Dear Tate - 10 Months

Dear sweet bubba,

As I type this, we are in your room surrounded by a sea of books and toys you've been playing with all morning...but you're presently trying to hang from the end table next to me in an attempt to investigate what I'm doing. You're so curious and smart; you blow my mind every hour of every day. Beneath those expressive eyebrows (just like your mama's), behind your beautiful blue-blue eyes (just like your daddy's), I see you learning and understanding so much of the world already and it makes me so, so excited about what the future holds for you and us.

You are a very active little guy, never sitting still for long. You are kind of over crawling - something you perfected months ago - and are instead intent on walking around furniture and pulling yourself up on everything - even if it's a small toy on the floor. You constantly grab things off tables and open drawers to chew on the new things you find; you keep mama very busy! I'm sure you will be walking soon, so it might be time for me to shine up my running shoes!

You play well on your own -- chattering away the whole time -- and occasionally you will stop to take time to cuddle with me for a minute, which absolutely melts my heart. And although you are very independent for a little guy, if I leave you in a room by yourself for a minute, you holler in discontent or start spitting angrily like a camel (which is what you do when you're mad...it's quite hilarious, actually). The bond we have is so wonderful. And your dad? Well, he is the coolest, funniest person in the whole world as far as you're concerned, and I totally agree.

You are so easygoing and rarely cry, making it very easy for us to take you out and about. I find it almost embarrassing how far we can push you, be it past your bedtime or feeding schedule (not that we do this often - you eat and nurse on the go in the Ergo), before you will fuss. You also have a crazy high tolerance for pain; when you fall or bump your head on something, you just give a look like, "What was THAT all about?" and then get right back up with no tears. I hope these tendencies mean you are going to be a very adaptable person when you get older.

Oh, are you ever silly - we have so much fun! You love mimicking the things we do, putting toys on your head when daddy does, smacking your lips when I do, and playing chase & giggling with gusto when we catch you. You play peekaboo with blankets and stand on your head, and you recently started blowing kisses - a trick we didn't even teach you! When music comes on, you dance and wiggle your little behind in step with the beat. When I say "Cheeeeese!" you get the biggest cheesy grin on your face, showing all 6 of your cute teeth. You kiss yourself in the mirror with tongue, wave and high-five when prompted and also give zerberts/raspberries, after which point you will laugh and laugh over how clever you are.

I know I already said you are smart, but really... If you get your silly side from me, you get your smarts from your brilliant daddy. I'm almost afraid of the day you become smarter than me; what will I do then?  I recently took a baby sign-language class so we could better communicate with you. The other day as I was feeding you, you suddenly started doing the sign for 'milk' and I was blown away. How quickly you learn, my boy! You repeat words/sounds we say and are already up to five spoken words now: mama, dada, hi, bye and ball. When your daddy comes home from work at night you break out into a smile and breathlessly say, "Hi dada! Hi dada!" while waving at him. I think 'dog' might be your next word, because when you see Molly or Lucy, you excitedly say, "Deh! Deh!" 

Speaking of your pups, you love them so much and they love you in return, letting you crawl on and "pet" them (we are working on being gentle so you don't aggravate them too much). One rainy day about a month ago, I let the dogs in and you went over to Lucy and draped yourself over her. When I noticed you putting something in your mouth and then taking it out to look at, I went to investigate. What I found was a little shocking, my boy...it was a SLUG that my precious baby had just taken off the dog! Thank goodness bugs don't gross me out, because you are ALL BOY. I have a feeling this is just a sign of things to come.

We are in the midst of planning your first birthday party, something that took me a while to accept. How are you already over 10 months, TaterBug? I swear I was just dressing you in the long-sleeved kimono t-shirt we stole from the hospital (shhh...don't tell!), and now you are larger than life and well on your way to imprinting the world with your amazing gifts. The future is yours, Tate...I have no doubt you will shine.

I love you times a million and two,

xoxo Your proud mama

Thankful - In Sickness and In Health

Mark, Tate and I made the trip to Indiana to spend time with my dad and family for the Thanksgiving holiday.  It was such a wonderful visit filled with introducing Tate to some of his doting maternal relatives, relaxing, and feeling very thankful for all we have.  The usual 7-hour trip there was stretched to 9, due to holiday traffic and stops to feed Tate (I now intimately know some new parking lots!), yet Tate didn't cry...NOT ONCE.  He slept most of the way and when he was awake, he sat and looked around in wonder.
 

When I wasn't sitting there in shock at how amazing my baby is, I spent a lot of time on the trip thinking about how extremely blessed I am to live the life I'm living.  I thought about how many people don't have family to visit, or don't even like the family they are "forced" to be with on holidays. Here we were, a happy, new family in the car on the way to see relatives that we love and like very much, while leaving behind two other units of family (my mom's side and Mark's family) that we appreciate, love and would miss a lot that weekend.  I don't know much, but I do know there isn't much more we can ask for than this. 

Upon returning home, we instantly all got sick with colds.  Poor little Tate was smiling through the coughing, sneezing and raspy breathing, while I sat there cursing my sore throat.  I went to work on Monday anyway, only to get a frantic call from my mom - who graciously watches Tate several days a week for us - that afternoon saying my sweet boy was projectile vomiting and that I should call the doctor and come home as soon as possible.  I can tell you with no uncertainty that I've never run to my car so fast in all my life.  I knew he was fine overall, but I couldn't bear the thought of him suffering without his mama.  As I was pulling out of the parking ramp, there was a car stopped right where I needed to turn; I didn't think twice before accidentally squealing around the car...only to see it was inhabited by two elderly nuns who looked a bit confused as to where they were.  New revelation: a sick 10.5-week-old will cause a hurried, new mama to scare sweet little old women of the cloth.  AWESOME.

We were able to get into the doctor's office without an appointment, to learn that poor little Tate not only had a cold but also a bug that would later also result in green bile-laden diaper changes.  Tate showed a bit of improvement that night, so I felt relieved that he was on the mend.  The next morning while eating breakfast and getting ready for work, however, I got to witness the projectile action for myself.  Heart racing, I dropped my yogurt on the floor in my haste to get to him.  I don't think I need to tell you that I didn't go to work.  I instead spent the entire day holding and feeding my boy, knowing that while I had plenty I could have been doing at work, there was nowhere I needed to be more than with him.

Tate is doing much better today, and I'm feeling very grateful that he is usually a very healthy, happy baby - so many people deal with much scarier realities than the one I dealt with this week.  Still, I'm realizing more every day that having a child changes everything.  And you know what?  I'm thankful for that most of all.