Today you turned 10 months old, and what an exciting 2 months it has been! Yes, I am so sorry! I never wrote your 9 month letter. I'm very sorry. But, I'll be sure to capture both months in this letter.
Starting with your 9th Month: You learned a lot of new "tricks" and we went on our first family vacation since you were born. At the beginning of this month you learned to pull up on things all by yourself. You mastered this and learned to pull up on anything and everything. At the end of September you started standing independently for a few seconds at a time and on September 25th you said "Dada!" for the first time. On September 27th (while on vacation at Great Wolf Lodge and Sky Top Lodge) your top tooth finally popped through, quickly followed by the second top one. This meant you could now grind your teeth. A sound that makes mommy's skin crawl! I remember Ryan doing this when he was teething and I hated it then too!
On October 2nd you clapped for the first time. And you just LOVE to clap. I tried not to be offended that you clapped first for Nee Nee and Pop Pop, despite the fact that I'd been trying to get you to do it for so long. But yeah, I was a little offended. What the heck, buddy!? (Just kidding...sorta!) When you first started, and even now, you're so proud of yourself when you clap. Its the cutest thing! Now you notice when other people are clapping and you clap with them. You recently demonstrated this at Caitlin's Piano Recital. You also clap anytime someone says "Yay!" whether they are saying it for you or someone else.
On October 4th you FINALLY figured out how to crawl. Its funny though, even now you do it in a funny way with one knee off to the side. Its as if you don't really like having your knees on the ground. I suspect that if you could somehow manage to move as fast as you do with both knees off the ground that you would. That sums up the big milestones from your 9th month.
Your 10th month started off with you getting a pretty nasty cold which eventually turned into your first ear infection. You were such a trooper at the Pediatrician's office! But man, you sure were a sad little guy when you weren't feeling well. It wasn't so much that you were grumpy or in a bad mood. You just weren't as smiley and all you wanted to do was snuggle. Which, I didn't really mind. Expect that I had to take care of Ryan too. It made me wish for an extra set of hands! But overall, you were still such a good little guy. I didn't notice exactly how impacted you were until you were finally back to your happy self, and then I could see what a difference there had been.
Despite your cold, you continued to develop. On November 6 you took 6 steps! Now that you've mastered crawling you still crawl more than you walk, but you take independent steps a couple times each day and I expect you'll be walking like a pro in no time.
On November 12th you had your "9 month Pediatrician appt" which clearly was more of a 10 month appt. Mommy's pretty stubborn and will only schedule your Well Child visits with our favorite doc, and sometimes getting on his schedule is a challenge. But he's worth it. At your appointment you weighed 20 lbs 5 oz, and were 29.5 inches long. You're about 49% on weight, 70% on height, and well, you're 99% on head circumference. Yes, you're a DeBoy. We have big heads! :) Dr. Parmele declared you "Awesome!" and said everything is right on track. I couldn't agree more.
Zachary, you are such a curious, fun-loving little guy. You're mischievous, and friendly. You wave to strangers and just seem to enjoy being around people. You're independent but also a Mama's boy. Your mischievous nature is most evidenced when Daddy or I tell you "no" about something, usually about touching an electrical outlet. You walk over to it, and as you do, you turn your head, look at us, and smirk. Then as you reach to touch it, and we say, "No, no, no!" you laugh and touch it any way. Its cute now. But I'm resisting the urge to let you keep up this behavior. (Note: All the outlets in our house have child proof covers). Yes, I may have videotaped it the other day. But since documenting it, I've been more vigilant about teaching you that no means no!
As I said, you're also independent. One day recently we went outside, and you immediately looked to where the pinwheel had been in our front yard, only to discover that it had blown away. You paused for a second, and then proceeded to crawl up the sidewalk, 4 houses up, all by yourself to another house that you knew had a pinwheel. You crawled right up to that pinwheel, pulled it out of the ground, and smiled from ear to ear. You were very proud of yourself, and I have to say, so was I. You noticed a problem, and found a solution on your own! May your independent, problem solving spirit never fade!
And yet, despite your independence, at the end of the day, there is no one's arms you'd rather be in than mine. I'm flattered, and I love the snuggle time we get, but we're also working to change this a bit. Daddy and I got into the habit that post bath (which is Daddy's special time with both his boys), Daddy did most of Ryan's bedtime routine, and I did most of yours. This resulted in the fact that you scream if anyone else tries to put you to sleep. We're making very slow progress, and hopefully by next month I can report that you will let Daddy put you to sleep without screaming for 15 minutes before settling in his arms. Though, the Holidays and travel may get in the way of the progress we hope to make.
But in the meantime, I am trying to savor your babyhood and remember that these moments of being your "everything" are fleeting. You won't curl up into a ball in my arms every night forever, and so, who am I to wish that you'd curl up in someones arms besides mine. Well, except for the fact that Daddy misses having that snuggle time with you, and he would really appreciate it if you would let him cuddle you a little more.
You're my sweet, funny, lovable, Bugga-boo, Monkey man, Zach-a-doo, Zach-a-Joe, and Snuggle bug. I love you more than words can say, and I always, always, always will. As one of the sweetest and saddest children's books ever written says, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.
Love always,
Mama
