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

A letter to my sons on their 10th Month Birthday!

Dear Chase and Ryder,

Happy 10 months! The spring is here, we spend much more time outside and your big 1 year is lingering. It is unbelievable the changes one month can bring. At your last doctor's appointment (your 9th month check up) you, for the very first time, weighed exactly the same, 17lbs. 11 oz. This is still considered light, only the 10th percentile, but is consistent with your growth since birth. Chase, you were 1/4 of an inch longer than your brother measuring in at 28 1/4 inches. This is actually considered tall and falls in the 75th percentile.

Chase you have mastered the proper technique of crawling. You crawl as quickly and as flawlessly as Ryder, no one would ever know you just recently learned. Occasionally, you will revert back to the army crawl, but generally you are up and about on all 4's. You can also pull yourself up to standing and do it quite often, in your crib, on your toys, and your favorite, on me. You have also mastered the steps. Both of you love them and it seems you are racing up them at times. Daddy and I are trying to enforce that if you climb the steps it is to stay upstairs (ie: naptime, bedtime, bath time, etc.) You do not usually obey us on this, however.

Ryder you still love to clap. You get a kick out of hooraying and almost everything is worthy of applause. Chase you have learned to do "so big" and it is adorable as you raise your hands above your head. Chase, you love to strum your lips with your fingers while you are humming and it always makes all of us laugh. I am amazed how you know what is funny. You both also seem to know what is bad, although it does not usually stop you from doing it. You both play with the diaper champ, relentlessly. Both daddy and I tell you no, we tell you it is dirty and we pull you away, but it does not usually stop you from wanting to play with it. We have now taken it out of your room. Of course, a diaper champ in the hallway is not so great either.

You are great eaters. You both prefer table foods to baby food and have not rejected anything we have given you, nor have you gotten overly excited about anything. You do seem to really enjoy yogurt and cheese, however. We go out to lunch often and you are almost always well behaved. Daddy and I have taken you to dinner, as well. You usually give us about 45-60 minutes and it is fun sharing foods with you.
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Daddy and I went on vacation this month. We spent 5 days away from you, relaxing in Jamaica. We had a fabulous time but missed you tremendously. We rested, slept, relaxed, all of which we needed and as we stared out into the beautiful Caribbean we were grateful for everything we had...the opportunity to vacation, each other, and mostly, both of you!!! We thought about you and talked about you everyday. The first night there I did not sleep so well, I kept thinking that you were missing, but all in all it was a good trip. You stayed with Mom-Mom Jill and Mom-Mom Joan and Pop-Pop, alternately. We got fantastic reviews from everybody and it seemed you did not miss us one bit. We are glad you had fun times with your grandparents.

We also celebrated my birthday this month. Amazingly, this was only my first birthday with you in my life and yet I can't remember my life without you. I am so thrilled to have you with me for all future birthday celebrations.

We took our first beach walk with you, and it seemed you loved it as much as we did. We are so excited for our summer with you bumming on the beach. We also spent some time in the park where you played in dirt. You loved it. Boys will be boys, I suppose, dirt and grime under your fingernails and all.

This month you graduated from the Tiny Tykes program at My Gym, you are officially a Waddler despite the fact that you do not waddle. The ball pit, which used to scare you, is now one of your favorite things to do, and of course, you still love the swings. At music, you are becoming more involved and when Miss Marilyn pulls out the balls and the instruments you both head straight to the pile. At playgroup you still play mostly amongst yourselves, but I do think you are starting to recognize the faces you are seeing every week.

Ryder you are beginning to walk when we hold your hands and cruise around the gates and the couch. You are actually pretty good at it, but I am not sure you even realize you are doing it. We do give you push toys to play with, but you usually end up sitting and playing with it. We get the feeling that you will be walking on your own sooner than any of us realizes.
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Your hair is getting really long, and thick, and Chase's is oh so curly. After our Jamaica trip, the first thing I noticed was how much your hair had grown. I know it sounds silly, but it is true. You hair is getting long, which I love. After bath time that is when Chase's curls come out. They are adorable, but we are not sure yet if they are like mommy's or daddy's, perhaps both.

You are two very easy going, fun loving boys. Your laugh is infectious, and you don't seem to get bothered by too much. Although most days are scheduled there is always a flexibility to our schedule and you both do well with it. I guess you are laid back like your parents. You really seem to pay attention to the words we try to teach you and a lot of times I get the feeling that you are trying to say them. Sure it is still a lot of gibberish, with a bunch of dadada's thrown in there, but I do believe you are trying. Every day that passes daddy and I are more and more proud and we know we have been blessed with two sweet, funny, and very different boys. Life is often strange, and curve balls are sometimes thrown, stress builds and problems are dealt with, but what is always consistent and always inspiring and always real is our love for our little boys. Chase and Ryder you are special, sweet, and loved beyond measure.

I love you so,
Mommy.
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For more 10 month pictures click here