My Happy Not-So-Little Boy,

You have learned so many things in the past month and a half; where do I begin?

Food: You are really starting to dislike all pureed foods and want to feed yourself (with your fingers, not spoon-feeding… at least, not yet). Much to our extreme frustration, you went a couple of days without eating because you refused everything we tried to feed you… this led to the discovery that you were in fact, ready for Cheerios and other Fine Little Finger Foods. You can eat Cheerios and Kix and Arrowroot cookies all day long (although some end up on the floor or in your diaper, most of them end up in your mouth — a great improvement from when you first started eating these things). You also love chopped up pieces of banana (you will scream if you see someone eating one and not offering you a piece) but we tend to feed that to you ourselves since in your hands, it turns to mush. (You haven’t mastered the art of a gentle grasp; your grip is still quite Kung Fu-ish — something the cats love.)

Motor Skills: Your little fingers are so cute as they reach out to grab things… and they grab most everything. Every cabinet door and drawer must be opened (and closed and opened and closed) at least 5 million times a day. Then the contents must be inspected and some things are removed (although never returned). You also mastered the forward scoot since I last wrote and moved on to Full Steam Ahead Crawling (around 7.5 months). You are lightning fast and most of my day is spent running after you screaming, “Don’t put your fingers in that!”, “Watch out — you’ll smash your fingers!” or “You’re going to bust your head open if you’re not careful!” Of course, that just makes you laugh and encourages you to keep on doing what you’re doing.

Your father and I had the conversation (while you were still in utero) whether we would prefer (as if it was our choice) to have a daredevil child or an overly cautious child. Papa chose the cautious child because he felt you would be safer. I chose the daredevil because I wanted you to be able to experience things without fear holding you back. As I watch you scream at the locks that we put on the cabinet doors so you can’t get your hands on things that could potentially kill you, I am considering changing my vote.

Your standing skills are now pretty much perfected. You can walk circles around your Pack N Play (as long as you’re holding onto the side) and you can walk along almost anything as long as you have something to hold onto. You have become pretty efficient at crawling up to something and then using it help you stand, then splaying your arms out to sit back down and resume crawling to your next target.

Clothes: I think your father is coating your Cheerios in Miracle Grow or someone is replacing your clothes with doll clothing or maybe little elves are sneaking in when I do laundry and turning the dryer to Super Mega Hot because at 8 months old you are now making your way into 18 month clothing. Oh yes, there is the added bonus of you HATING to put on clothes. You are started to fuss during bath time and when you get out, you want to stay the way you are — naked like the day you were born. Changing your diaper is a fiasco (and has been since you were 5 months old) since you don’t want to lay still — you have things to do and none of those things include laying around getting your diaper changed. You toss and turn and scream. So we’ve found ways to keep you entertained — most of which include giving you things to chew on or inspect that really should not be in your possession but we refuse to have the smell of crap follow you wherever you go. I know, we’re the world’s biggest joy killers.

You haven’t said your First Word yet but you are doing a lot of dadadada’s and bababababa’s and gahgahgahgahgah’s. You like to express your discontent (or your happiness) with these sounds — your brow furrows and you gahgahgahgah nonstop until you think we get the point. Then you run off and chase a cat or two.

You can also climb up the stairs. We’re not sure how long you’ve been able to do this — it was probably something you could do for a while but were just never motivated to do. The other week you saw Isabelle at the top of the stairs and decided you could catch her. So you made your way up the stairs like it was something you did all the time. However, you haven’t figured out the backwards scoot down the stairs and just turn around and throw your body as if you could crawl down the stairs headfirst; lucky for you, someone is always there to catch you. Eventually you’ll have to learn on your own or you’ll get a face full of carpet.

We are now getting ready for your First Christmas. You don’t understand the idea of Santa Claus or presents or The Tree but you do love ornaments. We have since had to move most of the ornaments out of your reach so the bottom of our tree looks very sad and naked. I’m sure that by the time the 25th rolls around, the bottom half of the tree will be completely bare and the lights, ornaments and garland will be piled up on top.

And you also have stinky little feet. I mean, really stinky feet. It’s amazing that such cute little toesies can stink so badly. We scrub them down every night and by the morning it smells like you wore 5 pairs of socks while running 20 miles in the desert… through cheese.

I love you my little Super Growing, Ornament Destroying, Cat Chasing, Babbling, Stinky Toes, Giggley Baby.

Mama