Dear Reese,
You have officially been outside of my womb for as long as you were in it. Okay, okay, it’s an approximated amount of time, but STILL. Nine. Whole. Months. Isn’t it time you started paying rent?
At first, you didn’t seem too happy to be separated from your placenta. The first several weeks I seem to remember you being extraordinarily crabby, with lots of crying and bleating and screaming.
Those days are long over, and you have become such a sweetsugarpunkinpiebabygirl. For those who do not speak “googlyparent”, it simply means you have finally adjusted to life on the outside quite well, and have become such a sweet-tempered baby.
I’ll overlook the fact that recently, and I literally mean in the past 48-72 hours, you have become very mommy-needy and very aware of when I leave the room EVEN FOR JUST A MOMENT. That’s when all your good-natured sweetness dries up and you cry — but you don’t just stop at just crying, you WAIL and SCRAHHAARREEEAM until there is no breath left, then you sit there, face frozen in a crumpled grimace of anger with your mouth WIDE OPEN
and I wait…
and wait some more…
and finally, after pushing that last breath its silent bitter end, you draw in the next breath and form the most hellacious shriek ever to be uttered by a small human.
In summary, lately you seem to be attached to me and have learned to vocalize your displeasure when you discover I have left your general vicinity.
This month you’ve done some other things of great interest to us, things that herald your growth from a squirmy larvae to a squirmy semi-mobile baby.
MOBILITY: Not long after you mastered rolling from back to tummy and tummy to back, you have developed the fine skill of the creep. You scooch, mostly backward, and at quite the clip. Land speed records will be broken soon, I can feel it. It doesn’t take long for you shimmy your way into trouble. Which reminds me, now is probably the time to start child-proofing the house.
You have done all of the following things at least once this month: Pushed yourself up from your belly to a sitting position, pulled yourself up from a seated position to a standing position, and stand up while holding onto furniture. And seriously, you are THISCLOSE to crawling. You get up on your hands and knees, it’s just the locomotion you’re missing. It won’t be long now.
EATING: You like food. All kinds of food. Any food you can get your hands on. But the really cute thing you’ve been doing lately is offer ME the food you have gripped in your hot little hand. You sit there, eyes bright with the sweetest expression on your face, fist raised towards me like you want to do that new-fangled “fist bump” or “bones” or whatever the kids are calling it these days. In your fist exists a bit of mashed up sticky goop of food you’ve been holding for the better part of twenty minutes, and it’s disgusting, you offer it and of course I cannot refuse.
Also, it turns out you are a big fan of ice cream. Together we polished off a single scoop cone at Gramma and Pawpaw’s, and you just could not get enough.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION: Girl, who taught to shake your head no? Is this something you’ve been learning from the kids at school? ‘Cause you didn’t learn it from me! The past few days you’ve been employing the INTERNATIONAL HEAD SHAKE FOR “NO”â„¢ at dinner time, most of the time when I offer a spoon full of food and your interest in eating has diminished. But you don’t just shake your head, you shut your eyes tight AND THEN you shake your head back and forth NONONONONO.
NONONONO. Riotously funny. Maybe not in a few months when the answer to every question will be NONONONONONO.
That’s not all. You also show us how you are SOOOOO BIIIIIIIIIIG when you throw your arms up over your head, and you know how to “Give Kisses” with your little lip smacking air kisses.
The kissing, that has to be my favorite. The kisses you give and the snuggling you just started doing this week. You weren’t much of a touchy-feely snuggly baby before, so this is new behavior. The other afternoon, when you were tired of playing, you fussed for attention. So I picked you up and held you close and FOR THE FIRST TIME you nestled your head against my shoulder and hugged my neck with your arms. FOR THE FIRST TIME, you held me as close as I hold you.
Please keep doing that.
Love,
Momma