Dear Colin:
I still refer to you as
Mr. Crabs, but it’s turned into a term of endearment rather than a descriptor.
You, sir, are all smiles. After seeing your two extra-smiley pictures from
daycare today, your daddy texted me to tell me that “no one smiles that much. Not even The
Joker.” I replied, “My little boy does.”
Several people from
daycare have seen me with you and remarked that you smile all the time. And
another person from your daycare recently glanced around to make sure no other
parents were in earshot when she told me in hushed tones that she’s been
working at the daycare for more than nine years and you are one of the absolute
cutest kids she’s been around. I can’t say I disagree.
You’re nine months old
today and I am amazed at how fast you pick up new skills. You clap whenever I
shout “yay!” and wave to your caregivers at daycare every morning from outside
your room. We’re now working on blowing kisses, and you’ve almost got it.
You’ve also almost got
crawling, although your chosen modes of transportation are still strictly
rolling and army crawling with both arms while pushing off with just your left
leg and your belly still stubbornly on the ground. You’re still pretty fast at
it when you see something that you really want, which 9 times out of 10 is either any kind of paper or the
dog’s water bowl. That is, of course, if there is no food around, even if it’s
clearly my food, and not yours.
You eat more than any
child your size should probably eat. I actually don’t know how much you can eat
because if I didn’t stop giving you food after I felt like you’ve had enough,
I’m not sure if you’d stop on your own! I’m not sure an infant should be
protesting that they don’t have any more food after a bowl of oatmeal, half a
banana, and two highchair tray-fulls of Cheerios and puffs! Whenever I get
together with my mom friends one of them always remarks that you’re still
eating after all of the other babies have moved on from eating to playing.
And I have you to thank
for my mom friends. All of my work friends live in the city, and I had yet to
make friends out in the suburbs. But then you came along and I was able to bond
with these amazing new moms under the guise of having “play dates” for our
kids. None of you ever mind, of course, because you all clearly enjoy putting
each others toys in your mouths for the few hours that we get together every
month.
You never stop babbling. Most of the time it's a lot of "babas" and "dadas" although I still don't think you know what many words mean. You do know your name, though, and look up and smile whenever you hear me say it.
You're giving me small heart attacks on a regular basis because your main goal in the bathtub now is to pull yourself up to a standing position. The edge of the tub is just too perfect a height for you to not want to grab and pull from a seated position, despite all the colorful toys I surround you with in the tub.
Nursing is much more painful than it used to be because you have had your middle bottom two teeth for a few weeks now, and I just noticed that one more is popping out next to those bottom two as well as your fangs. If those come in fully before your top middle teeth show up, I have to admit I might be a little creeped out - especially since you've been waking up a lot more in the middle of the night - but we'll wait and see about that one.
Although if getting teeth is like anything else when it comes to you, I won't have to wait long. You change daily. I play with you after daycare and before it's time for you to go to sleep and I swear each time you're a little bit more dexterous, a little bit faster at scooting, and a lot more fun.
I love you Mr. Crabs. More every day.
Love,
Mom
