nine months
December 12, 2007
Little Angel Girl,
Since we're in the time of year when every month's a holiday, this one was your first Thanksgiving. You had turkey and sweet potatoes for dinner - although they were the pureed kind - but you still loved it. I gave you some of my famous, or should I say Paula Deen's famous, crunch top apple pie and you thought it was fantastic...luckily you're easy to please when it comes to food right now! Let's hope that continues...
In honor of your first Thanksgiving, and in case it isn't ridiculously obvious...I'm so thankful for you. Here, I'll be more specific:
I'm thankful for the way you wake up from naps, happy and singing for me to come get you. Your face lights up and you giggle like a pillsbury dough boy when you see my face peek over the top of the crib.
I'm thankful for your cute little feet, so tiny and petite I hardly ever have to buy shoes for you because your feet barely grow. Such thrifty feet you have. And such amazingly adorable toes and feet. I'm in awe, and not just because I have ugly ones.
I'm thankful for every smile you make. Basically, I'm happy you're happy. I try so hard to be the best mom I can for you, and when I see you beaming and giggling and squealing with delight it really makes me feel like I'm doing ok so far. You're thriving and beautiful and cheery. Being your mama has become so fulfilling and rewarding, and really just so unbelievably fun.
I'm thankful for your kicky little legs. I miss them kicking my belly. I miss having you with me every second, all snug and safe in my belly. I will always cherish those special moments we had in the evenings, laying in bed with my hands on my belly feeling you move around. It was such an amazing experience. Now I look at your little kicky legs becoming steady and learning to stand and I'm so proud of all the things you are learning to do, and I'm so thankful that you are healthy enough and smart enough to do them.
Your favorite game this month is, "Where's Daddy?" Daddy loves hiding behind a pillow or blanket and waiting for you to pull it away to find him. Even more fun is when you're in your walker and Daddy's down the hallway in another room and you go flying down the hallway as fast as your little chubby legs can go to get to him, laughing all the way. You dream of walking, I can see it in your little eyes. You look forward to getting in your walker and exploring the house, "bulldozing" the cat dishes, banging on the fridge, and trying to see how many kitchen cabinets you can leave open at once.
You have now decided to crawl on all fours, although you still drop to your belly and army crawl as soon as you hit a hardwood floor instead of nice soft carpet. You're actually a pretty good crawler, but most people wouldn't know it, because your favorite thing to do is crawl over to something that you can pull up on to stand. Then you bounce up and down and squeal with delight. Walking is overrated, I tell you, but you ignore my sage advice and keep on trying to perfect your skills. To me, walking means the end of your baby phase and the beginning of independence; to you, walking means fun and freedom. You don't know that it breaks my heart to see you doing things without me, needing me less and less every day, you're just trying to grow up the best way you know how.
Today I sang a very enthusiastic Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree to you at least 4 times and I did some sort of weird cheer when you didn't bite the spoon with every bite while you were eating dinner. I'm telling you... we are getting dangerously close to me wearing a tigger sweatshirt, keds, eating fruit loops for dinner and insisting that rhyming is super neato. Ugh. In all seriousness, you are changing me in ways I never thought possible, and always for the better. I'm a better person because of you - an amazing accomplishment in just 9 short months!
~ Mommy
