Dear
9 month old Liam,
You
are MOVING and SHAKING this month! You’ve been crawling all over these past 3
weeks – at first it was just a few feet, and then you’d stop and sit back and
assess where you were and where you wanted to go, but that quickly gave way to
the speed demon we know today. You were moving kind of a la one of those
windup monkey with the cymbals, with all of the speed coming from your arms,
and you would kind of drag your legs along, and we’d hear the slap slap slap of
your hands hitting the floor. You’ve figured out your coordination and
now you are stealthy AND speedy, though Billie still knows when you’re coming.
Billie definitely likes you, and she LOVES the food you share with her, and
is fiercely protective, but she also wants you to leave her alone most of the
time, like most older sisters. You, of course, want to be with her always…you
see her in her crate (her “safe spot”), and crawl right over. She waits
until you are a foot away, and then walks past you to her pillow. You
change course, and head over towards the pillow and she gets up and goes back
to the crate. Repeat and repeat... poor puppy! She’s a good sport
about it all, and what’s especially sweet is that you smack your lips at her as
you crawl towards your canine friend, as if you are blowing kisses.
On the SHAKING front, You've started shaking your head as if
to say “nonononono”, but you also move your hands at the same time, which makes
you look a little like a dancing muppet. I HOPE it's a dance, and not a
precursor to the “NONONONONONO's to come, though I fear the latter, since you
often shake your head when you’ve decided you don’t want anymore food off the
spoon. Once upon a time you used to eat
EVERYTHING I spooned into your mouth – even green beans (though those took a
few weeks for you to warm up to). NOW,
you will only eat a third of your usual helping of spoonfed food, and only the
green ones at that – spinach/banana, kale/potato/green bean, and broccoli. So you’re feeding yourself, mostly, and while
we had a week where the amount of food you actually consumed was woefully low,
you’re starting to get better at it. We’ve
added yogurt and chickpeas to your food options, and you like both of those, as
well as the ginger apricot no-knead bread I made.
You do make these crazy dinosaur/demon/monster deep growly
sounds lately. It sounds like it comes from
deep in your throat, and I’m not sure what you’re trying to express. You don’t seem distressed, and it IS funny,
but I am looking forward to hearing your voice, and your words!
You’re starting to get more attached to us these past few
weeks – you still like others, and you definitely still flirt with long-haired
ladies when we’re out in the world (you do have an attraction to long hair –
you kept looking at a gentleman with a ponytail at the hardware store last
week), but our partings each morning are getting harder. Don’t worry little man, I will never leave
you for long!
All the love in the world,
Your mother
more pictures from the month:
