10(!) Months with Alvie Bean
Dear Mr. Bean,
Today you are ten months old. It’s ridiculous that you are going to be one year old in two months. Time has been flying. You are growing and learning and developing so much every day. I can hardly keep up with you already, and you’re not even walking (independently) yet.
Most of our interactions look something like this. I blink, and suddenly you’re several feet away. You love chasing the cats, and you’re getting pretty speedy! Your new favorite thing is stair climbing, and you hate (HATE) to be carried up the stairs. You will climb up those stairs under your own power, dammit! I let you, because it wears you out. The other thing you hate (HATE) is napping. There are so many things to see, do, eat, chase, get into, that napping is just an interruption. So we do a lot of stair climbing in the mornings. I’m sneaky that way.
You are also a huge fan of standing and walking. You can’t quite do it yourself, but you don’t like to be carried, so we do a lot of walking together. It’s great for mama’s posture, I’m sure.
You love music. In the mornings, you’ll often crawl into the office, play the guitar (read: hit the strings) and yell “Dada!” And daddy will usually come play for you. Downstairs, you love the piano. You like sitting on either my or Daddy’s lap to play, and love to add your own accompaniment when I’m playing as well.
Outside is awesome! Not only because there are new things to stuff into your mouth, either! I love going for walks with you, and you love the park. When we went last weekend, there were other babies in the swings, and you kept pointing and yelling. It was your turn! Unfortunately, it wasn’t yet, so we had to entertain ourselves with other things.
You are so not a cuddler. You do not like to be held, and will only tolerate brief hugs. You need to move! Changing your diaper, dressing you, getting a bib on, or a jacket, or pants, is often a struggle. When you were sick last week, although it was so miserable, the nice part was you did want to cuddle. We spent a lot of time all snuggled up with you in my arms. I didn’t realize you’d be over the snuggles so early, so I take every opportunity to snuggle you now when you’ll put up with it.
You love books, too. And you already know which books are Mama books and which books are Daddy books. One of your favorite books is Are You a Cow? And when you grab that off the shelf, you yell, “Dada!” because you know that’s the one Daddy does the funny voices for. You also love flinging through the pages yourself, though you often get the book upside down.
You’ve really started to talk up a storm. In addition to Mama and Dada (which you now assign appropriately), you also say Ba! for your bottle and BUHBUH, often with violent arm movements when someone’s leaving. Plus, the other talking that I can’t quite understand. You’re beginning to point to things you want, and are becoming quite the effective little communicator.
You are turning into quite the little trouble-maker. I’ll blink, you’ll be gone, and when I call, “Oh no! Where’s the baby?” I hear a quiet little giggle. And there you’ll be, having gone through the cat door into the back bathroom, or into the pantry to look for cat food, or around the gate to the stairs.
The only times you’re really willing to sit still for any length of time is if Daddy will let you look at his iPad (you like Angry Birds and train videos) or if you’re eating.
You are a bottomless pit when it comes to food. All that moving around must be burning some serious calories, because all you want to do when you’re not moving is eat. And I cannot shovel that food into your mouth fast enough. You really want to do it yourself, but unfortunately your spoon skills are still lacking a bit. You love to eat “do it yourself” foods, though. Os, crackers, arrowroot biscuits, broccoli (you love the broccoli), cheese, bread, etc.
Your new favorite game is dropping things. You love to drop all manner of things. Whether it’s to hear the noise they make, or to see if mama and daddy will always pick them up and give them back to you, I’m not sure. I love seeing the world through your eyes, though. Watching you get excited when you bang on the high chair tray and the Os bounce closer to you, seeing your fascination with the shadows from the naked trees, touching wet grass and marveling at the texture of the moss underneath…it reminds me that this world is awesome. And, of course, the most awesome thing in this world just might be you.
I love you little Bean.
Love,
Mama
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