month ten: in review

Yesterday, marked the 10-month anniversary of your birth. I sat down to write this review, but all of the blood flow in my body had been routed to my legs and I couldn't think of anything to write except "Oh my God I love this baby. I LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM!"


A day later, I still can't think of much more to tell you. But I'll also write that if at some point in your life you don't do any "serious" exercise for several years, it's best not to go out and run two miles. If you do, you'll pathetically hobble around like you've got a load in your pants and pray that your legs don't buckle out from beneath you with each step you take. The fact is, Henry, at 10-months old, you are walking better than your mama.


Enough about my pathetic state of fitness. This is about you, my beautiful baby boy. You continue to grow by leaps and bounds and I find myself falling more in love with you every day. You are crawling at warp speed. You can be on one side of the house and if you hear me open the refrigerator - or dishwasher - or back door - or gasp, toilet lid ... you will zoom over and be next to me, in the center of action, in no time flat. You share the same fascination that your siblings have, of getting in to absolutely everything.


Although you haven't yet taken your first unassisted step, you are cruising around all of the furniture and love to hold my hands and walk across the room. You love to splash in the water table, go for rides in the swing, blow raspberries and do a little Indian call of "oh ah oh ah oh ah ohhh" with your hand across your mouth. You still only have two teeth, although it looks like more are ready to pop out on top. You are jabbering up a storm with "Dada, Deedee, Lala and MAMAMAMAMA" which are the most proficient babbles in your repertoire at the moment.


You are loved by everyone. Except Carolyn. I'm not sure what has happened, but it seems that she has come to a place where you are nothing more than an inconvenience set out to ruin her STUFF and she will scream any time you come within five feet. Although you were able to bring an ear-to-ear smile to Grampy's face (which is quite an accomplishment) and William and Elizabeth still think you are the best thing since ice cream, whenever you get near Gracie, she'll holler "NO HENRY! NO!!!!"


But you pay her no mind, because you are extremely easy going. You don't even mind when your father does crazy things with your hair and eyebrows.


The only thing that you don't like is sleep. Sure, on occasion, you will embrace your morning and afternoon nap. But try as I might, you will protest anytime I put you down in to your crib. When you do fall asleep (during the day), you will only sleep for 45 minutes. Not a minute more. Most nights, you are asleep by 7:30 PM and will wake up sometime between 3:30 and 5:15 AM, for a quick nurse before falling back to sleep until 5:59 AM. The longest you've ever slept is when the laundry got a little out of hand and I was five a few loads behind and didn't have any clean pajamas for you. So, I put you in to your sister's size 3T and you slept from 8 PM until 6 AM. Then there was the time Elizabeth threw a huge Curious George stuffed animal in to your crib and you took a two-hour nap sleeping on top of it. I've tried replicating these scenarios with no success. But I'll continue to try. If you have memories of sleeping in a crib in pink pajamas that are three sizes too big with a huge monkey ... this is why.


With all the crawling and climbing that you have been doing, it seems logical that you would be tired at the end of a long day.


But you're simply too busy. There are places to explore, snails to munch, clothes baskets to ride, and new foods to eat.


Yesterday, while I was holding you close in the pool, I felt to the depth of my soul that you are a divine miracle. You are the light of my life. And even when you are crawling towards a full potty chair - or waking me up in the middle of the night - or not sleeping more than 45 minutes during the day - or gumming a snail - or crying and I've got three other children that all need my attention AT THAT EXACT SAME MOMENT and dinner needs to be cooked and there are five a few loads of laundry to be processed and a dog to be fed and a career to be contemplated and a host of other life issues to be considered ... I love you more than words can express and I thank God every day that you are here.


"Oh my God I love this baby. I LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM!"