10 months

Delly,
You are 10 months old today. You are a crawling dynamo and are pulling yourself up on absolutely everything now. Though it's only been a few weeks, I can barely remember what it was like when we had to carry you from room to room with us instead of urging you to follow us around like a little puppy. It's amazing to me how every new phase in your development becomes so all-consuming for us that we forget completely what life was like just days or weeks ago.



You are amazed by mirrors. You stand up in front of the full-length mirror on the back of our bathroom door, bang on it and talk to your reflection. You like to watch us in the shower, too, you pull yourself up on the edge of the tub and play peek-a-boo with us while we shower. Even in the tub during your own bathy you are constantly getting onto your feet. Washing your hair has become quite a challenge.



We've been saying this since you were 4 months old, but now we really really think you might actually be teething! You've been waking up at night and though you usually go right back to sleep if we put a binky in your mouth, last night you (we) had a really tough time. Daddy resorted to swaddling you and holding/shushing you like we used to do when you were tiny. It was the only way to get you back to sleep. All we can think, since you aren't sick, is that you must be uncomfortable from teething. Why don't you just tell us what's wrong?! :)

You're starting to get a little bit cuddly, which is so wonderful. You've always loved being held, but not in a cozy cuddly way -- you usually want to grab at us and check us out. Now you'll crawl onto us and give us little excited mini-hugs, jam your face onto some part of our body for a few seconds in some fleeting ecstatic urge. You're starting to appreciate little stuffies and lovies too, and like to hug and bury your face in your little pancake puppy and your piggy blanket.

This past weekend we went to a party at the Handelmans' house, and it was our first experience with lots of couples and babies. We learned that you are a brute. You'll crawl right over anyone and grab things out of other kids' hands, just to lick them and toss them aside and move on to the next object that catches your eye. It was sort of embarrassing, but what could we do? We also learned that your cute trick where you sit on your butt and then use your legs to spin around and around is unique. You did it for about a half-hour straight and everyone thought it was hilarious. Of course we've always loved it too, but we assumed it was some normal baby thing. Apparently not. Hmmmm.

Love,
Mommy

happy daddy day

When Josh was little, instead of saying he wanted to be a fireman or a policeman or a doctor when he grew up, he said he wanted to be a dad. He's the only man I've met whose biological clock was ticking. He was every bit as excited as I was to get pregnat, enter the kooky world of parenthood, all of it. The biggest selling point for me in marrying Josh was that I knew that if anything should ever happen to me, my children would be safe with him and would always be 110% loved.

I can not imagine learning how to be a mom without Josh by my side. From the second Delma was born, he was right in the game without any hesitation. He wasn't overly cautious or nervous, he took to being a dad like a fish to water. He took care of me in the beginning so I could just focus on making sure Delma was fed -- nursing was tough at first and I never ever could have stuck it out with Josh's help. He has never met a poopy diaper he couldn't handle. He wanted Delma to start taking the bottle so that he could get up and feed her at night.

Delma is so lucky to be Josh's daughter. I am so lucky to be Josh's wife. We love you, babe.

9 Months

Delma,
You are now 9 months old. You are such a vibrant, engaging child with a very distinct personality, but you are also such a part of me that when I press my nose to your head or bury my face in your neck, I can't smell anything, as if I were trying to smell my own arm.


Right now you are in your crib making the sweetest la-la-la noises and babbles. This is a delightful change, you usually practice the range of your voice, screech like a dolphin, do this funny silence then BLAH! then silence then BLAH! thing, etc. We long for the days of your sweet little coos, as you mostly just sound like a tyrant these days. You're happy and you're just fine entertaining yourself in your crib, but your voice just makes you sound like a brute. You still wake up VERY early, around 5am most days, so we have taken to letting you just hang out til at least 6am before we fetch you, and as we go about our early-morning routines we have lots of laughs listening to you talk and sing and just make non-stop noise.


You started crawling for real a couple of days ago. It is so cute to watch you. To be honest, I was starting to think you'd never do it. You just weren't interested at all. When you wanted something, you were content to sit on your but, peg your arms and legs straight out in front of you, tense every muscle in your body, turn red and bellow. It didn't seem like any amount of Frustration As Motivator would work on you. But then you just did it. Just like that, with encouragement from Daddy. You are officially mobile, little bunny.


Your affect on total strangers is amazing. People love babies, I know, but you seem to go beyond the norm and suck just about everyone into your gravitational pull. You stare at people and make eye contact with everyone and I think that your coloring and the amout of hair you have just look quite dramatic and catch people's attention. People go to mush around you, everywhere we go. You have a way of lighting up a room, of making people happy. You are magic.

Love,
Mommy