Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Dear Daddy,

Mommy told me that today is a day to recognize you for all of the wonderful things you do as my Daddy. I am so glad that you are my Daddy and that we get to spend all sorts of fun time together. I love it when you give me my night time bottle and read me stories. I love when you give me big hugs and play flying baby with me. I feel very lucky to have such a big, strong, amazing Daddy that works very hard for our family.


I love you, Daddy!

Will

Can't Even Believe. . .

Dearest Will,

Welcome to the double digits, Little Monkey. You are ten months old today.

I simply cannot believe how much joy you have brought into our lives. There are no words to fully describe the happiness that you bring us each and every day.

You have learned so much this past month. First and foremost, we have had to make some changes around the house to accommodate your newest skill - crawling! You don't stay still for long anymore, and power cords and fans are the latest object of your desires. We had to baby proof all of the electrical outlets and are having to move everything else up off of the floor. You are this close to pulling yourself up on your own and you can pull into a sitting position all by yourself. We find you sitting up in your crib most mornings, reaching out to us, ready to start the day.

You still love to eat. You discovered noodles this month, as well as french toast, fresh blueberries, cantaloupe, chicken sticks, chicken salad sandwiches, and. . . your new favorite. . . french fries. You had your first fry on my birthday. And then your second, third, and fourth. You have also found out that soy yogurt and soy milk are good replacements for the real thing (you might even prefer the soy milk), but we are still looking for a tasty "cheese."

You are talking up a storm. Most of what you tell us is really hard to understand, but you do have a few words which are quite intelligible. In addition to "Dada", you also say "Quack", "Caw-Caw" (kind of like quack, but a different bird noise), and "Kitty" on a regular basis. You said "Jack!" a couple of times this month and also "Ava" once. "Mama" still eludes you but we'll keep trying.

You sprouted five top teeth these past two weeks, but even with swollen, red gums, you still are sleeping like a champ. You are going nearly 12 hours straight every night and still take two good naps during the day. Mommy and Daddy are so thankful for all of this sleep! You do like to get up pretty early and sometimes if you haven't had enough Daddy time, you will fight going to sleep at night, but it's still hard to complain.

You spent a whole weekend with Grandma Jan and Nana this month, too. Mommy had a harder time than you did with the separation! You ate and slept like a champ for your grandmas, too!

Every day, your Daddy and I just marvel at what a miracle you are. You are one of the smiliest, happiest babies we have ever known. People comment on your sunny disposition everywhere we go and we never tire of hearing how wonderful you are!

We love you so much, Little Man. Thank you for being amazing little you!

Love,
Mommy

Mommy's Birthday

Today was my Mommy's Birthday. We had a wonderful day. Mommy wanted to go to Ivar's, where even though it was her birthday, I got a treat. . . my first french fry.

YUMMY.

I Like To Make a Splash

My new friends couldn't stay very long and I was sad to see them go. But I was soon very happy because Daddy took the week off of work, so we have been doing lots of fun stuff together.

Today, we went to Forest Park, where I got to go to a petting zoo. I got to meet some animals.

There is also a fun place called the Splash Pad at Forest Park. I wasn't quite sure what to think about all of the water, but Mommy stayed with me and I wasn't too scared.

I love having Daddy home to play with me!

Meeting the Warners

Mommy and Daddy have some very special friends that live in a far away place called San Francisco. Mommy talks on the phone with Stacia a lot, so I was really very excited to meet her and see what all of the fuss is about!

Wow, why did they wait so long to introduce me to my new friends! We had such a good time together and I wish they didn't live so far away.

Here are pictures of my friends' feets (aren't Mommies weird to take such silly pictures?).

In honor of their visit, Auntie Cheryl threw an impromptu playdate so that all of my friends could play together. Since Daddy wasn't working, he got to come, too!

And I got to get some kisses from Stacia. . . at last!

And gave her a big ol' WISS right back!

Well-Baby

Today, Mommy and I went to my nine month Well-Baby Checkup. I was not very excited to go, since I was taking a nice, long morning nap and Mommy came in and woke me up. She made me change from my nice, cool onesie to a "cute" outfit. Mommies are silly like that!

Once we got there, I decided it was kind of fun. They had a big tank of fish in the waiting room. Mommy let me look as long as I wanted. There was a blue fish, an orange fish, and two small yellow fish. There were also lots of bubbles in the tank, which I think was my favorite part. There was also a nice lady who waved and smiled at me. She was very nice.

Then, another nice lady called us back to another smaller room. She made Mommy take off all of my clothes, except my diaper. I got measured and am 29.5 inches tall - 80th percentile! Then I got all nakey and she put me in the scale. I thought this was very funny for some reason and started laughing and laughing. I held still just long enough for them to find out that I am 20 lbs., 11 oz., which is the 48th percentile.

I got to get my diaper back on and Dr. S came into the room. She listened to my heart and lungs, looked in my eyes, ears, nose, and throat, and took a peek in my diaper. Dr. S said everything looks perfect, but that it is not normal for a baby to snore so much at night or be congested for so long. She thinks my adenoids might be enlarged, which would make sense, since Daddy had the same problem. She wants me to not have any dairy again until I am one year old. I was very sad when she said this. Cheese and yogurt are two of my favorite things. If I am still snoring and have congestion in a month, we have to go back to the doctor and get some tests done. Hopefully, the dairy is the problem and I won't need anything else done.

Dr. S gave me a test after that. I had to look at her when she said my name, show her how I can get up on all fours, reach for a toy that she held out, and clap my hands. She made Mommy show her that I can stand up holing on to things and then she asked Mommy if I had any tricks. Mommy showed her "high five" and "give me a kiss." She also asked me to say "Dada," but I kept very quiet. I did give Mommy a couple of Wisses and showed that I could point to Mommy's nose and mouth. Dr. S said I was very smart.

After that, both Mommy and I braced for the worst: my shots. And you know what? I didn't have to have any! The nurse let me pick out a present, so I got a sticker to put on my shirt when Mommy dressed me back up.

That was it! I am glad that I am done with the doctor for awhile, but I am sad about no more dairy. I can't wait to turn a year now, not only so I can have cheese and yogurt again, but also so that I can have something called cake!