9 Months

Dear Eliot,

You have now been outside of me for as long as you were inside of me! It is amazing to think that, while you were on the inside, you mastered kicking me in the bladder and hiccuping, but on the outside you have managed to keep those two skills and learn dozens more!

You can now cruise the furniture, babble, and pick things up with your thumb and index finger. You can make cool finger paintings on the floor with your own barf. You have even mastered that baffled look of "Huh?" when told not to play with the stereo.

You have become a world traveler, and a bilingual ignorer of the words "no" and "non". You love bath time, hate nap time, and indicate you are full by sweeping everything off of the table with your arm. You can drink water from a sippy cup all by yourself, unless, of course, you aren't thirsty, in which case your sippy becomes a musical instrument.

When thinking hard, you clasp your hands in front of you. Unless your hands are covered in something sticky. In that case, you rub them in your hair while thinking.

You make everyone smile with your crazy antics. You hate socks. You love bananas. Green beans are good pureed but not whole. Carrots are the opposite. But nothing beats meatloaf. Except maybe crawling around naked while getting ready for bath time.

You like to hug your mommy, but sometimes it's just a ploy to get close enough to pull her hair. When daddy comes home from work, you wiggle with excitement, but still resist getting kissed.

You are more work and more fun than a barrel full of monkeys.

I love you!
Mommy