070109:DEAR AUGUST: TEN MONTHS.
dear little son,
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