Letter to Charlotte: Month Ten

Dear Charlotte,

What a big ninth month you had in so many regards!  First and foremost you started crawling and two teeth popped through!  A collective “finally” was uttered by everyone in our family as both of these events were long awaited and much anticipated.  You’re one step closer to running in circles around the house with your big sister and couldn’t be more proud of yourself.  I don’t know that it’s possible to find a little girl with a sweeter or happier personality; you genuinely brighten all of our days with your sweet smiles, giggles, hugs complete with hair pulls (ok, we could do without the hair pulls) and open-mouth kisses. 

Crawling … finally!  You had the moves, but didn’t put them together until one weekend when half the family was under the weather.  One sunny and cold Sunday when your sister was dealing with strep throat and your Dad and your sister both had hand foot and mouth disease, you put it all together and started strolling through the house on all fours.  Although we cheered like crazy people, you weren’t sure what all the fuss was about, seeing as how you’d been able to get from point A to point B with wiggles, rolling and scooting.  Fast forward a few weeks and you’re all over the place … chasing the cats, following me from the family room to the kitchen, attempting to run with Daddy and Anna in their evening game of “running and chasing,” and always always trying to sneak into the laundry room.  You’re starting to get up on those knees and love the vantage point when we prop you into a standing position … we’re not rushing things, but it’s only a matter of time before those feet start a-movin’! 

And, teeth … finally!  And you went all out, sprouting two this past month.  For several week we’d been on “tooth watch” and would stick our (clean) fingers in your little mouth morning and night, just waiting for it to catch on one of those pearly white buds, but nothing.  Then all of the sudden you had two!  We’ve expanded your palette to include a variety of soft finger foods and you are a lover of all.  You are seriously an infant garbage disposal and I have NO IDEA how you are still in the 5-10^th percentile for weight.  Your rarely, and I mean, VERY rarely will turn down food.  You will almost gulp down your serving of purees at a meal and then still eat every bit of finger food put in front of you.  As long as it’s soft enough, and not too spicy, you’ve taken bites of most of what we eat, but still do best with soft breads, fruits and veggies.  You love almost all purees (not too hot on proteins or carrots on their own), yogurt, smoothies, and oatmeal and I’m still making most of your purees.  On the flip side, you are the most digestively sound child I have ever met.  You are still making SEVERAL #2s each day with no sign of slowing down.  You’re very versatile and love a surprise; sometimes we smell them, sometimes they sneak up on us, but the diaper industry can count on you to keep their companies going strong. 

Assuming you read these letters when you’re older … now that you’ve come back from creating a voo doo doll in my image for writing about your bowel movements on the internet, I’ll go ahead and tell you about the time that you had stomach virus and projectile vomited on me for about eight hours straight.  That’s what I like the call the week from H-E-double-hockey-sticks when we two people were sick in our house each day for eight days.  Through it all, you were such a trooper and were SO sweet.  You’d go from dry-heaving to laying your sweet little head on my shoulder with hardly a wimper and never a cry.  The next morning as we all went on three hours of sleep you smiled and coo’ed and grabbed my fingers and squeezed tight as we napped together throughout the day. 

You've started laughing A LOT this month and an outsider would think the rest of us are a bunch of trained monkeys if they were to look into our lives; once we figure out that something makes you laugh, it’s a repeat situation for a good 10 minutes.  Most often it’s something Anna has done that gets you cackling and nothing is sweeter.  You’ve found your voice and are starting to find your non-verbal voice in the form of literally taking what you want.  Unfortunately you have a slight obsession with hair.  You love to grab your own while nursing, often grab mine too, and have started to immediately go after Anna’s these days.  Your teachers let us know via your daily note a few weeks ago that you are mildly obsessed with the hair of a boy in your class, but were gentle and never pulled … until this past week, and now you are known as “the hair puller” in your class.  Luckily your teachers chalk it up to “being a baby” and the good news is that you’ll likely have a new obsession next week. 

You had a great time over the holidays and were blessed with many generous gifts, but of course you loved the boxes, wrapping and tissue paper the best.  Seeing the holidays through the eyes of a child will never get old!  Anna shared all she knew about Christmas with you, including Frosty and Rudolph, Baby Jesus and Ho Ho and even shared in your enthusiasm for presents by testing out many of yours for you.  Sure, I’d love to sleep in a little later most days (especially on the weekends), it would be wonderful to make one dinner that everyone in the family could eat and enjoy, and I’ve love to say goodbye to diapers for good …. but not at the expense of losing the opportunity to see your take on the world and all of the new experiences that lie ahead.  Whether it’s your first dance recital, your first roller coaster ride, or your first sleep over, I don’t want a miss a minute and hope I always have a front row seat … even if it’s the messiest spot. 

Love, 

Mom