A Letter to my Son on his 10 Month Birthday

Dear Decker,

The months are passing faster than I can get these letters written. I am sure this comes as a surprise to no one.  And, you've made it clear you aren't waiting for anyone or anything.  In fact, it seems your goal is to outpace time. 

Every day is something new with you; something wonderful.  One morning you woke up and the beautiful hair on your head was several inches longer.  You always had a lot of hair; thick and beautiful, with a healthy shine- hair that was noticed by every passerby.  But, truly, you woke up one morning and it was suddenly long, and super curly (and still beautiful.)   Although it still is fine baby hair, and difficult to control, we do try to keep the bangs out of your face with a nice side part.

If there is a skill you are working on we know it is just a few short days before you figure it out. This month you have learned to clap, which is fantastic, because now everything, EVERYTHING, is met with an applause.  You applaud all of us and you love it when we applaud you.  You can now climb up the steps with ease and have learned to climb down the steps, as well.  Finally learning to turn around at the top and go down feet first you now climb up just to come down.  Although you do it correctly, and we have a lot of confidence in your abilities (reducing our fear) I am pretty sure you have rug burns up and down the front of your legs.  Luckily, you don't seem to bothered by it.

You can now stand up on your own for 30 seconds or more, and have begun cruising.  It won't be long before you are walking.  Then running.  You continue to pay close attention to what is around you.  You seem to study the way our lips move when we speak and you will try to mimic the motion, though not necessarily the sound.  But, with that said, you babble often and your sounds are becoming much more clear.  "More" is a word you say, and sign, and we also think you say Up.  Speaking of up, you point up a lot.  We all assume you are fascinated by the lights as you will point directly at each of the fixtures.  And, of course, there is a lot of "ma ma ma" and "da da da" and you have your consistent hum which you do as you are putting yourself to sleep.

As serious and as focused as you can be you have started to find the silly in things.  A game of peekaboo, a tickle to the neck, or just the silly dances and sounds that your brothers entertain you with can get you giggling and laughing.  We all love it.

You eat just about anything we give you now, you still love your bottles, and bath time is one of your favorite things to do.

We celebrated hanukkah, which was mostly uneventful for you (sorry little guy, next year you will make out just fine) and enjoyed some relaxation and time off together over Christmas.  On New Years we had the Cohens and the Levins here, and of course Uncle Mat, and though you did not make it to midnight, nor did we try, you were a wonderful addition to our small soiree.

You love to touch everyone's noses, touch everything with one finger, and put too much in your mouth.  You like to bounce on your toosh on the beds around the house and enjoy touching the pages of any book we put in your hand.  You also love to touch the television, assuming, like the phone, something happens when you touch it, and when you hear familiar voices "coming through the small box" you grin from ear to ear- fascinated that Mom-Mom or anyone can fit inside the box.

You are truly a pleasure, sunshine on a rainy day.  Just your being, your presence, makes all of us happier and lighter, and it is amazing to be a person that can have such a profound effect on so many, even at only 10 months old.

Everyday I look forward to the things you will show me and the things you will teach me....even as I write this, I can't wait for tomorrow.

Keep being you, keep learning and doing and grinning.  We could not be more proud.

I love you so....

Mommy

Up you go

Mommy Decker selfie

Where's your tongue?

Turner at 10 months

Chase and Ryder at 10 months