eleven months

Dear Joshua,

It is a pure feat of amazement that I've even gotten this letter to you written this month.  It has been nothing short of a tornado around here as school started back and I've had to figure out how to find care for you and your sister while I adjust to working full-time.  But time marches on and you're now eleven months old whether I have time to enjoy it or not.

You have NOT appreciated the fact that I leave you Monday through Friday now.  You walk from room to room looking for me when I'm not around and you fuss most of the times when I leave.  Your sister never really did this and while it breaks my heart to know that you notice that I'm not there, it also makes me feel so special to be so important to someone.  You will cling to my legs many, many minutes of the day begging me to pick you up and therefore you spend a lot of time riding around on my hip while I do various things around the house one-handed. 

You've finally mastered waving bye-bye.  You won't do it but about half of the times we ask you to, but you can.  You will also clap and smile when you enjoy something and give high fives on demand.  Very rarely you will communicate with a sign or two.  Julianna was a master of baby sign language by your age and you are just not really interested.  You want your milk when you want it and you don't want to waste time making hand signals to get it when it's so much easier just to whine until we give it to you.  Stubborn boy.

The other day I watched as you saw a pair of your socks sitting on the kitchen floor where I had dumped them when we walked in the house one evening. You took one of the socks and made like your were trying to get it on your foot. Then you picked up one of your shoes and tried it as well. Unfortunately, you didn't have any luck but it was apparent that you knew where they went and when you finally gave up you just carried one sock and one shoe around the house for a while.  You may not sign but you do know a few things!


One of your favorite games is definitely still peek-a-boo.  You will hold your shorts up over your face as I change your diaper and then jerk them down really quickly and smile like nobody's business.  That chubby-cheeked smile of yours can melt anybody's heart.

Your hair has gotten a lot longer this month.  It curls gently at the nape of your neck.  It's the prettiest dark caramel brown color in the sunlight and it matches your beautiful dark eyes.  I'm still not quite sure which way it parts yet or if it even does, but I'll figure it out.

I'm sorry that we haven't been that consistent with a nap schedule with you, Buddy.  It's so hard to do that when there's a big sister around who needs to be taken here and there and when there are multiple caregivers providing you different places to sleep.  I'm thankful that the adjustment to you taking only one nap each day hasn't been worse than it has and that you've learned to sleep at least a little in different places.  And usually when you wake up at night now you'll go right back to sleep on your own, so thanks are in order for that too.

Remember how I mentioned earlier that you are stubborn?  Well, that also applies to your refusal to drink milk out of anything besides a bottle.  You will drink water or watered-down juice froma  sippy cup but for a long, long time we'd try to give you milk in a cup and you wouldn't drink but a sip or two.  Finally, Daddy figured out to put it in a cup with a straw and you'll drink it happily.  Why didn't you just say so?!  We should have you completely off the bottle by the next week or two.

The last week or two you have filled with jabbers.  You still only seem to intentionally say Dada when you're looking for Daddy.  You've said Mama before but I'm not sure it was connected to me.  You've also said what sounded like Hey, but I'm still just not sure.  What I am sure of, however, is that you are certainly developing rapidly with your verbal abilities.  You've been babbling like crazy for a week or so.

Right now I'm sitting here watching your sister tickle your face with Wonder Woman's hair and you're giggling like a seven year old girl.  There's simply nothing sweeter.

I love you, boy.
Love,
Mama