Oh little baby boy - you are growing up so quickly! Thinking back to one year ago, you were still in my belly, doing flips and kicks and somersaults all day long...isn't that hard to believe?!?!
Another wonderful month has gone by, watching you explore, learn, smile, get frustrated and snuggle. Your monthly changes are smaller now, more nuanced than obvious. I am still nursing you and starting to think about whether weaning at 12 months should still be the plan of action. I believe that it will be, but I get sad thinking about not sharing that special time together anymore. You are nursing about three times a day now - right when you wake up in the morning, then when I get home from work, and finally before bed. Otherwise it's lots of solid food for you - and now the culinary world is your oyster! It's fun to go to restaurants and if I haven't brought baby food, we just order something small off the menu for you - usually some bread and steamed veggies...plus a few bites of whatever delicious meal I'm having! You REALLY like the chili that your dad makes...and Cheerios are still at the top of your list. You and Nell share lots of Cheerios together, as you hand them down to her one-by-one. You also like to feed Cheerios to your dad and to me. I just have to open up and say "Ahhhhh" and you'll pop one right into my mouth, and beam with pride.
Overall, you're a healthy boy, but this past month has had more health issues than normal - luckily very minor ones. We survived your first fever earlier this month. I could instantly tell by touching your face that you were HOT. It was a very obvious feeling. You ran a fever of about 101* for a day or two, with it reaching as high as 102* for a few hours one day. You also had a runny nose and slightly grouchy demeanor, so I thought you had a cold...but the 1st time parent in me rushed home from work and took you to the doctor. And as suspected, you were just battling a small cold/fever. While we were at the doctor, you received your second seasonal flu shot, along with the H1N1 flu shot. Let's hope the rest of the winter keeps us all healthy!
Your eighth tooth has come through - you now have four adorable teeth up top, and four adorable teeth down on the bottom. And you can SMILE! You are very social and love to smile at people all the time. You have only shown the very slightest amount of stranger anxiety - perhaps two or three times. Otherwise, you like to reach out to our friends, requesting them to hold and snuggle you. I love that you are brave, and comfortable with others. I know every child has his or her own personality, but I don't ever want you to feel like you have to hide behind me or your dad. I want you to feel self-confident, happy and generally trusting of the big world out there. I hope for myself that as you grow up, I won't try to hold you back out of my own selfishness or fear, but rather push you gently to explore, travel, engage and laugh.
I am going to hold on tightly to all the laughter, smiles, your first Christmas, travels to Virginia, your first "HAPPY NEW YEAR" celebration and more this month. Because next time I write to celebrate a monthly milestone, it won't be just another month...but it'll be your 12 month - YEAR OLD - letter.
Everyday and every month, we love you more and more. Hard to believe since we've loved you more than we could have ever imagined from Day 1!
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