Dear Gabriel,
You are now 11 months old. This means that your 1 year
birthday is constantly on my mind. I’m thinking about the details of planning a
birthday party for you, but it’s not just to follow the ritual…It’s because I am
so excited to celebrate your first year of life!
You have changed SO much, even just in the past month. I had
been trying to get you to clap your hands for a long time. You would often pick
up two toys and bang them together, but you wouldn’t do it with your hands.
Then one day last week, you started doing it! Now you clap all the time!
You also started playing peekaboo. I noticed one day in the
car that you were playing with a shirt that Elizabeth sent home from daycare.
You kept putting it on your head and laughing. I couldn’t figure out why you
thought a shirt was so funny. Then when we got home, you started doing it with
a blanket, and I could tell that you were hiding your face and then uncovering
it. We, of course, make a big deal about this and clap and praise you for how
clever you are.
I noticed this week that you have two more teeth through the
gum. They are on either side of the two middle top teeth. It’s kind of crazy
for me to think of you with a full set of teeth! Your little grin with two on
top and two on bottom is so adorable. You’re really learning to use your teeth,
too. You bite Cheerios in half and take bites of crackers. Last night you bit
the spoon I was feeding you with and wouldn’t give it back. You tried out your
bite while nursing the other night, too…which was NOT COOL.
Your adjustment to formula during the day went very
smoothly. And you’re getting pretty good at holding your bottle or your sippy
cup by yourself. This month Elizabeth is starting to transition you to whole
milk so that you can be done with formula when you’re a year old. I don’t have
a real plan as far as how long to continue our morning and bedtime nursing…I
think we’ll just play it by ear. It still works for both of us right now, so
we’ll keep on.
You’ve been trying lots of new foods. You love French fries
and sweet potato fries. You eat cooked baby carrots, banana, strawberries,
peaches, and graham crackers. You like the small bites of cake or brownie that
I give you. And you learned to drink from a straw because you apparently like
root beer, sprite, and cherry limeades.
Your ear tube surgery is proving to be the good decision I
thought it would be. You had a cold this past month that surely would have
become an ear infection without putting the tubes in. It’s encouraging that you’ve
been able to go over a month without any antibiotics. We have had to coat most
of your body in Lamisil for the past couple of weeks, though. You picked up ringworm
somewhere, and instead of having one spot, you had spots on both legs, your back,
sides, and tummy. I’m just thankful that it didn’t get on your face or scalp.
While inspecting your skin for ringworm spots, I noticed
that a small little freckle has appeared right in the crease of your right leg
where it meets your body. I keep watching for more little freckles to pop up
since both your dad and I have quite a few. Who knows where the next one will
be?!
This past Sunday was my first Mother’s Day. We spent the day
with Grammaw, aunt Jordan, and cousin Will. It was a wonderful, happy day, and
it makes me feel blessed to have brought you into this family. I feel blessed
that you are here in my life. You make this a beautiful life.
Thank you for making me a mommy,
mama
