10 Months

Dear Didzette,

I say it every month, sounding more and more like a broken record every time... but I can't believe you're ten months old already. I know everyone keeps saying Enjoy these moments! It goes by too fast! And I want to scream back at them I KNOW! I KNOW! MAKE IT STOP! If I could just figure out how to slow down time, and keep you like this, at this perfect little age forever...

It's amazing how much you've changed in the past month. Sometimes I look at you, when you're sitting confidently in your high chair or standing up against the table trying so desperately to reach something up above you, and I see a grown little girl. It's just for a moment, as though I'm getting a little glimpse of you in the future, and then I blink and you're back to being my little baby with your chubby cheeks and your big, innocent eyes. But you certainly won't be a baby for much longer - you're developing your personality (your father calls it "attitude") and it's becoming more defined every day. You're determined (stubborn?) and you really don't like being told "no". You pretty much have free reign of our house, except for a few little things (our iphones, the tv remotes, and the big fat cable that's connected to the back of the tv which is at the perfect height for you to grasp when you shimmy yourself behind the tv stand) which are off limits. And because of the aforementioned determination, you always go straight for these items, and if (when) you get ahold of them and we take them away you quickly go from being our sweet, chunky thighed little doll to a screaming, fire-breathing, creature from another planet. It ain't pretty. It usually only lasts for a moment, or as long as it takes us to find a suitable replacement toy... but those screams have definitely caused your daddy and I to question this entire parenting thing.

You have also become the world's fastest crawler.... and since you recently discovered the hallway leading back to our bedrooms, I end up chasing you down there a million times a day. You'll be sitting in the living room, playing with your toys one minute, and then I look over and you're gone.... I call our your name and I hear the cutest giggles coming from the other end of the hall. I peek my head around the corner to find you, and you stop, sit, look back at me and laugh, so happy that I found you. Then, before I can reach you, you turn and continue racing down into your bedroom laughing the entire way until I swoop you up in my arms and take you back to the living room with me.

You're an excellent eater, and it makes me so happy to see you try anything and everything we give you. Whether I'm blending up peach+spinach puree at home (which is my personal favorite) or we're out eating fish tacos (your personal favorite), you're always happy to eat. I'm pretty sure your insides consist mainly of avocado at this point, and fish tacos, and bananas. But you haven't met a sweet potato fry you haven't liked... and turkey burgers and broccoli are a hit, too. Keep munching away, bug. It makes us so happy to see you chow down.

Oh, and O's. How could I forget to mention O's? We give you O's as a little afternoon snack, and to see you eat them is the absolute best thing. I need to record more of these little challenges in dexterity and remember them forever. Usually, you manage to pick up an O between your thumb and pointer finger, and ever so daintily bite it in half. Then you continue to hold the second half in your hand for a few seconds before cramming the entire thing in your mouth. It's the most darling thing I've ever witnessed. Other times, however, you choose not to use your fingers at all... and put your entire face down on the table and hoover the O up with your mouth. Less dainty. More awesome.

You're our little rascal. You're a handful. You're the best.

We love you.

xo,
Mama