile there, you had just the two bottom front teeth, but by the end of the month, your top, front, left tooth had come in, and then a day before your eight month birthday, the right front tooth came in– your fourth!

while it’s absolutely crazy and wonderful seeing your little boy toothy smile, it has been rough on you…and me at times. this month you’ve been needing extra, extra love and attention and while i have a limitless supply of love to give, it has been a little rough because when you would normally be fine entertaining yourself for longer, you are irritated and groan-ey and just want to be held and cuddled. even while holding you, you are still groan-ey at times…and that’s how i know that you are uncomfortable and really going through something.

however, even while fussy and needy, you are still such a good, fun, and sweet baby. and the really rough days are few and far between. while it’s been challenging, i think it’s been necessary for us to experience days like this. you know, to let us know you’re a normal baby.

you’re still perfect to us and there’s no other place i’d rather be than sitting with my arms around you and comforting you.

not sure if i wrote about this last month but you LOVE drinking water and especially prefer it straight from a glass. no bottle, no sippy cup even (we’ve tried)…you want it straight from a glass. of course you can’t hold the glass up by yourself– we hold it for you. but your little hand holds onto the glass as if you’re holding it up for yourself. and if we pull the glass away for too long you get mad and start crying. you love it! you also sometimes do this thing and chomp on the glass with your little teeth. we can hear the tiny clanking of your teeth on the glass. it’s hysterical.

you’re still not eating any solids. we try every once in awhile to see if you’re open to it and while there are times you’re open to trying, there really hasn’t been a time that you have come back for a second taste. you are still pretty strictly being breast fed. and it seems to be working out just fine. you’re growing just as you should and everyone is still talking about how much of a chunker you are.

it’s so neat to watch people react to you. i am not sure if i wrote about this in a previous month but you stop people dead in their tracks to comment on you and baby talk at you like a silly. it’s kind of interesting what a little baby brings out of people– i’ve seen some of the most stone faced looking people turn soft within a millisecond of seeing you. it’s pretty great. the catch here is that more than 80% of the people that comment on you are still thinking you’re a little girl. tons of blue does nothing for you. your curls are currently ruining your manhood. of course, aside from the curls, i cannot understand where people are making the mistake. thankfully, we have friends and family that feel the same way.

this has been such a crazy month of development. so much has happened so fast. it’s been such a blur.

but a beautiful one.

your daddy and i are so crazy about you.

love,
momma

as you can see, august is not at all impressed. oh well. wishing you and your loved ones a HAPPY EASTER! hoping that not just today, but every day, you are reminded of how AWESOME our God is.

eat lots of chocolate and marshmallows.

with lots of love,
mark, sarah, and august