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