letter to connor {10 months}

my sweet little peanut-

You are 10 months old! Lately, you seem so much less like a little baby and so much more like a little boy.

You like to feed yourself, all by yourself. You hold your bottle by yourself {you've been doing this for months, actually}. You chomp on teething biscuits with wild abandon, to our great choking-hazard terror {yes, that is the reason that i took it upon myself to eat them all myself}. You pinch a single cheerio between your chubby little finger and thumb, then shove your fist in your mouth and happily store half a dozen soggy cheerios in your chipmunk cheeks before finally swallowing. You still hate purees, but I'm beginning to realize that's because you'd rather take charge than be spoon fed. Clearly an attribute of a strong leader. And a recipe for a messy dining room.

You can read! Sort of. You love your many, many books. Occasionally you "read" them, hooting and goo-ing and gagaga-ing at every page, as you turn {and tear} the pages one by one. Usually, though, you eat them. And then throw them on the floor. of course. It blows my mind when I see you actually lift the peek-a-boo flaps, or pat the doggy fur, or chuckle with delight when the old lady swallows a fly/mouse/cat/dog/horse.

You get into.every.thing. Your curiosity is insatiable. Our first attempts to childproof the house were a major fail, as I can now no longer figure out how to open the recycling cabinet and the cabinet under the sink. Nothing makes you feel like a genius quite like the inability to defeat safety devices made for children under 18 months of age.

You are definitely growing up, nugget. Somewhere between 9 months and 10 months, you developed a real "personality." And by "personality," I mean of course that your father and I are now bracing ourselves for the inevitable reality that, in only a few short years, you will absolutely, definitely, attempt to set off fireworks in your room.

I can't wait to see all of the {crazy} things you do between now and then. And in the meantime, I'll be increasing our homeowner's insurance coverage.

i love you, cp.

Mommy