Today you are 13 months old.
This month has gone by so fast. It seems like we just completed a newsletter 3 days ago. I'm glad the newsletter is due today because if it was due yesterday, oh boy... yesterday you were a real piece of work...
Yesterday you showed an impressive capacity for stubbornness. You had a lot of opinions and could communicate none of them effectively. All three meals were accompanied by tears; real, "drawing tiny rivers on your face" tears. There was pointing and shouting and gesticulating and no rhyme or reason to your behavior. To be fair, you are on day 7 of another 10 day course of antibiotics - Maybe you are just cranky and tired or uncomfortable... There's no way for us to know what discomfort (if any) you are experiencing. There's a chance we've been medicating you unnecessarily, but we gave you a dose of motrin last night and then again this morning. You don't have a fever, but between your teeth and your ear(s), there's no way of knowing if it is pain that has contributed to the disappearance of "Mr Mellow" and the visitation by the "Tiny dictator".
Your mama tells me to chill out and let you have a bad day every once in a while without worrying that you're "turning" like a glass of milk on the front porch in the hot summer sun. Even though you ran her around the ring yesterday too (she said you pointed at the fridge, shouting angrily as she pulled out several types of food, until she found the one you were after) she's right to defend you.
For most of this month you have been perfect and adorable. When we had a house-full of friends come to visit a few weeks ago, the childless-but-trying-couples present declared, "We'd like to order one like him, please." Tonight was a great example of "adorable JB". I came home from work at about 6, and you and I played - I think you belly-laughed and giggled for an hour straight. You especially like when I nuzzle your head or belly with my head, when I "nibble" on your cheeks and jaw, when I put the juggling ball into my mouth and pass it into your mouth. You like to explore the drawers around the house, pull the books out of the shelves, touch and push any buttons on any electronic devices, throw and roll balls to us, and you are getting very good at walking while holding on to only ONE of our fingers.
It seems like you will walk at any moment, but we've only gotten about 2-3 steps out of you at a clip. You are 21.5lbs and something like 31 inches. You are in the 75th percentile on the growth chart for height and 30th percentile for weight. You handled your one year visit like a champ. They had to give you 4 shots which seemed to really hurt you, but prior to the immunizations, they checked a lead level via finger-stick. I swear, you didn't even make a noise. You just looked at this lady who was squeezing the blood out of your recently lanced finger with a furrowed brow and an expression that seemed to say, "Are you qualified to do this?" When we hit the pedi practice last week, you didn't really appreciate at all that they had to inspect your aching ears and Mama said you whimpered all the way home, lulling yourself into a two hour, unscheduled nap.
I'm gonna wrap this up and keep it brief this month, because God knows if I don't, the next newsletter will be upon us. You turned one year old, and then I blinked my eyes and now you are 13 months. These four weeks might have been a mirage. Time passing this quickly is inconceivable. But somehow four weeks have passed, and in the breakneck pace of a full schedule, our hearts have gotten a little more full because (there's no other truth) of the ways you keep us grounded, in awe, and smiling.
We are anxiously waiting for the election next week. The polls have Senator Obama winning in an un-heard-of-in-the-modern-day landslide. We hope with fingers crossed and not-so-silent mumbles to the Lord above that this will really be the result. We have been dreaming that other citizens would be as affected, inspired, and motivated by this man as we are. Nothing would make us feel safer or more proud than for your next four years- the years you learn to walk and talk and reason and dream- to occur in the atmosphere of a President named Barack Obama.
As new parents, fully immersed in change, overwhelmed by the possibilities of what might be, and concerned about the opportunities that await you, it is appropriate to hope for this - for this man to assume his place in history. We have insecurities - yes, but mostly we have dreams for our future, for the future you will grow up in and inherit. These include living in a nation that comes through on the promise that any child-citizen can grow up to be the president, regardless of race or background. We also seek a president that shares our values, that wants to unite this nation and not divide it; who sees intellect and education as inherent building blocks of success; who will put you and all children first and remind parents to do the same; who protects our stakes in the world, but doesn't stain our country's well-earned reputation as a proponent of good will and an honorable, trustworthy nation. Contrary to the policies that have recently guided our leaders, your mommies believe that pacifism, environmentalism, health care as a right, economic safety nets, and a healthy dose of government accountability are moral and patriotic... It has been almost 3 generations since a US president has reminded citizens that they should be charged not with getting rich, not with achieving the 'American dream' at the expense of others, not with asking 'What can you (or the US) do for me?' But instead asking, 'What can we do together for each other?'
So, keep your chubby, sock-less legs crossed...
Maybe next week we'll have something new to celebrate.
We love you little boy,
Your mommies
1 comment:
Maybe you could bring him to North Carolina?
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