Dear Mack - Month Eight

Dear Mack-enstein,

This past weekend you were 8 months old.  Amazing to me that we have come this far in this amazing adventure that I call our life.  

This past weekend I've been sorting through the pictures I have taken of you this month to pick out a few for your letter, and I have to say it was a little frustrating.  This isn't because there weren't plenty of cute photos, but rather, because almost every one I liked was blurry.  A casual observer looking through the photos of you on my hard drive might think that some time around September 2008, I developed a tic that prevented me from holding a camera steady, but that is not it.  So what happened, you may ask?  You started to move.  And when I say that, what I mean is that you never stop moving.  The impact of this on my photos is that any given series starts with you a few feet away, then continues as you get closer and closer to the camera and ends with a blur of your face and hands as you finally reach me and put the camera strap in your mouth.

The effect on the non-photographed portion of our life is that I am spending a lot of time pulling you out from under furniture, fishing pieces of lint and other undesirable objects out of your mouth, and generally using the words "No, sir" a lot more than ever before.  And my powers of distraction are becoming greatly improved as I try to distract you from your initial intent with something less likely to cause bruising or other injury.  It is surprising to me how much you can get into in such a short time now that this crawling business has entered our lives. 

As a result of this new found ability, I am developing a new kind of listening philosophy that I would descibe as "No news is definitely not good news".  Meaning that if you are babbling, laughing or fussing while you go about your business out of my line of vision, things are probably OK.  But the moment I realize I haven't heard you for, say, 20-30 seconds or so, I pretty much know you are into something .... usually power cords or climbing on something or both.  

This audio surveillance technique is in effect at all times, just to warn you.  Last night, when I was in the middle of tidying up after dinner and cleaning up your high chair when it occurred to me that I was doing so in silence.  Sure enough, when I looked around the corner, you were nowhere near the nice little pile of toys I had left for you to amuse yourself with while I was cleaning.  Nope.  You were attempting again to do a detailed inspection of the power cords near the table under the TV while perched up on the lowest shelf of said table under the TV.  Fortunately I caught you before you either electrocuted yourself or landed on your head or both.  OK...I took pictures first, but I was right there!...you would not have fallen...far. 

My baby resource book describes your new independent outlook on life as "self-agency", which seems to boil down to your mission to find and play with, crawl on, or climb up the exact thing in any given room that has the most potential to hurt you.  The problem you currently have is that you have no depth perception, no ability to judge whether or not your body will fit through a given space, and, as you can see from this picture, no idea what the tippy tippy top of your playspot will taste like once you get up there and finally get a mouthful of it.  

Now that you are a bona fide superfast speed crawler, life has some interesting new dimensions. Specifically it involves the phrase "What do you have in your mouth?" a whole lot more than it used to.  I can't always watch your every move, but I can pretty much tell when you have put something in your mouth, because you get this squirrelly look on your face as if to say "Nothing to see here lady, move along."  

And then I have about 5 seconds to fish the unknown object out or spend the next 30 minutes watching to see if you suffer any ill effects from whatever it was you just ate.  It's given me a whole new perspective on things.  For instance, I am relieved now when you put something big in your mouth, like a favorite giraffe toy, because at least that's big enough that I know what it is.

I am actually a tad bit nervous that you are going to progress from crawling pretty quickly.  It appears to have occurred to you lately that if you can move faster than me, you can get to more stuff.    It seems many times as if you have roller skates on your knees you move so fast.  I've moved most everything that would really hurt you in most rooms, but since certain things can't be moved, I've been working on teaching you to leave them alone - most notably, the previously mentioned tangle of cords that exists in almost every room in the house.  I know I am starting to be a bit successful as it seems you are getting a handle on things you are not allowed to touch.  I know this because frequently as you crawl toward the dangerous item, you look at me over your shoulder to see if I am watching.  So you are going to want to work on that poker face a little more if you are trying to convince me that you don't know what you are doing.

On a developmental front, you are still moving forward by leaps and bounds.  You finally sprouted your two TOP teeth this past weekend.  FINALLY!!! I finally had decided a few weeks back to stop looking and wondering when they would finally show up as it has been 3 months since your first teeth with no further teeth arrival and the teething seemed to go on forever.  You continue to astound your friends and family with your eating prowess.  This last month has found you quite fond of sushi (California Rolls), Caprese pasta salad, roasted potatoes, any type of melon, finally liking strawberries and to top off your weird eating baby award, you really love Pomegranate applesauce...which is very tart, but you chow down when it is offered.  You have recently developed this new full faced squinty-eyed smile that cracks me up every time, which is why, I am sure, you keep doing it.  You usually whip it out in the morning or when eating...so cute.

 You love your toys, your cousin, Cheerios, your cousin and Cheerios,

your jumper and all in all seem to be quite a happy little bugger.

Almost daily, my heart nearly explodes with love for you for the millionth time.  It goes beyond measure.  I am so thankful for you in my life and I do try to tell you this at least daily lest you ever wonder how much you are loved.  I don't ever remember being so happy as I am every day now that you are here.  I so look forward to the wonderful adventures the next month will bring.  

I love you,

Mommy

Working on it...

A few pics to hold you over while I finish Maverick's 8 month letter -  I cannot believe he is 8 months today!  Where has the time gone?  These are a few from our weekly playgroup.  He is getting so big and charming!  I also have some fun video that I will upload next week...stay tuned!!!!

The Love....Disneyland revisited

Finally way too late, but I wanted to conclude my views on your first Disney trip to Disneyland.  Yes, I know it has been a couple of months, but this was the most important part of the whole trip.  You see, the most important part of this adventure, was that we had a whole lot of LOVE to make each day so fun.  Your family loves you so very very much.  These girls cannot get enough of you and your cute fun.  I so look forward to seeing them with you the next time now that you are getting mobile and vocal.

Your Aunt Jen, thinks you are pretty rockin' too.

These two make quite the pair

And these two as well.  If your Uncle Dean had been a girl, he would have been just like Ashton...or if Ashton would have been a boy, she would have been just like your Uncle Dean....you get the idea...

Ah...sweet Miss B.  She takes such good care of you.

And Ashton does too...

I love you, little man.

I loved our first trip together.  I can hardly wait until we go again as every month you get more and more fun.  It is hard to believe that this was nearly 2 months ago.  You have already grown so much since then.  You do so much now that you did not do then.  It is truly amazing.

I look forward to all the parades to come and the absolute most perfect best part will be watching you watch them. I cannot manage to think of one single thing more interesting to me than to see than the excitement in your eyes, the joy in your smile and to see your little face light up as you take in all the lights, music and colors.

Yes, the love was flowing strong.  The laughter was bubbling often...

This Disney adventure was nearly perfect...minus the hot weather and crowds, of course...

But the love that was there....it does not get much better than that.  I know you won't remember any of it, but I hope you are imprinted forever with the love that surrounded you there.  It was a very special time.

Bathtime with Baby...

And thus begins your favorite part of the day...or perhaps your favorite 2 parts of the day because although you are a good eater, you are a very very messy eater.  Each meal requires a full dunking to get all the bits off.  But you love to play with the water coming out of the faucet.

Frequently you will lean forward and accidentally stick your head in the stream of water and come up sputtering.  It cracks me up every time.  But you are not deterred...

And this 99 cent little rubber blue whale means that I get to put towels around my feet and tucked under my chin...

Because you get so excited playing with it...

That half of your bath water ends up on the floor or on me.  But wow these are good times.  I love you little boy!

Love, Mommy

Cousin Love

You know there is that day when you are playing in your crib...

Enjoying the sights and sounds of your Jungle soother...

When you get so excited when you see your most favorite cousin...your own personal pet monkey who keeps you entertained non-stop all day long...

And this cousin of yours loves you so much that he wants to get in your crib with you to play and to take naps WITH you...

And he feels like giving you a little sugar...

And the next thing you know...

You are flat on your back in a 2 year old cousin love hold...

Good stuff....

Dear Mack - Month Seven

Dear Maverick,

To tell you the truth munchkin, I am enjoying the end of your seventh month more than I enjoyed the start of it.  You see, this month in my development as a first-time parent, I have been learning about the concept of phases.  I remember hearing parents say their kids were "going through a phase," but I never realized what it meant.  Here is what it means. Occasionally a child will display some sort of totally bizarre behavior that mystifies parents and defies all explanation.  Then, just as the parents start to figure out how to deal with the mystery behavior, it abruptly stops, never to return.  So "going through a phase" might as well be baby code for "trying to make me clinically insane by your first birthday."

I don't know what phase you were going through this month, but it involved a week or so of more fussing than usual and refusing to nap, followed by five days or so of even more fussing and sporadic night sleeping.  When you were at your worst, it seemed I could not do anything to console you.  I was fairly certain nothing was physically wrong with you so that was reassuring.  However, it was also disheartening, because it meant that no one, including your doctor, could tell me why you were upset.  

And then, just as I resigned myself to a lifetime of now having a fussy baby, you stopped, and you have been your usual content self ever since.  I am very thankful that you're not planning on fussing forever.  I just wish I could understand why you did it in the first place.  Maybe then I could prevent it.  Make it better.  But I will probably never know what was bothering you, and what's worse, there will probably be more times in the future when you will be upset and I won't be able to do anything about it.  When that happens, I wish there was some way you could know how much I want to fix it.  So much.

This "fussy phase" business aside, this has been your month to discover your potential for movement.  You continue to love our Friday playgroups and we have so much fun doing new things every week and I love having that special time with you every week.  There is no where I would rather be than with you.

Eating solid foods continues to be a source of great entertainment around here.  You are getting better at it and it continues to be great fun watching you try new tastes and textures.  There does not appear to be much you do not like, though tomatoes appear to not be one of your favorites.  But to the disappointment of many as they watched in anticipation of your first taste of pickle....you LOVE pickles.  You did not even bat an eye.  I have not given you lemon or lime just yet, but be warned....it's coming.

As Aunt Lori predicted, you have finally started crawling.  At first you did this uncomfortable looking cute inch-worm-like maneuver that involved scooting around on your stomach.  It looked terribly uncomfortable but it did start to get you going in forward motion.  For about a week or two you spent your time scrunching between your toys scattered about on the floor.  

Yet within a week or so, you were getting up and bouncing hard on all fours until just a couple of days before your 7th month birthday when you finally put all the pieces together and are now off to the races.

It is hard for me to believe that only 1 month ago I was celebrating your new ability to simply sit up.  It is quite amazing to me how briefly the time was that I could sit you up surrounded by toys and know you would stay put.  This is no longer true.  The new question around the house is "Where's Maverick?"  Much to my amazement, you are now even starting to pull up on things around the living room.   It seems once you master one task, whether it be sitting or crawling, within a matter of hours, you are already working on the next milestone.  No one has made a prediction on walking, but I do not think it will be long given how fast you are accomplishing everything else.  

This month you are working on figuring out your walker.  You spent a fun evening at your Aunt Lori and Uncle Deans new house blazing from one end of their living room to the other in a full on sprint.  

However, like a bad baby bumper car ride, you can navigate yourself into corners or against walls and cannot figure out how to get out of it.  So now, whoever happens by and finds you wedged up against something has to relocate your wheels so you can start moving again.  You also are trying to figure out how to reach things on the floor from the walker.  Sorry kid.  It ain't happening.  

You also have this little red number that you love to sit in, but have not yet figured out how to make it go.  That is ok.  Your cousin Austin is keeping it lubed up for you until you are ready...

For your 7th month birthday and to celebrate your new crawling abilities I got you some fabulous new crawling play tunnels.  You love to crawl in them and get so excited that you flip yourself over and kick your legs so hard and just squeal with glee.  Once inside, it is a challenge to get yourself to turn yourself back over and crawl out as you seem to be uninterested in getting out once you are in.  Occasionally, I have to navigate in and fish you out when you have decided you have had enough.  It is one of the cutest things ever.  I am a bit suspect about this spell you are casting on me and I try not to think about it too much, but it is getting you lots of really cool toys.

Speaking of your cousin.  You think he is the best thing ever. We jokingly refer to him as your pet monkey.  When he is in the room, you watch everything he does and find him so entertaining.  I am starting to think Aunt Lori likes the days he is here to keep you entertained.  You kick your little legs so very hard and squeal so very loud when you see him and get so very very excited.  You two are already great pals.  He hunts you down for hugs and kisses regularly too.  I look forward to watching you grow together and become great friends.

Overall, this has been a really great month with you.  It is fun to see you develop your own unique preferences and quirks.  You are funny and sweet and endearing, and every day I see you do some little thing or make some face that reminds me of your cousins, or me, or your grandparents or one of your aunts and uncles, and it amazes me to see how much we are all a part of you even while you are so clearly becoming a little individual.

I love you,

Mommy