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I’m writing to you at 5am at Logan Airport on July 23rd with your 8 month anniversary coming up this Friday. Whenever I have to go away for work, I get pretty sad because I already miss you, or even just the thought that I know I will see you later today. It will have to wait until I get back tomorrow.
Well, we made the big move. A few weeks ago, we moved from Charlestown to Wellesley and in doing so, you just about 3.5x’ed the amount of space you will have growing up. So far, I think you really like the change of scenery. At first, it was a little bit tough for you getting to sleep at night since it was a new space. But overall, there are more rooms for you to play in and we turned the loft/attic area into a dedicated play space for you, so you seem to have it pretty good.
It’s amazing to me how quickly you have changed. Your first tooth is starting to pop through and you have started making some funny faces because of that. You have been enjoying pretty much every single thing you can get your hands on in your mouth. For some reason, you are particularly fond of tags. Someone could give you the coolest toy, but if it has a tag, you just want to put the tag in your mouth. I guess this is your way of exploring the world.
The other big thing is that you have begun to crawl and sit up on your own. You have become quite good at it. One time, you saw our cat Zoe across the room and crawled all the way across the room to say hi to her. You’ve become so proficient at crawling that you have even begun practicing standing up while holding onto something. You are quite advanced for your age as apparently it usually takes babies much longer to reach these milestones.
Speaking of being advanced, I am a little worried that you also seem to love iPhones. When practicing your crawling, you will often get excited if someone leaves an iPhone on the ground. You will race towards it with a mischievous but excited look on your face. I can never let you win this little game because of the thing I told you about putting things in your mouth a moment ago. Phones are dirty. Also, you’re not supposed to be looking at screens right now because apparently it is bad for your development.
We took you to visit my grandmother – your great-grandmother – a few weeks ago, too. Now we live much closer by and it is easier to visit. You reached out to touch her face when we got there. She lives in a small room in an assisted living facility. She could not stop talking about how much you made her day. You honestly might have made her year with that visit.
A couple weeks ago, we started taking you to swim classes. For the most part, you seem to really enjoy them. The first time, I took you in the water and this past weekend, your mom took you in the water with her. Both times, you shrieked and squealed with so much excitement, the same way you do when we give you solid foods. We were a little nervous about dipping your head under the water but your mom did it successfully with you this past weekend so maybe I just need to learn to let go a little bit and trust that you will be OK.
Speaking of your mom, she is the one who makes everything tick around here for you. She signed you up for swim class and music classes and orders all your toys and games and books. She seems to know everything there is to know about babies. Good thing we have her because if you were stuck with me you might be in trouble.
So far, there are a bunch of things you really like. Water is definitely one of them. You like swimming and you have always loved bath time. You are also a big fan of music. You like to dance around when you hear it and it often calms you down when you get fussy. Lastly, you love exploring new foods. I think your top choice right now is banana but there is plenty of time for that to change.
All in all, it was a great month for you. I cannot believe that you are two-thirds of the way to being a year old already. But I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Love,
Dad
Jeff Kirchick 