Dear Abby,
You are growing by leaps and bounds. You've been taking your first steps and collapsing into me with a look of such sheer joy on your face that I can't even put it into words. You are absolutely thrilled with yourself- and you should be! You are barely 9 months and practically walking. You go girl! You are so excited about learning to stand in fact, that you want to do it all the time. Including when you are (or should be) sleeping. You will be half asleep in bed nursing when the mood strikes and you will simply prop yourself up to a standing position and then smile at me from ear to ear. And then if I'm lucky you may even start dancing. But who could be annoyed at being woken up after seeing that beautiful grin? I must say the sleep deprivation you are causing me is taking its toll...coffee has become my best friend. And yours. Daddy has gotten in the habit of letting you "share" his cup and now I have no choice but to let you "sip" mine as well. We just got a new TV in your playroom and have been letting you listen to Pandora. Now whenever we say "music" you look toward the TV and instinctively start "dancing". You are seriously too cute for words.
Speaking of that let me tell you just how smart you are :) You know how to bounce, jump and dance. Never mind that all three of those actions when carried out by you look exactly the same. You can clap your hands (that's old news) and shake things on command. You know how to give a high 5 but you like to take our hands in yours after that and start clapping them for us. I am trying to teach you to stomp your feet...we'll get there. You will (sort of) throw a ball back and forth although when you do it it seems more like you just want to appease me and move on to something better than actually playing with the ball. I don't blame you...I was never much into sports. More of a dancer myself as well! You still love a good game of peek a boo. That one never gets old- especially if you are anywhere in the vicinity of a curtain. You will kick a ball around the room. You know how to turn on and off light switches. You know what the train is and every time you hear it you look for it and then wave. You know how to wave hello and good bye although you prefer to do it after the person looks away- I think just to make me look like an idiot!
You know all your grandparents by name and when I say that one of them is coming over your eyes light up and you look towards the door. After all, you'd give almost anything to get a break from me sometimes! You know how to splash and you love sucking on washcloths. I thought it was just wet ones but yesterday you couldn't wait to get a dry wash cloth out of my freshly folded pile and into your mouth. Pretty much everything goes into your mouth -unless of course it is actual food I want you to eat in which case you will seriously scrutinize it and then probably pass it up. I made you a batch of super healthy muffins that tasted terrible but then dad reminded me that you love to eat cardboard so I let you try one...I think you touched it but it didn't make it anywhere close to your mouth. Of course!
You are becoming super clingy. If it's just us you do not want me out of your sight. In fact you will start crying if I am simply 2 steps away from you. This is becoming a real challenge. I keep trying to remind myself that come your teenage years you will be begging me to leave you alone so I should probably savor these clingy moments. That however still doesn't help me when nature calls or when I need to shower. Lately I have had to wait until you are in bed for the night to take a shower and if I'm being totally honest this week only twice has a shower trumped sleep. These are the choices I am resorting to making these days.
You are really becoming a stinker when it comes to bedtime. Dad and I have had a rough week trying to put you to bed. We think they should make a baby version of our Westin Heavenly mattress because that is your preferred sleeping surface. Of course right now you are in your crib but only because dad and I spent at least 3 hours cumulative time coercing you to go in. And even then I had to wait until you were fast asleep before getting you in there. And now I am writing this waiting for you to wake up instead of getting some much needed sleep. I can't relax because you hardly ever sleep but then when you do sleep I can't relax either because surely the second I close my eyes you will surely wake up! In fact I think I hear you right now...