Month 11, Version 2.0

Month 11, Version 2.0

Dear Miles,

Holy smokes, someone took their cute pills because you have become uber cute with your squishy cheeks and plump round little body.  I fight the urge constantly to keep myself from biting you.  I’m not sure why I have that reaction with cute babies but when I see a cutie – I feel the need to bite them all over and you are certainly way up there on my cutie list.  I’m not quite sure what happened but over night you became a chubby old man teetering on the line between infant and toddler.  You’re alert and you appear to understand way more than we give you credit for.  Yea – you know what I’m talking about.  When I tell you not to open the cabinet door.  You grunt at me while closing the door and then you proceed to open the door again while looking directly at me.  If I tell you to close the door again, you continue to answer back with a little grunt.  This little game can go on for quite awhile until you get bored and grunt your way to another thing you’re not supposed to get in to.

You have learned to do this weird scrunchy face thing that oddly enough, Olivia also perfected at this age.  I’m not sure if this is a normal developmental milestone for all kids or if it’s just my own offspring that are good at perfecting weird facial expressions.  You can do it sometimes on command but most of the time it’s the expression you give when you’re mad and it quickly turns in to you burying your head in to something followed by a wail.  Yes, crying is still your favorite activity but thankfully, you’re a little easier to distract now.  It’s a little bit of a vicious cycle because I will distract you by placing you in the sandbox and ‘yay, look at you, you’re playing.  Yes, good boy – look at you!  Oh wait, no No, don’t put the sand in your mouth.  Oh wow, that was a big mouthful you just ate.  Ok, here play with this shovel.  Yes, yay – look at you playing so nicely.  Oh, no – not ok to hit Maddy on the head with it.  Miles, where are you going?  No – don’t go for that electrical socket!  NO, STAY AWAY FROM THAT ONE ELECTRICAL SOCKET THAT I FORGOT TO PUT A COVER ON!  No no, little shovels don’t go in the electrical socket.’  This lovely game plays on quite frequently until I just give up the urge to care.  Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad on it’s own but I also have the tranquil background noise of your sister’s shrill voice screaming MOMMA every second.  Your sister has a lovely habit of inquiring what you’re doing when she hears me say “No, Miles.”  I actually wonder if she’s taking notes on what it is you’re doing that gets you in trouble so she can try it next.  You would think she would want to stay out of trouble but she appears to be the anti-Christ so c’est la vie!

Teething really hasn’t taken off for you and I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that you’re going to wake up one morning with the loudest, shrillest cry my ears have ever heard over the pain of a full set of teeth making their way out.  You really only have your two bottom teeth and they’re only half way out.  You’ve been working on your top two for sometime but I don’t actually see a tooth popping out – just the skin stretching which looks a little grotesque.  Although, your lack of teeth has not stopped you from eating anything short of a T-bone steak.  You eat a solid three meals a day in addition to scraps on my plate.  You actually eat more than Olivia and I’ve had to start ordering your own meal off the kiddie menu when we dine out because I was finding that you were eating all of my food.  Your sister is full after two bites of her dinner while you’re putting down seven chicken nuggets and a bowl of veggies washed down with a biscuit.  I’m amazed that I can’t just roll you from the dinner table afterwards but you are amazingly happy and actually quite content after a meal.  I know you were just angry the first nine months of life because you were just insanely hungry.  My bad.

You are beginning to walk a lot more which from past experiences I remember as a double-edged sword.  On the plus side, it allows you to be a little more independent and you can play and engage in activities that don’t require me to hold you.  On the flip side, it allows you to be a little more independent which means you move quickly and you get to things you’re not supposed to faster.  We do practice your walking skills quite a bit but your sister is having a little bit of a struggle relinquishing some of the attention so then she demands she gets a turn walking to me.  I have to act equally proud and praise your sister who has been walking for two years what excellent foot work she has.  I’m sorry Miles.  One day when you’re older, you can take attention away from Olivia and I will be quite all right with it.  You practice walking outside quite a bit with your wagon around the neighborhood.  You are freakishly strong for an infant so we had to put a ten pound weight in your wagon so it wouldn’t get away from you.  On occasion, Liv has jumped in and without hesitation, you continued to push her around the street.  Again, freakishly strong.  For some reason, I never have you or Olivia in pants so you’re typically walking around in the street with your onesie and shoes.  A lovely image I will make sure to share with your love interest one day.

Your Father has coined you with the nickname ‘studly-wubbly’ which, please don’t ask where it came from but you seem to really love it.  You smile and giggle and bounce in place when we call you by that nickname so it appears to be sticking right now.  It is certainly better than the nickname Olivia has coined for you which is ‘sissy-brother.’  When Liv allows it, you two occasionally laugh and play together which is just plain lovely.  You two chase each other around the house pushing a doll stroller.  I enjoy it for the few minutes it lasts because let’s be honest, both you and your sister have the attention span of a fruit fly.

This month has really been a big month for you.  I really feel like you grew so much and are now starting to develop a cute little personality.  You’re the biggest flirt ever – Laurie can vouch for that and you just have a genuinely innocent sweetness about you.  When you first wake up in the morning and I’m carrying you down the stairs, you give me this look and you nuzzle in to my neck and it makes me want to squeeze you until you burst.  I promise I won’t but I feel like I just can’t get enough of you.  Now that you’re starting to enjoy life, it has taken a bit of the stress off of me and I can start to really enjoy your company.  I am just completely smitten with you right now and if it were possible, I would bottle you up now and keep you like this forever.  Not to be the pessimist but I’ve seen what toddlers are capable of and I shudder at the fact of doing that again but for now I will relish in this moment and take in as much of you as humanly possible.

Love,

Momma

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