Ten Months: A Letter

Dear Nicholas,

You are now 10 months-- double digits! I feel like I blinked my eyes at 9 months and then suddenly another month passed. With the holidays ahead of us, I feel like I will blink my eyes again and suddenly you'll be one. It's hard to believe. For now, I am just trying to soak up each precious last moment of your babyhood.

Month ten was action packed and included many new milestones, as well as some ups and downs. We moved into our new house on Friday, October 26th, and we spent most of the weekend unpacking here and cleaning out our old house. You were an absolute trooper throughout, but you ended up getting very sick that Sunday with your first stomach virus just as we were about finish up our cleaning at the old house. (We probably used about half a bottle of Febreeze on the carpet in your old bedroom.) You were sick for a few days, and then I promptly got sick with the same virus. It made for a rough first week in our new house.

The month's highlights included two new holiday firsts.Thanksgiving came early this year (November 22nd), so your tenth month included both Halloween and Thanksgiving. For Halloween, we dressed you up as a pumpkin, and, in my unbiased opinion, you were probably the cutest little baby pumpkin in Texas. And then three weeks later, Gammy and Grandpa visited us to celebrate your first Thanksgiving and our first real holiday in the new house. We had great weather that day and enjoyed time outside on our patio, followed by a delicious meal. Overall, you probably enjoyed water from your sippy cup the most, but you tried a little turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing.

During month ten, you also started exerting your independence in what I have been calling "pre-toddler behaviors." This is a nice way of saying that you have decided that you really, really don't like it when we put you in your carseat, up on your changing table, or even sometimes in your high chair-- generally anything that restricts your movement and prevents you from doing what you want to do and going where you want to go. To really send the message home, you will violently arch your back, throwing your head back and sometimes even hitting the back of a chair or the floor, and wailing loudly. I think part of this may be you acting out as you adjust to a new schedule, a new lifestyle at daycare, and a new home. You've definitely been through a lot of changes lately, buddy, so we can't really blame you. It's been challenging for us too.

Your tenth month also included some exciting milestones. You got two new teeth, which surround your upper front teeth. I noticed them at the end of October, and they seem to have appeared out of nowhere. Either you just weren't very fussy due to teething, or we were all so wrapped up in the transition back to work, to daycare, and into the new house that we didn't notice. But now you have an adorable jack-o-lantern grin that we love.

Right around Thanksgiving you also transitioned from your army crawl to the more traditional, up on your knees crawl. You crawled once or twice on your knees beginning in early November, once in particular-- kind of sucking in-- to keep your bare belly off our cold tile floor. But then as soon as Gammy and Grandpa arrived for Thanksgiving, you were up on your knees for good. Show off. ; ) And, that's not all... at this stage, you are pulling up on everything. You haven't started trying to cruise along the floor holding on to the furniture yet, but your legs are very sturdy, and you have no problem standing for long stretches of time-- most notably at your crib rail when you don't want to go down for a nap.

One of the highlights of the month for me is that you've started to give affection. When I ask for a kiss, (sometimes) you'll oblige by closing your eyes and opening your mouth and leaning forward to touch my lips. You've also started lying your head on my shoulder and putting your arms around my neck after a feeding. As we've reduced our nursing to just two sessions per day, I was worried that I'd miss out on our snuggles, but that hasn't been the case at all.

Finally, you are becoming increasingly verbal. You now babble constantly-- your favorite sounds being dadadada, babababa, and guh guh guh. You say dadada pretty regularly, but you've started saying dada  intentionally and consistently when you see your daddy. Since he's pretty much your favorite person in the world (or at least the most amusing person in the world), I think we can officially chalk this up as your first word. It's exciting to see you begin to interact more and more with the world, and I'm looking forward watching you find new ways to express yourself.

Nicholas, you are our sunshine. Even the cloudy days are brighter with you around. I love you to pieces.

Mommy