Dear Mads | 9 Months Old

Celebrating Ella's First Birthday at Grandma's House

Handsome Devils

Hey Bubba,

You celebrated Earth Day by eating a fistful of dirt.  When we saw your Grandmommy later that same day and I told her as much, she recalled the time your papa, around a year old she guessed, ate a handful of sand out of a sandbox and had grit in his teeth for a week afterwards.  As the months pass by, I am alarmed and delighted by the boyness of you.  When you were still nestled in my belly, without confirmation you were a boy but knowing (the way sometimes pregnant women do), I would ask your Papa, "What am I supposed to do with a boy?  I don't know anything about boys."  The answer, thus far, is just stand back and watch, let you do your thing, redirect as often (and unsuccessfully) as possible, then pry the electrical wires out of your fists, take the pens out of your mouth, brush the dirt off of your face, and have a towel ready when your diaper is off because you will pee in an arc any chance you get, and boy do you think that's funny.  When I was pregnant, I met a veteran mother of three boys and told her I suspected I was carrying you, my little man.  She told me, "Boys are so much fun.  But there will be pee everywhere."  Truth.

On the 19th, your cousin turned a year old.  We're all flabbergasted as to how exactly the time went by so fast, particularly when each day time seems suspended in the routines of babyness.  Your Aunt Sierra found a rainbow-hued tutu for Ella to wear, and a big Birthday Girl-declaring headband, and she made her a little cake.  I'm not sure how we'll celebrate your birthday, which is just around the corner now.  I think perhaps your party theme will be, simply, Naked, and I'll let you run around in a pair of swim trunks for the day.  We'll play a lot of Skyclad in homage to your favorite state of being.

It's already May, and we've only just put seeds in dirt.  Luckily for us, North Carolina summers are long ones.

This month you've begun snacking on solid foods (which you prefer greatly to purees).  You're crawling on hands and knees, though you still favor the soldier crawl (for stealth?).  You're pulling yourself up on furniture, and I swear there's another tooth or two ready to burst through your gums.  Also, something we are particularly proud of, first thing in the morning, when you most predictably pee as soon as your diaper's off, you're using the potty chair.  We cheer you on every time in hopes you'll make the connection.

On that embarrassing note, I'll end this letter.  I love you, big guy.

Always,

Mama

35 Weeks, Teefus

36 Weeks

37 Weeks

38 Weeks, always at the window