Dear Morris,
Tonight is the last night of your eleventh month. Your first year. Your time as our little baby. Even though we hate to admit it, we can see it in everything you do, now- you simply aren’t an infant anymore.
The adorable wobbles and unsteadiness that came with learning so many new skills is quickly disappearing. You are pretty darn confident and sturdy as you walk from object to object or move from sitting to standing or standing to sitting. Your newfound freedom brings you so much joy, radiating the biggest grin as you launch into our arms in those final steps. While we’ll miss the days of you insisting on constantly being held, standing, warm against our chest or accidentally rolling onto that squishy belly of yours... tonight we drove home talking about how incredibly proud we are watching you navigate this world by foot. There is so much about this world we can’t wait for you to see.
You now fiddle and manipulate objects so easily, sometimes stacking or ringing rings without looking and clap with pride when you are done. You start to take them apart or explore how they work in new ways as if telling us, “these toys will soon be too boring for me, mama and papa.”While we’ll miss how easily entertained you were by the simplest of things on the floor or in the mirror, we are constantly amazed by what you’re capable of understanding now as we chase you around the house and try to keep up with your endless curiosities. Opening, closing. Putting in, pulling out. Squeezing. Ripping. Pulling. Shaking. Throwing. Splashing. Tasting.
You are no longer just the happy, go lucky chunk that smiled at us all day though you are still the happiest little guy we know. You are so much more now, too. You are also sometimes angry, throwing your arms and anything in them down to the ground, glaring at us from beneath those expressive eyebrows. You know what you want and how you want it and aren’t scared to protest. You are sometimes overwhelmingly sad, turning blue as we remind you to breathe in between wails. You push me away because you are ready to be on your own while still managing to spend what feels like ages reaching for me to hold you close. You are focused and serious about your explorations and goofy and silly in your play. Loud and rambunctious as you pull us to the ground to wrestle but quiet and sweet as you point to the pages of your favorite book, cozy in our laps and making the most adorable little sounds.
While you started copying sounds a few months back, your bank of sounds and words you recognize just keeps growing. You love to say papa and do your best with ball, baby, and dog though those end sounds are a bit tricky. You start to say “hi”in the same way we always have to you, since the day you were born. It makes me melt. My first words to you becoming one of your first words. The sound of a goat, bee, elephant, rooster, and lion make you smile and you love to try and make them yourself. Mostly, you just love to waltz around on those busy feet, scaling furniture and adventuring under, through, and into anything you can find, babbling and chatting away. While we’ll miss the sound of coos and tiny giggles, your ever growing humor and contagious belly laugh are all these old rooms need. We could listen to your deep “oh”s and high pitched “oo”s, all day.
Your hair is long. Your 8 teeth adorably big. Your grip and balance strong. You bounce to dance and wave to greet; point to birds and reach for friends. Feed yourself and now put yourself to sleep. You are social, gentle, curious, hilarious, playful, cheeky, and maybe even a little stubborn. You are too perfect to have been built inside this body of mine. Too perfect to be ours. And everyday we are so glad you are. In a year that has felt so strange, we can confidently say that we both didn’t miss a second of you. We saw you transform right in front of our eyes and while it went quick like everyone said it would, we are so ready for the next chapter with you because of it.
Onward to one year, Morris-sasaurus, our little toddler. We love you!
Love, Mama