totally crawlin'

I just can’t stop kissing you. I wrap my arms around your whole body and hug you tight, trying not to squeeze the breath out of you. You don’t mind. I kiss you so much and so hard I expect you to get pissed but you don’t – yet. I love your cute little sighs, your squeals, your screeches, even. Sometimes you flat out scream at the top of your lungs. You are so soft, warm and cuddly. I could cuddle the crap out of you for hours. Your sweet face looks up at me, eyes wide and blinking. Gah! It kills me. I have to really resist the urge to nibble on you. Papa did once and made you cry hahahaha.

You have figured out how to sit up from the all fours position at some point in the past week. You do it so well, like you’ve known all along. But you haven’t started really crawling on hands and knees yet. You like to pull yourself up, but not quite standing. I’ve seen you even get up on your feet but with your hands still on the floor. You have a bunch of small toys but you are only interested in non-toy things like shoes, the a/c registers, cords, the floor fan, the side table, the remote. You go straight for these things as soon as you can so we are going to put your toys away and get you some new ones and rotate them to keep you interested. I think you are still going to go after the stuff you aren’t supposed to though. I caught you trying to chew on the cord to the fan and there’s no real way to put all these things out of reach so we have to keep a close eye on you, and I may put some bitter spray on the cords to discourage you from chewing on them (just like a puppy!). I wish they made everything wireless.

When I come home from work, you smile so big. If I even walk past you to set my bags down you get upset and start to cry so I have to pick you up immediately and you are happy. Sometimes papa has dinner cooking and we eat. Lately I have been giving you more foods to try. Baby purees don’t seem very good so I always try to have some kind of finger food for you to experiment with. I gave you a taste of chicken pot pie that daddy made. I’ve given you kiwi fruit, bananas, beef stroganoff, and a biscuit. I can tell you want to eat real food and you are getting there but you still have to eat your purees. I had started to make your baby food from scratch with my baby bullet system but mama is too busy to do that all the time and I get a ton of baby food from WIC. I add a pinch of cinnamon to your purees sometimes and you like it. You really liked the mashed cauliflower with turmeric that I made you a while back. I’ll have to try that again.

I don’t think there are very many children who are as loved as you. Every day I hear about kids who have suffered or died at the hands of an adult, usually their own parents, and it breaks my heart. I understand that caring for a baby is difficult, and there were times that your daddy and I thought we would lose our shit. But we kept it together, and I am so glad we did. I know there are going to be many trials ahead, but right now, you are a perfect baby. We love you more than anything in the world. We may be a little over protective and nurturing but we don’t care. It may come back to bite us in the butt but I hope not. We don’t let you cry; we soothe you or do whatever it takes to make you happy again. Sometimes it’s that you want food, a bath, a nap, a different toy, going outside, boob, a dirty diaper, or you just want to be held. Whatever your little heart desires is our command. Our landlord thinks you are a spoiled (brat). She will never be babysitting you so she can think whatever she wants. It may be true, but you are my one and only baby and I don’t think anyone can be over-loved. But trust me; we will do everything in our power to make sure you aren’t really spoiled. You will learn to be kind, compassionate, responsible, considerate & hard-working