Month Ten

Dear Amelia,

Today you are ten months old. Every day I am seeing less of my baby and more of my little girl. I am so blessed to be able to watch you grow and discover the world – you give me a fresh perspective on things that I consider routine. When I am getting ready in the morning you sit in the hallway outside of the bathroom and keep me company – when it comes time for me to brush my teeth I give you your toothbrush as well. You study my motions and bring the toothbrush to your mouth, delighting in the feel of the bristles on your swollen gums. You have been working on two top teeth for over a month now, and one of them (your left lateral incisor) finally poked through yesterday morning. Hopefully your fourth tooth will make it’s grand appearance sooner rather than later, so we can all take a break from teething.

This past month has been quite a busy one for you! You have learned how to clap, and we love that you have a new way to express your joy. You are a master at imitation, and will clap if we clap. You have gotten better at eating finger foods – you pick up food with one hand and then use both hands to shove the food into your mouth. Your pincer grasp is developing, and you are using your index finger to point and poke at things. One thing you like to do with that finger is pick your nose. One day you were shoveling food into your mouth and your finger accidentally went up your nose. Now, every once in a while, you just stick your finger into your nostril – maybe to see if it’s still there? You also are fascinated with faces, both Daddy’s and mine. When we are holding you at night, you reach up and explore our noses and mouths. In the mornings after I finish nursing you, I’ll check your mouth for any new teeth. You put up with it only because you know I’ll let you explore my mouth when I’m done with yours.

Amelia, you are immobile no longer – you have learned to crawl! One day out of the blue you got up on your hands and knees and started rocking back and forth. The week after that you were crawling! You are very speedy, especially when you are headed towards something you’re not supposed to play with, like the dog’s water dish or some dirty shoes. When you are concentrating on crawling somewhere you purse your lips and breathe through your mouth, and when you do that, you whistle! It’s so endearing to hear you whistling around the house – I’m not even sure you realize what you’re doing. Nevertheless, it always makes me smile.

You said your first word this month . . . “up”! We are so excited that you are starting to express yourself verbally – up until now you’ve been all screeches and shrieks. While we still hear a lot of the nonsensical baby babble, you also say book (buh), bye-bye (bah-bah), and nap (aap). You say Mama, but only at night when you want to get out of your crib . . . “MAMA, UP”!

You are definitely our little water baby – bath time is your favorite time of day. Early on in the month you started leaning over in the tub to blow bubbles in the water. Now you try to crawl all over the tub and pull the shampoo bottles down. A few nights ago we had a scare – you were trying to stand up in the tub, slipped, and fell under the water. Daddy scooped you right up and held you close – you were perfectly fine, just scared. I think you took ten years off of Daddy, though – you scared him so much! Really, Amelia – no standing in the tub. I mean it.

There is a song by Plumb, “My Sweet, My Lovely” – it makes me think of you. On a particularly bad day, I played this song and you instantly calmed down. This song touches my heart, and I get tears in my eyes almost every time I listen to it.

I stare into the bluest eyes.

Time stands still in your smile.

You weren’t there, but now you’re here.

I dreamed of you, but I never knew.

How sweet and lovely. My sweet, my lovely. So sweet, so lovely.

Love, Mama