Dear Jack, Month 8

December 27, 2011

All of my days…

Dear Jack,

Oh my big grown-up boy, you have been exploring the outside world for eight months now! Life with you just gets better and better. In the past month you have bloomed into such a little boy, babbling with intention, scooting around the floor and taking the world in with wide blue eyes. You love to be independent and yet you snuggle so sweetly. My little love bug, you are such a dear.  

For your first Thanksgiving we bravely took you on your first flight. It was a short and successful trip. On both plane rides you nursed like a champ on takeoff and then slept on Nana as we hit the ground on landings. During our visit to California you got to meet family from many generations. You enjoyed hanging out with the Halls, Harrisons, Leblows and the Baileys. You even got to meet your Great-Grandpa Al and Great-Grandma Gwen. Great-Grandpa has Alzheimer’s, so he did not understand who we were. Somehow the love for a baby is so intense and innocent, it transcends even the biggest of obstacles. It made your mama get misty-eyed to watch her grandpa singing to you.

December was a bit of a blur. We were so busy just counting down the days until we got to curl up in our old farmhouse with you and Kya. Daddy went on a big business trip to San Francisco and then Seattle. You and I held down the fort really well. We were very organized, Nana Lala helped take you to school in the morning and picked you up in the evenings. She helped your mama in the evenings and even took me food to keep me nourished, so I could nourish you. Auntie Erinn and Auntie Andi stayed with you the whole day before our big vacation and gave you lots of love. We have so many people in our lives to take care of us, family is so important!

The day Daddy returned from his trip I told him I had a yucky mama feeling in my stomach that something was wrong with you. You were tugging at your ears and seemed very unhappy to lie on your back. We took you into the doctor on a Saturday and sure enough he told us you had a double ear infection. You took antibiotics and seemed to recover well. Mama and Daddy do not like seeing you sick, but you are one tough cookie.

This month you have been exploring all sorts of foods. You love sweet potatoes, winter squash, bananas, prunes (ick), apples and pears. You do not seem to like carrots and make the funniest gagging sound when we try to feed them to you. We gave you a taste of goat cheese, not a hit and also introduced you to yogurt, definitely a winner. Your favorite food combination is pear, mango and spinach. Mama has tasted this one and I have to say, I agree. We started adding some formula to your school bottles because I just cannot keep up. It broke my heart a little to start you on a bit of formula, but you still love to nurse when we are home together and I am learning to be flexible.

Our first Christmas together was very special. Mama had plans of grandeur for the season, with two full weeks off from school for both you and I, but ear infections and a sleepy family kept us holed in at home most days. We set up camp in our living room, our adorned tree lit all day during this gray month. We read our favorite books, gave lots of hugs and played endless rounds of “peekaboo”. One day you sat on the kitchen floor playing with measuring cups and wooden spoons as Mama made cookies. Other days we took Kya for walks in the cold. On Christmas Eve Nana Lala, Grandma Maralee, Grandpa Jeff, Aunt Erinn and Uncle Matthew came over to celebrate. In the morning we found a few treats from Santa under the tree and in your stocking. You were deeply interested in the wrapping paper and the boxes. After showers we headed to Grandma Maralee and Grandpa Jeff’s for Christmas dinner. It was a very nice day.

These were some of your amazing accomplishments this past month:
*You are exploring lots of new foods!
*Though you have been scooting for some time you are learning how to really get up on all fours and pull yourself forward, so, so close to crawling.
*Jack, you can clap like there is no tomorrow.
*This month you learned how to say, “uh oh” and “boo”.
*You open and close books and have learned how to turn the pages of board books on your own.  

Some of your favorites from Month 8:

*Kid, you love to play the bongos, it is awesome!
*You like to explore anything and everything with your mouth.
*Wooden blocks are a big hit with you.
*You love all of your grandparents, aunties and uncle.
*Kya is definitely your best girl. You love to pull her tail, she doesn’t like that so much. She does love to give
you kisses when you get home from school though.
* You LOVE to read! We read together every night, while we read to you, you like to have your own book to hold/chew.

Eight months went by so quickly. It seems not so long ago I was pregnant with you and watching the movie Away We Go. The main characters were going to have a baby and go in search of the right place to raise their child, the right people to surround that child with. That movie hit me so hard (of course I was also watching with a very pregnant belly, which tended to make everything affect me in a big way). There is a beautiful song that is played in the film by Alexi Murdoch called “All of My Days”. I used to play this song in my headphones as I walked blocks and blocks trying to get you to come and join us, so anxious for your arrival. Now you and I play this song in the evenings. We rock in your room, we look at the moon, we settle for sleep. “For I look around me, and my eyes confound me, and it’s just too bright, as the days keep turning into night.” The days are moving so fast little one, but we find our peace and our present in that rocking chair. Being your mama is just so right. In this life, it is what I am most certain of.

Now I see clearly it’s you I’m looking for, all of my days,

Mama B