7 & 8 Months

Dear Tate,

This weekend you turned eight months old, and way back in July, you turned seven months old. Are you amazed by my mathematical prowess, son? You should be. Random sidenote: You should ask your dad sometime about that time when he saw my LSAT pre-test scores in the math section and then made fun of me for the next ten years. (In my defense, I wasn’t that dumb, I was on a full college scholarship at the time…although that scholarship was in journalism…) Well, I didn’t write you in July as I was on my Digital Sabbatical, but I promise, it was a good month. You have changed exponentially in the past weeks, I’m not even sure where to start.

In July you ended up spending most of your days either inside or at the pool, as your little body certainly could not handle temperatures that were over 105 degrees daily. You went from tolerating the water to totally loving it, splashing like a maniac whenever you were anywhere near a pool or a sink or a bathtub. We had to stop giving you baths in the kitchen sink, as your splashing was getting so out of control you were close to shorting out some appliances (toaster, baby food maker, microwave), and now we have to take baths in the big tub, you, me and Lulu. Let me tell you, kiddo, you wholeheartedly approve of this development. You would splash in that bath all day. You shriek and laugh and throw your body in to the water with such force, it’s hard for me to hold on.

I guess that’s another thing that has changed in the past months, your strength. You have turned into a bit of a rock, little man. You’re not rolley poley like your sister was as a baby, but you’re not a little guy either. You’re just totally solid. Yesterday we were at the lake with your grandparents and Grandma leaned over to pick you up and exclaimed, “Wow, you are a lot heavier than you look!” You’re strong, too. You’ve gone from rolling all over the place, to rocking on your knees, to full out crawling all over the place. If someone holds your hands above your head, you immediately stand up and try to walk, which, let’s be honest, I’m not so fond of. Can’t you just stay a baby for a bit longer, before you’re running around, stealing your sister’s Polly Pockets and trying to eat them?

Your personality is changing a bit too, although I’m not sure how much is actual “change” and how much is you just being able to express yourself a bit better these days. You’ve always been a talker, but now you are officially a yeller. You screech and scream and groan and moan and laugh and giggle and sigh…I will even put it on record that I think that you maybe (possibly) said “mama” the other day. Now when you want something you crawl right up and tug on pants legs or slap me in the foot. When I ask if you want “up please” you will stretch your arms up to me and smile. You’re also a total cuddler, snuggling your face into the crook of my neck and wrapping your arms around me when I hold you. Your sister used to do that too, and I forgot how amazing it feels.

After a blissful summer at home with our nanny, you are officially back at daycare, although just to trip you up, you’ll be moving to a different facility in two weeks. We like to keep you on your toes, little man. And while I miss you being at home, I know that you’ll do fine in daycare, just as you always have. It helps that you are so charming and not to much of a trouble maker (yet), all the ladies who work there think you’re quite the dashing little dude. When I brought you in on the first day, none of them could believe how different you were in just a few short months since they’d seen you last. “He has hair!” they exclaimed. “His eyes are so pretty! He’s crawling!” One of the older ladies smiled at me and said, “He’s still our little Tater Tot, though. Such a sweetheart.”

Yup, ditto to that.

Love you, little man,
Mama