10 months

Oh Collin, you are 10 months old. Actually, you are 10.5 months old, and I continue to struggle to keep up. We're in double digits now and the pace feels like its increasing. Is there some sort of hidden age-inertia that I am unaware of?

At 10 months you've begun to let the world know all of your thoughts, good or bad. And boy oh boy can you be sassy. You have a new tooth on top, razor sharp, that you use more like a weapon than for eating food. You bite. Like you were a born carnivore. I'm already fearing your toddler years and the biting that might come with it. It in some ways is sweet, adorable even, to watch you assert yourself. In other ways its troubling that I (we) are the ones receving the brunt of your efforts to break skin.

Our days at 10 months are becoming busier due to your little life. We are so overwhelmingly occupied with giving you what you need to succeed. Sometimes I worry that we aren't giving you enough, and then I remember that we barely have time to breathe, so its likely your environment is full of appropriate stimuli. With a heavy background in child development I spend probably too much worrying about your development and not enough time enjoying the moments I have with you, but I'm trying to be better about that.

Our 10 month adventures greet the morning with your efforts to crawl off the bed. Your dad puts you in bed with me when he leaves in the morning, and this used to work perfectly, but now you are too fast and mommy's too tired, leaving you precariously balanced between being seatbelted next to me with my forearm, or hanging over the side of the bed ready to fall as I try to reel you back in by your feet. It makes for little rest and lots of silliness in the weee hours of the morning, but putting all need for sleep aside, I wouldn't change it for anything. This is the time of the day you are most vocal and sassy. You'll hit me right in the face to get me to get out of bad and all along the way tell me (with the most frustrated tone and excessive volume) just how annoying it is that I'm not up and ready to play with you. All, sigh, before 7 a.m.

Once we get out of bed you see this as a free pass to explore. As soon as you are dressed and have a fresh diaper you are off to the races. Directly to the dog's water bowl and to the bathroom to see what you can get into before I catch you. That is, until I stick you in your crib while I take a shower with some toys. When I return you are peeking through the bars of your bed with a little eye on me making sure I haven't gotten away, like a little prisoner to my efforts.

I pull you out and you sit, patiently in the bathroom and play with balls and other various toys that roll while I blow dry my hair. Every day I am amazed at how good you are an entertaining yourself. You're an amazing baby. So sweet and mild manners, inquisitive, clever and cute. We love you so very much.
Oddly enough, you like the blow dryer. You think it looks like fun and try really hard to touch it, while I try really hard not to let you touch it. HOT! I say. You look at me like I am crazy. You're starting to learn words now, and look at me daringly every time I say "no". "No Collin, don't touch the candles"- Collin reaches, tests (looks back and me and reaches, waits for me), "
No!", (Collin does it again), "Collin, No!", I repeat, and he smiles. All along never actually touching the candles, just looking at me and testing. Clever little stinker.

Then its time for breakfast. Boy, do you love your meals. You get excited and start clapping your hands once I get you settled in the highchair. Cherrios, oatmeal, strawberries, yogurt, graham crackers and water all find their way from your little fingers into your hair, under your eyes like a breakfast palmade. Just the other day I picked you up and there was food smushed on your back. How exactly it got there, I'm not sure. Houdini Eater.

After breakfast we play. You're very interested in cars now. You like to roll them and then crawl to where ever they roll and repeat. You also love blocks and picture books, specifically ones with photos of family in them. You have a soft cover album that is one of your favorites filled with all of your family members. Playing wears you out for your first nap, which you still, Thank God, take without trouble for 1.5 to 2 hours. I love that you sleep so much during nap times.

Once you wake up you're ready for lunch and then the fun begins. Walks to the park, playing with toys, toddling around on furniture, crawling toward corners and crevases we don't have baby proofed quite yet....

At 10 months you are trying to take steps, but seem to not notice that you can't walk. You stand up, hanging on to our fingers, step forward and let go, as if you are confident enough to just keep walking along. As it turns out though, you can't walk yet. So your soft cloth diaper sooths your fall as you find yourself on your bum, again.

As a mommy, 10 months has given me a glimpse to one year. I feel as though I am going to blink and you are going to be there, and I can't help but be sad. As we look back on your photos from when you were such a little infant we notice such an amazing transformation. While I am excited to move forward with you, I find myself hanging on to the baby you were. Won't you squeeze into this 9 month onsie just one more time? Can't you fit in your swaddler to cuddle for a few more days? Can we snuggle and read a book for at least a minute before you squirm down my lap to the floor to go on an explore...

Spring in Minnesota has sprung. Easter is here and its 75 degrees and sunny. Its a transformation of sorts. I'm rejuvinated by the spring weather, the new beginnings and the love we have in our family. As I look forward I see our spring and summer filled with lots of love, from playing in the yard to visits with family across the midwest--I always look forward to spring and summer because for me it instantly brings back many wonderful memories with family and friends on vacation, enjoying company and reveling in the outdoors. I hope for you that you are able to reach back to your youngest years and find fantastic memories, ones that mirror what I feel about our family and friends, a warmth that reminds me even though you are changing and growing up, every moment along the way leads to a wonderful memory.

So, Collin, as we approach 11 months, please try to humor mommy and allow me to hug you and kiss you more than you like, because I feel as though I've got to get my fill in now, before you go ahead and take on the world.

Love, love,love,
Mommy & Daddy