Sally, two days from two years old

Walter has entirely given up sleeping in his room, by himself, in his own bed.  He refers to the room Sean and I used to share as "his" room, and his bed, now. How we got to this point is a story, but it's a story for another time ... and maybe a story I will NOT record for posterity.  As you might imagine, this sleeping arrangement has put a damper on blogging. And many other things adults like to do. But, for now, making sure Walter gets enough sleep to behave well during the day is the priority, and this is how we're doing it.  So, tonight Sean sleeps with Walter, and I bunk in what is arguably the comfiest bed in the house, the single bed in Walter's room.

And that's good, because Sally is about to turn two (on Friday, the 21st) and I want to record a bit of what she was like tonight! And, if I want to blog anywhere near her birthday: this is my chance.  Carpe laptop!

It's Wednesday night, which means I eat dinner with the family and then head back to church for Holden Evening Prayer.  When I came home after worship all the lights were dark in the house but I heard lots of voices coming from Sally's room, so I slipped off my shoes and went in.  "Mama!" Sally greeted me warmly. "Mama come home!"

Walter usually greets me, too, but he was pretty engrossed in the 5 minute Disney Princess story Sean was reading. Sally was the opposite of engrossed (grossed out? not exactly ... but certainly not interested.)  She was taking care of her baby ("Baby Baby"), which is actually the baby we got Walter to get him ready for Sally's arrival about two years ago.  She was taking off Baby Baby's clothes. "It's dirty, otay? Take a bath. Take off clothes, otay?" I helped take off the pink pajamas, knowing that if I wasn't able to convince Sally to put the clothes back on right away we might have a permanently naked baby on our hands ... but this is the risk we take in imaginative play.

Photo credit: Walter Paul Edison-Albright

"Take a tub ... in dis!" She grabbed a foam cheesehead hat that was lying on the floor (the way we all do, in Central Wisconsin) and stuffed Baby Baby in. "Dere you go! Take a bath! Get clean! Put clothes on?" I jumped at this chance, but she changed her mind. "Take anudder tubby."  Into the cheesehead hat again. She carried the hat around a little, looking for a good place to put the makeshift tub. "On-na my head!" she joked, and tried to balance the hat-full-of-baby-doll on her head, giggling.

Out of nowhere, she came over and did her classic Sally "throw myself at you and you will catch me" move. I did, indeed, catch her. She gave me a nice hug. "Mama home again. I love you. I get you a nana, otay?" She headed to her bedroom door to get me a banana.  "I'm OK, Sally. I don't need a banana." Her attempt at hospitality thwarted, she frowned a little, offered the banana again with a look of loving concern, then decided to get me something else. "I get you ... a pull up!" She got a Dora the Explorer pull up out of her box for me, and repeated the gesture for Daddy. For Walty, who has been completely in undies for some time now, she got a diaper. He didn't mind, and thanked her kindly.

We arranged for the boys to head upstairs for part two of their bedtime routine, while I stayed with Sally for two more short books and some songs. Walter was very sweet ... Sally asked for ice water, and he got it for her, and she was like, "That my Walty." He gave us goodnight kisses.  The sleep is doing him good, and he is a good, good big brother indeed.

Our Sally is so beautiful

As we read books and settled into bed, Sally continued her almost constant stream of patter. When she asks a question and gets an answer, her response these days is "Ohhhhh" or, even more hilariously, "Ohhhhh. That's right!" Every answer she gets becomes confirmation of what she already knows to be true.

We read "Clifford's Family" ("SALLY'S family!" ... and then she named us all) and "Dora's Backpack"

Sally said: "Hooray, to Dora!" "Hooray, to Backpack!" "Hooray, to Boots!"

Our Sally is always talkin'!

I said: "Hooray for Sally!"
And she giggled. "No way," she said.
"Yes, way! You helped, you get hoorays, too."
"I say, 'Swiper no swipin'?"
"Yes you did! You stopped Swiper. And you counted books. And you solved the troll's riddle."
"Hooray for Sally!" she said, decisively.
"Hooray for Sally!" I echoed.
"Hooray for Mama!" said Sally, always gracious, always generous.
"Hooray for Mama!" I echoed again.

We sang some songs, and she went to bed in her big girl bed with no fuss. We haven't taken the crib down yet, and she still asks to sleep there sometimes, but we'll make that change, soon.

Lately, Sally's been asking us: "Sally baby?"
The answer, you should know is "No." Or, as Sally says it when we echo that question back to her:
"No WAY! Sally big girl!"

Happy soon-to-be-birthday, big girl Sally. We all love you very much.

Our Sally is two-years-old!

Twos

Today was Sally's 2 month birthday. Tomorrow, Walter turns two.  And something wonderful and new happened between the two of them today.

I was in the bathroom, getting ready for work. Sally was in her small swing, the one we affectionately call "the bucket." She used to hate it, but now she's doing well with it in small doses. Sally very patiently tolerates almost everything--diaper changes, nose drops, Vitamin D drops, me picking boogers out of her nose, me trimming her nails by biting them--everything except for hats. She LOATHES hats. It's going to be a long winter.

So Sally was in her bucket being awake, alert, and interested in the world in a very mature, two-month-old kind of way. Walter came in to join us, playing a game where he brought me cards from his wallet. He decided to give Sally cards, too, by putting them in the swing with her. I am pretty on-edge when Walter interacts with Sally.  Most of the time he's perfectly gentle and wonderful with her, but every now and then he's accidentally or intentionally rough.  But I'm trying not to be too anxious about it, and I'm trying not to overcorrect him.  So I kept an eye on them and continued to put my make up on.  Walter gave Sally's swing a little, gentle rock. Then a less gentle rock. "Be gentle," I said.

And then I looked at Sally.  She was grinning ear to ear, gazing adoringly at her big brother.

"You made her smile," I said. Walter was pleased. I'm pleased, too.  I don't know much about siblings, but I have a feeling I witnessed the start of a beautiful sibling relationship today that will keep me on-edge for many, many years to come.  

Happy birthdays, you two.

And then he read her a magazine. =)

"Tally teepin?" "Yes, Sally is still sleeping."

Today is Sally's one month birthday. She slept through it. Pretty much all of it. A good deal of that sleeping was outside in her stroller, so I'm counting that as a birthday adventure.  Mostly, though, she slept and woke up occasionally with a cheerful stretch, yawn, and smile as if to say, "Oh, hello! Nice to see you. Nursing? Yes, please. Nom nom nom. ZZzzzzzzzzz."

Tonight might be a little rough. This blog post is going to have to be short.

Anyway, we didn't put a candle into anything or sing or take pictures with something to show her size or a special shirt decal or any of the things you're supposed to do (but which I suspect are much more commonly done for first born children than for subsequent children) ... and I felt like a failure until I realized that the 21st isn't over ... I could still take a picture!

1-month-old Sally pictured, as Walt would say, "Teepin."

It's not a great picture.  It's pretty grainy from the low light.  But it is Sally, at one month old. And it got me thinking: this could be our new tradition, a tradition especially for Sally.  I will take a picture of her every month on her birthday ... asleep.  Then, when she's one year old, I can take the sleeping picture once a year on her birthday. As she gets older I imagine this will get more difficult. But it could be kind of awesome, like this Russian photographer who snuck (with permission) into the bedrooms of couples expecting a child, set up a ladder, and took pictures of them sleeping. An artistic commentary on the beauty and banality of everyday life.

Perhaps. But next weekend when Umma and Baba visit we are going to arrange for a cake, a candle, and some singing.  We believe in extended birthday celebrations, anyway.

21

Two separate posts, loosely connected by the number 21 and the celebration birthdays:

August 21, 2013
This date is very likely to be Sally's birthday.  It's strange to know that, and also to know that we don't really know it for sure, because she could certainly be born before then.  If I'd had some say in it (I did not) I might have chosen the 22nd, for symmetry's sake, or the 24th, because the number 8/24 is kind of mathematically neat and easy to remember. 21 is a number I was relieved to avoid when Walter was born, because having 21 for a golden birthday seems to be asking for trouble. However, remembering how Sean and I spent our 21st birthdays, I have hope.  In both cases, we celebrated together, and both occurred during the excruciating pre-courtship phase of our courtship when we were very much in love and very much trying not to be.  Neither birthday involved drinking to excess and both involved a lot of frustrated longing.  Sally (and Walter, for that matter) all I wish for your 21st birthday is that you be similarly sober and chaste.  It's really not too much to ask.

Mama and Dada at 21 years old. Gaze upon our wholesomeness*, children, and take notes. *I would invite any friends from college or thereafter who have a different recollection of the wholesomeness of Sean and myself to refrain from comment at this time.  

Having a date on the calendar that could very well be Sally's birthdate makes me giddy and anxious.  Some of the anxiety is not particularly peculiar to the planned c-section situation ... I know I was worried at this point with Walter about being so close to my due date and not being ready for his arrival.  I do wonder how the surgery part is going to go, this time ... will they have trouble getting the IV in, like last time (5 tries and then a terrible placement in my forearm.)  Will the catheter cause trouble and lead to another infection?  With Walter, the epidural went so well ... will the spinal block go as smoothly?  Will I throw up again on the operating table, will my mom be allowed to come in and hold my hand when Sean goes to be with Sally, will my blood pressure drop and my kidney start to fail, will Sally and I do well with our first attempt at nursing ... lots of questions.  And that's not even getting into the dark-night-of-the-soul questions, and all the worries that keep me up and keep me holding my breath between every discernible baby movement.

The possibility of Sally arriving early is more worrisome this time because my last day at work is scheduled to be August 18.  Taking off three weeks before Walter's due date (and then waiting around for another week after that because he was late) was good in some ways: I really wasn't healthy enough to work and needed to rest with my feet up.  Also, I signed up for a free month's subscription to Amazon Prime and watched the entire run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  Time well spent.  But I couldn't help but feel that precious maternity leave time could have been better spent actually with my newborn baby.  By working right up until her arrival, I get a full nine weeks at home with Sally; with Walter, it was only five weeks. And I am healthier this time, and able to work, and working takes my mind off my heartburn and my various other aches and pains.

I am starting to feel, though, very much like a turtle stuck on her back in the middle of a busy highway: my stubby, useless legs flailing with effort and totally helpless.  This afternoon Sean very gently reminded me that, if I want/need help, it's best to ask for it directly.  That's usually my policy, and I'm usually quite good at it.  But I need help with everything these days.  And I think everyone in a position of overwhelming need reaches a point where it's like, OK, maybe I'll just lie here on my back for a little while.  It's not so bad.

I was lying around feeling like a martyred turtle today when Alan and Mindi from Sunflower Studio posted some pictures on facebook from our recent baby-bump-centric family photo shoot.  Like we did for Walter, we plan on taking Sally in to have professional photos taken at regular intervals throughout her first year, and collect the best of these in a beautiful book for her. Each photoshoot will include silhouettes, like the one I've posted here, except in the rest of them Sally will be on the outside of my belly.

I needed to see this picture today.  I think I look incredibly proud and strong. My funny Jeffersonian facial profile even looks rather beautiful, and the profile of my body, and the way I'm carrying Sally, looks very beautiful to me indeed.

I'm at odds with my body these days, there's no denying it.  My body is tired and achey and does not want to move, lie down, stand up or sit still.  My body is a big, contrary mess.  And it is beautiful.

Being a woman and having a body is interesting, whether you're pregnant or not.  I hope my delight in my body, and my delight in being a woman, helps both my children as they figure out what it means to be embodied.

The 21st of August seems like tomorrow and like it's ages and ages away.  I can't wait to meet my Sally (but as I wait, I'll do my best to wait in good spirits, with the persistence and fortitude of a mama turtle on a mission, on her feet.)
 
   
21 Months Old
Walter turned 21 months old this week. I remember learning Sally's due date and doing the math and thinking, "Wow, Walter will be 22 months old when his sister is born. Almost two!" and I couldn't imagine it. At 21 months old, Walter is demanding and delightful.  Last night we told him it was 5 minutes to jammie time, and he said, "No! 10 minutes, jammie time." Being so smart is key to successful negotiations with one's parents. Last time we went to a restaurant, the waitress came and he ordered pancakes for himself. It's just ridiculous how grown up he is, how much he understands about the world, and how well he's able to communicate with us.

Occasionally he launches into a wordless whine, and sometimes he does use his words but we have no idea what he's saying, but most of the time he's quite verbal and adept.  He's quite gentle and very affectionate.  He's not great about eating fruits and vegetables but is a pretty good eater on the whole.  His favorite foods are hot dogs and pizza, which is an easy preference to relate to. At day care they're putting him on the potty when they change his diapers to start introducing him to the idea, but we haven't done any training yet at home.  Walter loves brightly colored socks and his bright orange hat.  He's pretty good at brushing his teeth. He is healthy and, other than two ear infections before the tube surgery, has been healthy all summer.  Walter is risk averse: he loves playing outside at the park, and wants to go down the slides, but usually decides not to once he's up there. He loves playing in water and in sand.  He loves playing dress up.  He loves trains, trucks and farm animals.  He loves watching Sesame Street and Muppet videos on YouTube and gets really, really upset when we eventually put an end to the video watching.  We try to give him lots of warning anytime there's going to be a transition from one activity to another, and try to keep to a routine, and that seems to help with a lot of the toddler-ness.

Sleep is still hit or miss with Walter.  Last night he had a bad case of baby insomnia starting around 2:30 am.  I wasn't sleeping well, either, so I crawled into bed with him.  He rested quietly next to me for a long time, occasionally lifting his head and opening his eyes and saying "Hi, Mama!"  When he got more and more awake and chatty, I knew I had to leave him and let him make his way back to sleep on his own.  But I love and treasure that kind of time with Walter ... listening to his little voice and following the sleepy train of his thoughts from "Where's Dada?" to "Can I have my Burt and Ernie finger puppets?" to "I like taking communion. 'Dip it in!' *giggle giggle*"

Here's to 21 months, Walter Paul!  Daddy and I are so proud of you.

Letter to one-year-old Walter

This was your first snow: November 9, 2011

Dear Walter,

Today I held you up to the window to watch the snow falling and you smiled, laughed, and pointed.  Even though it was only snowing very lightly, you could easily see it, and you knew it was something wonderful.  You are something wonderful, too.

You've been one year old for two weeks, now. You celebrated both your birthday and your Great Aunts Jan and Kim's wedding in Courtland, NY with your Swiftie relatives, including your second cousin and birthday buddy, Monica.  You had a quiet celebration at home on the 22nd with me and Daddy and a red velvet cupcake.  And we had a big party for you in the gym at church this past weekend.  We are a family that believes in extended birthday celebrations!

You watched the snow on Feb 10, 2012, too

In the midst of all this celebrating we have all been pretty sick.  That started the weekend before your birthday with a case of pink eye, followed by a stomach virus, followed by a cold, followed by an ear infection.  Me, Daddy, Umma and Baba all got versions of this, too.  Even with all this sickness, you have been having an amazing series of adventures.  To give you just one example: on our way to a meeting in Door County, we stopped to get some lunch for Daddy and you threw up in the van. We did the best we could with clean up and took you into the restaurant while we tried to decide what to do.  I set you down and you took off, running straight toward the big kids' play area, doing a happy little dance as you shimmied along. We decided to continue on to Door County, where you rampaged around the Maritime Museum like a baby pirate. You are so resilient. You keep learning, growing, and having wonderful time, even when you are sick.  You had your first airplane trips while you were sick and did beautifully, sleeping through most of both flights.  You are unstoppable!

Watching the snow today, Nov. 06, 2012

You are a very good communicator: you say "Hi!" and "Bye!", "Uh oh!" and "Row! Row!" You are working on your animal noises.  You are very good at sign language: you use your own versions of ASL signs for "all done," "more," "food," and "water/drink."  You used to use the sign for "milk" for when you want to nurse, but lately you have been snapping your fingers, instead!  You watched your Daddy snap his fingers to some music one day and immediately you started to snap, too.  That is amazing, Walter. And it's pretty funny when you snap your fingers at me when you're hungry.  You also invented your own sign for when you want to brush your teeth, brushing the tips of your fingers over your lips.  You use that sign very consistently and I'm very proud of you for coming up with it and teaching it to Daddy and me.  I'm also very proud of how much you love to brush your teeth.  I think I saw two new ones on their way in tonight--your official count these days is 9, including a one year molar that came in while we were traveling in New York. At your one year check up your stats were: head circumference: 19 in; height: 31 1/4 inches; weight: 25 lbs 10 oz. 95th percentile all around!

You love: hot dogs, Hank the Dog, Henry (your best friend from day care,) anything that plays music, music of all kinds, dancing (to the beat!) every time you hear music, and your favorite songs: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Patty Cake," and "African Skies" (ta-oomba-oomba-oomba-whoa-oh-oh.)  You love day care and your wonderful teachers who sing and dance with you. You love video chatting with your Grandma and Grandpa Albright and visits with your Umma and Baba.  You continue to love Baba Paul best of all the people in the world.  You love me and Daddy very much, too, and you give us wonderful hugs, kisses and snuggles.  Every once and awhile you will reach up and hold my hand, or Daddy's hand, while we walk together.  We love it when you do that.

Not sure about cake.

You are not a fan of fruit of any kind. You don't really seem to like cake or frosting, either, although today you delighted us by twisting apart an Oreo cookie and eating it just like your Daddy does.  You still cry a lot at bedtime, frustrated with all of the things that need to be done before we get to nursing and going to bed.  You love baby Advil (white grape flavor ... and you seem to know that it helps with ear and teething pain) but don't like other medicines very much, although you're getting used to nose drops for congestion.  You don't like being slowed down by being sick ... or by baby safety gates ... or by anything or anyone that might slow you down!

I've been writing this letter while watching election night coverage--they just announced that President Obama was reelected.  You are fast asleep, but earlier this evening you enjoyed dancing to the trumpet-heavy election theme music on the radio.  You won't remember this election, but I will remember how you liked to steal our "I voted" stickers.  I'd like to think that shows an early interest in citizenship and democracy.

Walter, I can't begin to tell you what this year has meant and means to me.  I'm not sure I know how to explain it to myself yet, either.  Here's what I know: I love you with my whole heart, my whole self.  I feel like I've known you and loved you much longer than this one year, longer even than the ten months before you were born. I think I have always loved you, my whole life long.  This love isn't based on how smart you are, how handsome, how strong, or how funny, although you are all of those things and more.  This love is yours just because you are. It's the human equivalent of the much greater love that God, your Mother in heaven, has for you. It's a love that is all yours, always, no matter what.  That is something you can know without a doubt: I love you, your Daddy loves you, you are loved by family and friends around the world, God loves you ... you are loved!

Walter, Walter, you are loved
By friends on earth and friends above
Love surrounds you every day
And when you sleep, in love you stay

Goodnight, sweet one-year-old. Here's to all the years of adventures ahead of you!

Love love love,
Mommy

You're on your way!

The 11th Hour, er, Month

Walter is 11 months old today! And what a day it has been.

It started early. Too early. With lots of tears, lots of croup-y whoop-y sobs, and many excellent efforts at comfort given to no avail.  We took Walter into the bathroom and steamed it up real good; I nursed him there and we sat in the dark in the steam for awhile, sweating and breathing deeply.  After some more nursing back in his room, Walt (still reluctant) went back to sleep for another hour or so.

We played a bit and got dressed for a chilly day at the farmer's market. The market was full of good things, especially peppers, which Sean is turning into goulash tonight. Walter enjoyed a HUGE breakfast of Hmong-style veggie egg roll, sweet sesame ball with red bean filling and a little bit of chicken wing. By this time he'd perked up considerably and was starting to really enjoy himself.  The enjoyment continued as we went from the farmer's market to Copps, our grocery store, where we walked in and there was a marching band playing right inside the door, seemingly there to welcome Walter on his birthday (that's how the three of us reacted, anyway.)  It was a homecoming celebration, and the whole store was very festive and free sample-filled.  All three of us got enough food via samples to constitute a lunch, which is always a cheerful thing.  Walter giggled and sang and flirted his way through the store.  On the way home he fell asleep, and even though he woke up when we got him out of the car seat, he went right back to sleep in his crib, grateful for a nap after an exciting morning.

Sean and I put away food, did some dishes that have needed doing for days, and got dinner going in the crock pot (country ribs, sauerkraut, apple and onion cooked to perfect tender goodness.  Ahhhhhhh.) We even got to nap ourselves for 30 minutes before Walt woke up again.  This time he woke up happy, and we nursed and played for a bit before I had to get ready to go officiate at a wedding.  While I was getting dressed I listened to Sean teach Walter "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" which has now joined the ranks of songs that Walter knows, asks for by name, and participates in (he nods emphatically during the "yes, sir, yes, sir" part of the song.)

Shortly after I left for the wedding, Walter and Sean headed out to the Central Wisconsin Children's Museum, where Walter played and played and tried to keep up with/learn how to be a rapscallion from some big kids.

Sean and Walt got home not too long before I did. As I came in the door Sean let me know that Walter was F-U-S-S-Y and very tired and very nap-resistant.  We nursed and I put him back down in his crib, where he wailed so loudly that Hank had to come check in on us.  One of my favorite moments of the day, even right there in the middle of an awful time getting Walt to sleep, was looking down and seeing Hank's nose poking through the crib slats.  The baby must have smelled safe, because Hank felt OK leaving the room and I followed close behind, leaving a still-crying-but-less-frantic Walt, who fell asleep after a quick pat-pat from Daddy about 15 minutes later.

He didn't nap for very long at all, maybe half an hour. He woke up screaming.  Usually when Walter wakes up sad he calms down right away when we pick him up and take him out of his room, but this time he was inconsolable.  Like, too upset to nurse.  That's unheard of for Walter, so we got pretty worried.  I noticed there was pus coming out of his right ear ... lots of it, all down the side of his face. He was also rubbing and tugging that ear in a way I'd hoped never to see again post-tubes.  We walked around with him until he started to calm down a little, then I called the on-call ENT.  After getting up to speed on the story of the past two weeks (started oral antibiotic on Monday before surgery; tubes in a week ago Friday; added aural antibiotic drops after the surgery; finished oral antibiotic on Monday; broke out in hives all over his body on Tuesday; continued antibiotic ear drops and finished those on Wednesday; croup symptoms started on Wednesday; hives stuck around until Friday) the doc decided that prescribing anything else would be too much of a shot in the dark, and asked us to go into urgent care to get Walt's ear pus cultured.  As we got ready to go we realized that the stains from his ears on the crib linens were bloody, which we found out later is normal for infected ear drainage but which alarmed us even further at the time.

Before we left for urgent care we gave Walter some Ibuprofen and he started feeling better right away. By the time we got to the hospital he was giggling and smiling and singing again and no one believed us that he was sick and in terrible pain.  His ears were still full of grossness, though, so they were able to get a culture and we'll hopefully find out more on Monday afternoon.

Walter's good mood continued as we headed home, singing patty cake, black sheep, and row row all the way.  Sean showed me another new development from this afternoon: if you snap your fingers, Walter tries to imitate the movement and snap his fingers, too.  He's pretty close to getting it, actually. We all had delicious dinner and then Walter did quite a bit of walking/running around the kitchen, moving very fast and with great confidence and joy in this incredible new skill.  It's amazing to watch him, and unbelievable how good he's gotten at it in such a short time.

Then Sean poked a small hole in caramel apple for this month's candle-holder.  Before we sang and took pictures for Walt's birthday we made a video of us singing for my Aunt Fran's 50th birthday.  We told Walter what we were going to do and he repeated back a word that was a recognizable approximation of "birthday."  I think that, when his ears are finally free and clear, this boy is going to talk and talk and talk.

After blowing out the candle (no caramel apple for the baby. Only for the nursing mommy) we shifted into bedtime gear: quick scrub down with a wash cloth, nighttime diaper, tooth brushing, lotion, jammies, nursing, lullaby/prayer, bed.

Walter still usually cries when I put him down awake in his crib.  Tonight, though, when I picked him up and kissed his belly on our way to the crib, he giggled and smiled at me. I put him down and he stretch and sighed and smiled some more, snuggling his face into his Easter lamb's arm, and looking right at me in a loving way, even as I started to move toward the door.  It was almost more difficult to leave the room with him smiling like that than it usually is to leave the room when he's crying.

Who knows what the rest of this night will bring ... Sean's already had to go in once for a pat-pat, and the Ibuprofen will wear off around 2 am.  We may be steaming up the bathroom again, too, if his breathing gets croupy.  But right now, at this very moment, all is well.  I'm the happy, proud Mama of a remarkable 11 month old.  What a day, what a month, what an almost-year it's been!

Happy 11 Month Birthday, Walter!

On to the 10th month!

Dear Walter,

You were pretty sick, but you liked your birthday peach.

You have another ear infection, or maybe it's the same ear infection you had before our big trip to Michigan. You are a sad beeba, but today after church you took a little nap, then climbed up all the stairs from the living room to the bedroom to the bathroom and asked to take a tub. After playing in the bath, you took another nap, and then woke up right in time for Simply Folk and a wonderful family dance party.  You were all smiles, and you danced and danced with me and Daddy.  You do this wonderful thing where you lean in and put your forehead against my forehead and lean in for kisses and to rub noses.

You are ten months old and even colds and ear infections don't seem to slow you down too much. (Don't get me wrong ... it's no fun to be sick.  But you are a trooper, little Scooter.)

These are some of the things you like:
**Corn on the cob, an (empty) ice cream cone, graham crackers ... any "grown up food" you can eat, too.  You also want to drink from grown up cups and eat or drink whatever we're having (and we do share with you, within reason.)

You love your Uncle Josh. 

**New friends and familiar faces.  You are a little shy with new people at first, but you warm up pretty quickly.
**Dancing.  You have a new dance where you do a little twist with your upper body (like a doozer.)
**Exploring, mostly by crawling and cruising, but you are taking a few little steps here and there.
**Swings. Feeling the wind in your hair.
**Opening and closing the garage door.
**Interesting noises, especially mechanical noises
**Shopping carts, walks, drives, outings
**Percussion.  The whole world is your drum!
**Fountains (also, going outside when it's raining a little bit.)
**Day care, especially your teachers and your best friend, H.
**Books, especially with Umma.  You're starting to have a little more patience for stories, now, and you do all the pages in Pat the Bunny.

Things you don't like:
**Lying down to get your diaper or clothes changed
**Being sick (also: having your nose wiped and nose drops)
**Getting redirected away from danger
**Fruit and other slimy foods

Sharing!

Things that make us so, so proud of you:
**Opening your mouth and enjoying it when we brush your teeth
**Cooperating so nicely when we give you medicine
**Taking your first steps
**Climbing up the stairs (with Mama or Dada spotting you.)
**Dancing
**Singing yourself to sleep
**Going to sleep on your own, and sleeping through the night
**Trying new things, exploring
**Being so good with people; spreading joy wherever you go
**Talking
**Sharing (your food, your toys, everything)
**just being YOU

You are persistent, joyful, focused, brave, curious, strong, communicative, boisterous, brilliant, funny, and loving.

You are Walter Paul, you are 10 months old, and we love you so, so much.

Mmmmmwah,
Mama