Dear Vinny,
Daddy and I are watching you develop and we wonder when you are going to start walking. We think you are really close. You stand more and more. As I indicated earlier, you spent much of Thanksgiving standing, clinging to my legs. But you also stood unsupported for ten seconds, at least twice that day. You stood just fine, until you noticed that you were standing, and then you sat back down.
You can walk a few steps when you are holding on to something. You are adept at cruising around the basement living room, holding onto the furniture for support. And you can walk pretty well if we hold your hands. You just don't have the confidence to walk on your own quite yet.
Yesterday, you crawled most of the way up the steps, with supervision and encouragement from Daddy. But those steps are really huge to you, so it was very difficult and quite tiring for you. But I think if you can do that, you can walk. It is just a matter of time.
Love,
Mommy
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thanksgiving Day
Dear Vinny,
On Thursday, Tia and Uncle came over for Thanksgiving dinner. But it was a long day for you before that, because Mommy and Daddy had to cook for the dinner and didn't have a lot of time to spend with you. Also, you were teething and we hadn't quite realized it. The pain of teething made you extra clingy.
You spent most of the morning and early afternoon in the kitchen with me. You stood at my feet, balancing yourself by holding on to my legs. Sometimes, you would demand to be picked up, so I would hold you in one arm and cook with the other. I made the corn pudding entirely one-handed while holding you.
But when I tried to put you down for a pre-dinner nap, you got really upset. When I went back in to calm you down, I observed how much you were chewing on your binky, and realized that you were teething. So I gave you some ibuprofen, and Daddy put the orajel on your gums, and then you were okay.
Tia and Uncle were really happy to see you, and they spent some time with you while Mommy and Daddy finished up the last steps of the dinner. For dinner, you had some bananas, some mashed potatoes, and some sweet potatoes. You played with Tia after dinner, but we put you to bed early because you were very tired after going napless all day. You slept for a while, but then you woke up screaming from the tooth pain. Daddy calmed you down and administered the proper medication before putting you back to bed.
It was a very enjoyable Thanksgiving and I'm glad you were there to share it with us!
Love,
Mommy
On Thursday, Tia and Uncle came over for Thanksgiving dinner. But it was a long day for you before that, because Mommy and Daddy had to cook for the dinner and didn't have a lot of time to spend with you. Also, you were teething and we hadn't quite realized it. The pain of teething made you extra clingy.
You spent most of the morning and early afternoon in the kitchen with me. You stood at my feet, balancing yourself by holding on to my legs. Sometimes, you would demand to be picked up, so I would hold you in one arm and cook with the other. I made the corn pudding entirely one-handed while holding you.
But when I tried to put you down for a pre-dinner nap, you got really upset. When I went back in to calm you down, I observed how much you were chewing on your binky, and realized that you were teething. So I gave you some ibuprofen, and Daddy put the orajel on your gums, and then you were okay.
Tia and Uncle were really happy to see you, and they spent some time with you while Mommy and Daddy finished up the last steps of the dinner. For dinner, you had some bananas, some mashed potatoes, and some sweet potatoes. You played with Tia after dinner, but we put you to bed early because you were very tired after going napless all day. You slept for a while, but then you woke up screaming from the tooth pain. Daddy calmed you down and administered the proper medication before putting you back to bed.
It was a very enjoyable Thanksgiving and I'm glad you were there to share it with us!
Love,
Mommy
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sick Leave and Time Together
Dear Vinny,
I was home from work on sick leave on Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday. I was flattened by some sort of cold or something. But, it did give me some time to spend with you, even if I wasn't feeling top notch.
We sat together in the big green chair for much of the day on Tuesday. We played together in kind of a low-key fashion, since I wasn't feeling the best. I was trying to teach you how to be gentle. I thought that it would now be possible for you to be gentle because on Sunday evening, for the first time you realized that biting my finger hurt me. You bit my finger particularly hard, and I drew my hand away and yelped in pain. I saw on your face that you noticed my reaction, and seemed to understand it as pain. So I was no longer so reluctant to put my finger in your mouth. At first I just let you have my knuckle, but after you just nibbled gently on it, I gave you my whole finger, and you really didn't clamp down on it at all.
But I was teaching you to be gentle in other ways. You still have a tendency to grab my nose and twist it, or yank my hair, or poke my eye very hard, so I was taking you by the wrist and gently stroking my face with your hand. I was telling you the whole time that you were being gentle, and praising you for it, so hopefully you will know to do it that way when I say "be gentle" in the future.
We enjoyed an apple together on Tuesday. I wanted to eat an apple and you were sitting in my lap. I had planned to break off little pieces of the apple to give to you, but you decided that you wanted to bite the apple too. So I bit off the peel, and left some parts of the apple jutting out and you bit off pieces of apple and ate them. I ate the outer layer of the apple, but you ate much of the interior of it. You really enjoyed eating the apple and were disappointed when it was all gone.
Daddy and I were talking and we just think you are an incredibly thoughtful little boy. Not only are you figuring out that biting other people hurts them, but you are very generous with your food. I was holding some goldfish crackers for you to eat, and you would take them from my hand and feed them to me. And you like to share your sippy cup of milk or juice with us too, which is quite generous. You've been sharing your food for quite some time now. It is so sweet of you!
Love,
Mommy
I was home from work on sick leave on Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday. I was flattened by some sort of cold or something. But, it did give me some time to spend with you, even if I wasn't feeling top notch.
We sat together in the big green chair for much of the day on Tuesday. We played together in kind of a low-key fashion, since I wasn't feeling the best. I was trying to teach you how to be gentle. I thought that it would now be possible for you to be gentle because on Sunday evening, for the first time you realized that biting my finger hurt me. You bit my finger particularly hard, and I drew my hand away and yelped in pain. I saw on your face that you noticed my reaction, and seemed to understand it as pain. So I was no longer so reluctant to put my finger in your mouth. At first I just let you have my knuckle, but after you just nibbled gently on it, I gave you my whole finger, and you really didn't clamp down on it at all.
But I was teaching you to be gentle in other ways. You still have a tendency to grab my nose and twist it, or yank my hair, or poke my eye very hard, so I was taking you by the wrist and gently stroking my face with your hand. I was telling you the whole time that you were being gentle, and praising you for it, so hopefully you will know to do it that way when I say "be gentle" in the future.
We enjoyed an apple together on Tuesday. I wanted to eat an apple and you were sitting in my lap. I had planned to break off little pieces of the apple to give to you, but you decided that you wanted to bite the apple too. So I bit off the peel, and left some parts of the apple jutting out and you bit off pieces of apple and ate them. I ate the outer layer of the apple, but you ate much of the interior of it. You really enjoyed eating the apple and were disappointed when it was all gone.
Daddy and I were talking and we just think you are an incredibly thoughtful little boy. Not only are you figuring out that biting other people hurts them, but you are very generous with your food. I was holding some goldfish crackers for you to eat, and you would take them from my hand and feed them to me. And you like to share your sippy cup of milk or juice with us too, which is quite generous. You've been sharing your food for quite some time now. It is so sweet of you!
Love,
Mommy
Monday, November 19, 2007
Travel
Dear Vinny,
I was gone to a conference all last week. I left early Sunday morning and came back late Friday night. While I was gone, Daddy took you up to Louisville to see Granny and Granddad. You had a good time visiting with them. You two didn't get home until Sunday afternoon, so it was a whole week since I had seen you.
You looked different than the last time I had seen you. Daddy had given you your first haircut, so that made a difference, but also, I think you had grown a lot too. But when you two drove into the carport and you caught a glimpse of me, a big smile spread across your face. I was really excited to see you and I scooped you out of your carseat as soon as I could. You were thrilled to see me, just as I was to see you.
I had missed you a lot. Oh sure, I had fun at the conference, but something was missing from my life, and it was you. I think you had missed me a lot too. It was good to be reunited with my favorite little boy!
Love,
Mommy
I was gone to a conference all last week. I left early Sunday morning and came back late Friday night. While I was gone, Daddy took you up to Louisville to see Granny and Granddad. You had a good time visiting with them. You two didn't get home until Sunday afternoon, so it was a whole week since I had seen you.
You looked different than the last time I had seen you. Daddy had given you your first haircut, so that made a difference, but also, I think you had grown a lot too. But when you two drove into the carport and you caught a glimpse of me, a big smile spread across your face. I was really excited to see you and I scooped you out of your carseat as soon as I could. You were thrilled to see me, just as I was to see you.
I had missed you a lot. Oh sure, I had fun at the conference, but something was missing from my life, and it was you. I think you had missed me a lot too. It was good to be reunited with my favorite little boy!
Love,
Mommy
Monday, November 05, 2007
Thirteen Months!
Dear Vinny,
Today you are thirteen months old! You have grown a lot and learned new things.
You've admired Daddy and Uncle Johnny's ability to make a popping sound using their finger and pulling it out of their mouth from the side of their cheek. You have tried to imitate this, by pulling your finger out of your mouth from behind your teeth. It is adorable to watch you do this.
This weekend, I accidentally taught you to jut your jaw forward and expose your lower teeth. I made that face to you as a silly face, and you imitated it. When I do it, it looks like a grimace, but when you do it, it's really cute.
This actually helped you learn to eat. Daddy had to jut your jaw like that, and then bite off a piece of banana. You ate most of a banana like that, with Daddy holding it and sticking it into your mouth far enough that you could bite a chunk of it off.
You've been eating wheat products for a week or so now, and you seem to be doing just fine with them. We first introduced you to bread by feeding you a soft piece from the inside of a biscuit. You absolutely loved it! As your Aunt Laura said when I told her about it, what a great introduction to bread. Biscuits are delicious.
Then, Daddy gave you some pretzel sticks, which you really enjoyed. When we next went to the grocery store, I picked out some Melba toast for you, and Daddy got you some thicker honey-wheat pretzel twists that were lower in sodium. We also picked out some goldfish crackers for you. You liked all of those, especially the goldfish. They have now become a staple in your diet.
Tonight, we went out to eat. We ordered you a baked sweet potato, and you ate the whole thing. We hadn't brought along any of your spoons, and they gave us a soup spoon that was way too big to fit in your mouth, so I had to use my finger to feed it to you. You also drank some water from my glass.
You are becoming more and more mobile. Just the other day, you were sitting on the bed while I changed my clothes, and you stood straight up without pulling up on anything. I was very impressed that you were able to do that! You'll be walking in no time.
Thanks for being such a sweet little boy!
Love,
Mommy
Today you are thirteen months old! You have grown a lot and learned new things.
You've admired Daddy and Uncle Johnny's ability to make a popping sound using their finger and pulling it out of their mouth from the side of their cheek. You have tried to imitate this, by pulling your finger out of your mouth from behind your teeth. It is adorable to watch you do this.
This weekend, I accidentally taught you to jut your jaw forward and expose your lower teeth. I made that face to you as a silly face, and you imitated it. When I do it, it looks like a grimace, but when you do it, it's really cute.
This actually helped you learn to eat. Daddy had to jut your jaw like that, and then bite off a piece of banana. You ate most of a banana like that, with Daddy holding it and sticking it into your mouth far enough that you could bite a chunk of it off.
You've been eating wheat products for a week or so now, and you seem to be doing just fine with them. We first introduced you to bread by feeding you a soft piece from the inside of a biscuit. You absolutely loved it! As your Aunt Laura said when I told her about it, what a great introduction to bread. Biscuits are delicious.
Then, Daddy gave you some pretzel sticks, which you really enjoyed. When we next went to the grocery store, I picked out some Melba toast for you, and Daddy got you some thicker honey-wheat pretzel twists that were lower in sodium. We also picked out some goldfish crackers for you. You liked all of those, especially the goldfish. They have now become a staple in your diet.
Tonight, we went out to eat. We ordered you a baked sweet potato, and you ate the whole thing. We hadn't brought along any of your spoons, and they gave us a soup spoon that was way too big to fit in your mouth, so I had to use my finger to feed it to you. You also drank some water from my glass.
You are becoming more and more mobile. Just the other day, you were sitting on the bed while I changed my clothes, and you stood straight up without pulling up on anything. I was very impressed that you were able to do that! You'll be walking in no time.
Thanks for being such a sweet little boy!
Love,
Mommy
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