and then you were ten....months

Dear Garrett,

What a trooper you are! This month has been a hard one, riddled with illness and the painful sprouting of your first two teeth. We both have been saved countless times by the beautiful spring weather that has come to Brooklyn which has allowed us to go on sunshine-filled walks around the neighborhood. You love to sit in your stroller and soak in your lively surroundings, and you get excited when we stop at the park to ride in the swings and blow bubbles.

At the beginning of the month, you fell prey to a nasty bout of bronchitis which resulted in prodding visits to the doctor and medicine you didn't much care for. It was hard for me to see you so feverish and uncomfortable as your voice turned from sweet to squeaky. You fully recovered, thank goodness, and arrived on the other side with your very first tooth! After a few more weeks of teething crankiness, sprinkled with several sleepless nights, your bottom left incisor had a next-door neighbor and suddenly your world became more edible.

You eat table foods now, and your pincer grasp has become so fine tuned that you can pick up just about anything you set out to. Your favorite foods to feed yourself include Cheerios and bits of bread and jam. Your two new teeth also have a sweet side for treats like New York cheesecake (only the best for you!).

You are as clingy as you are eager for independence. From your seat on the floor, surrounded by toys, you beg to be picked up, though once you have been, you scramble to explore something else. You've learned to pull yourself up to stand, a trick which you usually showcase as you climb from my lap up to my shoulders, as well as in the crib. You are growing more and more wiggly and mobile, and, while you're still not crawling, you're giving more signs that you're interested in soon trying it out: you make more of an effort to reach for things, and you love expressing your anger when you can't quite get to what you're aiming for (and you probably don't appreciate it when I giggle as you clench your fists and grunt in frustration). Soon -- hopefully during this coming month -- everything will click and you will be on the go.

Exploring your world is something you spend most of your time doing. With your pointed index finger at the ready, you reach and touch things to check them out. If an item passes your touch test, it usually then gets inspected inside your mouth. (Of course, it first must pass through your tongue, which is always dangling over your bottom lip.) You recently learned, however, about the usefulness of another of your senses: the day I put a scratch and sniff sticker on the back of your hand, you spent the majority of the day smelling it.

You love to play, especially with your stacking toys, and Dad and I love to play with you. The little boy in you has already learned how to play catch: when we roll a ball to you, you roll it back. Dad's yo-yo sends you into hysterical laughter, and you keep us all entertained by your endless games of Peek-a-Boo.

You are growing so big! Your blond hair has grown long enough to warrant your first haircut, and your baby face is melting into that of a little boy. Your big smile is, as always, incredibly contagious and sends shivers through me as I think about how much I love you. Please stay the sweet boy you are.

Love,
Mama