9 months
Dear Hazel,
You are now 9 months old. In just a week and a bit, you’ll have been outside as long as you were inside.
You are a joy every day. You are getting more mobile by the moment. You can crawl now, and you’re fast. You pull yourself up on anything. You have begun your assault on the bookshelf. And the cupboards. And anything you can reach, really. Earlier this month you climbed the full flight of stairs while Michelle spotted you. She didn’t help and you made it all the way up. You were in pursuit of Molly.
Last week, I let you get into the pantry. Everything in it is well within your reach, and you had a really fabulous time pulling everything down, and then carefully examining your work. I let you. I took a picture. I laughed as you examined the dried blueberries. And then I sent your papa a photo of you and the mess. I captioned it CABINET LOCKS.
You are big enough now to ride on your papa’s shoulders - and he loves to carry you like that. You two had an adventure in Tacoma a few weeks ago. You rode the light rail and saw the art museum. You charmed a lot of people. There’s a very cute photo of you and your papa in red chairs at the museum.
I love the way you and your papa reach for each other after a separation. When he see you he always says “Can I hold my baby?” You lean in toward him and smile big when he scoops you up. I can see the future of you two, and I foresee a large measure of both fun and trouble. Who know what sort of messes the two of you are going to get into. I am excited for the age when you start having friends over. I know your papa is going to be the star attraction. Disc golf, kubb, cornhole - he knows all the fun games.
You have just decided that food is really cool. You don’t want to be spoon fed. (Honestly, that’s awesome, eat what you want, kid.) However, if I load up the spoon and give it to you, then you’ll eat of it. Well, you’ll eat the part that you don’t smear all over your face and drop on the floor. Finger food is a big hit. You like banana, avocado, beets, carrots and tofu. We had pot roast last night that Andy Rathbun made. It was delicious, and you clearly approved to. You opened your mouth and leaned forward for more over and over. That was easily the most you have ever eaten at once. Quinoa was a close second. You loved quinoa.
Papa made curry cauliflower soup recently. I offered you a bit to taste. I expected you to make a face at all the flavors. Instead you smacked your lips and let me give you more. It’s one of the very few things I’ve spoon fed you. Good taste, kid.
Sun recently gave you an orange to taste. She offered it to you after you grabbed an orange peel and happily nommed away on it. You were really excited about the orange peel. When she offered you an actual orange, though, you were completely uninterested. “No, thanks,” you said, “can I have the peel back, please?” A few days later, I had an orange and you grabbed it from me to chew on the peel. This time you consented to let me give you a bite of actual orange, but you did complain about the loss of the delicious peel.
You smile and laugh a lot. I will do almost anything to make you laugh. Your laugh makes me happy. Keep that in mind, please, when you’re older and watching video of us. I’m not insane, just silly. And silly makes you laugh.
You’re a lot like me, in that you love bathtime. Love it. You splish and splash and squeal and giggle. A lot of the water ends up outside of the tub. And, like me, you don’t like when bathtime is over. I am now mature enough that I don’t cry when I have to get out of the bath, but I totally understand why you do. And I don’t blame you a bit.
We’re still going to swimming. You wore a life jacket for the first time recently. I was surprised by how much you liked it. The baby life jackets flip you on your back, and have a little pillow to keep your head supported. You happily floated on your back, while I pulled you all around. And the next time we went swimming you were actually willing to relax and truly float on your back for the first time.
You got two new teeth this month, the top front ones. I can’t tell you how happy I was to see those teeth appear. You (and every baby in the world, I’m sure) don’t sleep well when you’re teething. It was so sad when you would wake up at night and rub your face in the sheets. Rub, rub, rub, cry. You spent a lot of those nights nursing all night, while I tried to sleep. Now you are back to sleeping at night and it’s great.
You sleep with us, usually between your papa and me. Recently you’ve started sleeping on your tummy with your arms spread out, in order to take up the maximum space in bed. You weigh less than 20 pounds, yet you can take up half of a queen sized bed. Impressive, small one. You also have started doing this inchworm thing. I worked a day shift recently for awhile. So, I was waking up earlier than normal and actually getting out of bed while you were still asleep. You made it hard, though. I’d wake up, shut off my alarm as fast as possible and then try to slip away. Each time I’d move, though, you’d wriggle a tiny bit closer without waking up. So, we’d have a slow-motion chase across the bed until I was able to escape. I confess, I stayed in bed longer than I should have, because it was hard to resist the cuddliness.
You have one trick that I love. If we pat our mouth and go “wawawawawa” you will imitate us. Sometimes you’ll let us pat your mouth while you make the sound. But you really prefer to do it yourself with the back of your hand. It’s unbearably cute. Earlier this month you also made a trilling noise a lot, but you seem to have moved on from that. Too bad, it was charming.
Charming. In fact, that’s a perfect word for you. You charm me every day. You charm me with your slobbery baby kisses. And your intense baby hugs. And your big smiles and happy laughs. And your intense curiosity. I love you, Hazel Sun.
Love,
Mama
You are now 9 months old. In just a week and a bit, you’ll have been outside as long as you were inside.
You are a joy every day. You are getting more mobile by the moment. You can crawl now, and you’re fast. You pull yourself up on anything. You have begun your assault on the bookshelf. And the cupboards. And anything you can reach, really. Earlier this month you climbed the full flight of stairs while Michelle spotted you. She didn’t help and you made it all the way up. You were in pursuit of Molly.
Last week, I let you get into the pantry. Everything in it is well within your reach, and you had a really fabulous time pulling everything down, and then carefully examining your work. I let you. I took a picture. I laughed as you examined the dried blueberries. And then I sent your papa a photo of you and the mess. I captioned it CABINET LOCKS.
You are big enough now to ride on your papa’s shoulders - and he loves to carry you like that. You two had an adventure in Tacoma a few weeks ago. You rode the light rail and saw the art museum. You charmed a lot of people. There’s a very cute photo of you and your papa in red chairs at the museum.
I love the way you and your papa reach for each other after a separation. When he see you he always says “Can I hold my baby?” You lean in toward him and smile big when he scoops you up. I can see the future of you two, and I foresee a large measure of both fun and trouble. Who know what sort of messes the two of you are going to get into. I am excited for the age when you start having friends over. I know your papa is going to be the star attraction. Disc golf, kubb, cornhole - he knows all the fun games.
You have just decided that food is really cool. You don’t want to be spoon fed. (Honestly, that’s awesome, eat what you want, kid.) However, if I load up the spoon and give it to you, then you’ll eat of it. Well, you’ll eat the part that you don’t smear all over your face and drop on the floor. Finger food is a big hit. You like banana, avocado, beets, carrots and tofu. We had pot roast last night that Andy Rathbun made. It was delicious, and you clearly approved to. You opened your mouth and leaned forward for more over and over. That was easily the most you have ever eaten at once. Quinoa was a close second. You loved quinoa.
Papa made curry cauliflower soup recently. I offered you a bit to taste. I expected you to make a face at all the flavors. Instead you smacked your lips and let me give you more. It’s one of the very few things I’ve spoon fed you. Good taste, kid.
Sun recently gave you an orange to taste. She offered it to you after you grabbed an orange peel and happily nommed away on it. You were really excited about the orange peel. When she offered you an actual orange, though, you were completely uninterested. “No, thanks,” you said, “can I have the peel back, please?” A few days later, I had an orange and you grabbed it from me to chew on the peel. This time you consented to let me give you a bite of actual orange, but you did complain about the loss of the delicious peel.
You smile and laugh a lot. I will do almost anything to make you laugh. Your laugh makes me happy. Keep that in mind, please, when you’re older and watching video of us. I’m not insane, just silly. And silly makes you laugh.
You’re a lot like me, in that you love bathtime. Love it. You splish and splash and squeal and giggle. A lot of the water ends up outside of the tub. And, like me, you don’t like when bathtime is over. I am now mature enough that I don’t cry when I have to get out of the bath, but I totally understand why you do. And I don’t blame you a bit.
We’re still going to swimming. You wore a life jacket for the first time recently. I was surprised by how much you liked it. The baby life jackets flip you on your back, and have a little pillow to keep your head supported. You happily floated on your back, while I pulled you all around. And the next time we went swimming you were actually willing to relax and truly float on your back for the first time.
You got two new teeth this month, the top front ones. I can’t tell you how happy I was to see those teeth appear. You (and every baby in the world, I’m sure) don’t sleep well when you’re teething. It was so sad when you would wake up at night and rub your face in the sheets. Rub, rub, rub, cry. You spent a lot of those nights nursing all night, while I tried to sleep. Now you are back to sleeping at night and it’s great.
You sleep with us, usually between your papa and me. Recently you’ve started sleeping on your tummy with your arms spread out, in order to take up the maximum space in bed. You weigh less than 20 pounds, yet you can take up half of a queen sized bed. Impressive, small one. You also have started doing this inchworm thing. I worked a day shift recently for awhile. So, I was waking up earlier than normal and actually getting out of bed while you were still asleep. You made it hard, though. I’d wake up, shut off my alarm as fast as possible and then try to slip away. Each time I’d move, though, you’d wriggle a tiny bit closer without waking up. So, we’d have a slow-motion chase across the bed until I was able to escape. I confess, I stayed in bed longer than I should have, because it was hard to resist the cuddliness.
You have one trick that I love. If we pat our mouth and go “wawawawawa” you will imitate us. Sometimes you’ll let us pat your mouth while you make the sound. But you really prefer to do it yourself with the back of your hand. It’s unbearably cute. Earlier this month you also made a trilling noise a lot, but you seem to have moved on from that. Too bad, it was charming.
Charming. In fact, that’s a perfect word for you. You charm me every day. You charm me with your slobbery baby kisses. And your intense baby hugs. And your big smiles and happy laughs. And your intense curiosity. I love you, Hazel Sun.
Love,
Mama