All about Leo as he rolls up on eleven! months! holy! cow!

This post is sort of a "Mom's journal" of things I want to remember.

Leo:
-walks independently
-walks independently while carrying toys, even large toys
-falls gently
-catches himself
-walks fast
-turns fast
-feeds himself pretty much everything
-Opens and shuts anything that will open or shut
-Plays hide-and-seek

Leo loves:
-His parents
-turkey
-cheese
-pears
-apples (especially tasting/sucking on a peeled apple [relatively safe because he only has one tooth {and one more just coming in}])
-toast bites smeared with pureed fruit
-dancing
-Diana Damrau singing "O Zittre Nicht"
-Having his teeth brushed
-Being naked
-People. Everywhere. Everyone. Flirting.
-Knocking over towers that we build, and teasing us in the process, holding his hand up near the tower for several seconds and smiling before he taps it.
-Nursing, except for the last feed of the night - he will only take that by bottle (but will nurse for a few minutes after draining his bottle). This began happening because when he was really young he would nurse to sleep after just a few minutes, so I would "top him off" with a few ounces of pumped milk. After a while he only wanted the bottle. It hasn't seemed to make him want to nurse the rest of the time any less.

Leo does not love:
-diaper changes
-being dressed/undressed/messed with in this way in general
-Having his face wiped
-Being lotioned/PJ'ed after bath and before bed

Leo will, on demand:
-Dance
-Clap
-Do "So Big"
-Roll 'em up (as in Patty-cake)
-and Throw 'em in the oven
-Tickle Grandpa's mustache (or a picture of Grandpa's mustache)
-Gesture to something he wants (he's just starting to do this)

Leo communicates by:
-Signing for nursing (which also sometimes means "Mama" and "food" or "comfort" in general
-Shoving his face into my chest (loud and clear, yo)
-Waving "hello" or "goodbye"

Leo says:
-Ha (hi)
-Dehdeh (Mama)
-Dadadadada (Papa)
-Other forms of Dadadadadada while looking at or gesturing to a grandparent
-Also mimics a lot of things we say (the pitches/tones)
-Bbbbbbb (lip trills)
[I never really noticed a "first word," although my dad said he heard Leo say "Papa" to Matt. These are more like little sounds he makes that we just realized are specific in nature. Thus, um, words, I guess.]

Leo recognizes the words:
-Nurse
-Milk
-Hungry
-Mama
-Papa (matt)
-Grandma
-Grandpa
-Mustache (see "Grandpa")
-Nana
-Granddaddy
-Puppy

Leo has traveled to Minnesota (two flight legs) four times (twice just this month) and Texas three times. He is very good on a plane. I think he is so used to it that he just isn't fazed, even though he has just become so mobile.

Leo loves to be outside.

Leo loves dogs and most animals in general.

He sleeps through the night (12 hours) about 70% of the time. The rest of the time, he wakes around 1am and needs to be rocked, patted, or hugged back to sleep.

Leo is very emotional and sensitive. We usually know what is on his mind. He communicates his feelings, wants, desires loudly and with full emotion. He is very, very funny, very goofy, very fun. I really, really like him.

Goodbye

She was less than two weeks from her 85th birthday.

She was a beauty queen, an immaculate hostess, and a mother who raised a family of six without ever learning how to drive a car. She was a businesswoman. I grew up a half mile from her and she never missed a single choir concert, dance recital or spelling bee.

She had thousands of friends. She was hilarious and incredibly smart. She was a devout Catholic. She taught me how to play cards and gloated when she beat me. She used to rub my back to warm me up after I swam in the cold lake in the summer in MN.

She loved music and baking and her family. She hid chocolates and didn't share them with anybody. She made the best cinnamon rolls and the BEST BEST chocolate chip cookies. She sent me home baked goods all through college.

She married her one great true love.

I am proud that I made her a great-grandmother.



Rest peacefully, my beloved Nana. How I will miss you.

My baby grows.

I love this boy with my whole heart. My whole entire heart.

Regarding my post below. Life will never be the same. But I wouldn't want it to be.

(The end of this video documents his obsession with my folks' kitchen light fixture.)

Everything is far from perfect.

So often, we only write about the good things. I think that parents do each other a disservice in this way. No one wants to complain, lest we sound like our love for our children is subpar. I don't even feel the need to preface this blog by saying "I love my child more than life itself and wouldn't change things for a billion dollars" (ok, I do feel the need to preface this blog with the above phrase. Got it? I love him. I love my life. Moving on)

Parents have it so hard. You love your child intensely but they complicate your life infinitely, your time isn't your own, and you have resigned yourself to pretty much never sleeping eight straight hours again without waking at least once just out of habit.

I always thought I was "a homebody" because I liked "being at home." Wrong. Since having a baby I have realized that I am anything but. Matt and I were always running out at all hours for a random spur-of-the-moment late-night dinner, yoga class, whatevs. On the weekends we were rarely found sitting at home, always at a movie, walking around, seeing live music, out to dinner, etc. Even while he was in med school.

ALLLLLL of that changes when you have a child. Dare I say it? I miss it. I miss being able to just take off and do whatever I want. I miss being able to go to a coffeeshop and sit with a book (HAHAHA like I ever did that), I miss being able to just go for a walk or go to a yoga class or a movie or a bar or a friend's house.

We do the best we can. Today, for example. Today was a beautiful day. We took a nice drive up the coast and found a cute bistro and had breakfast and then returned home. We both napped (um, taking turns watching the baby, obv). Later in the day we started feeling stir crazy. CRAZY. Matt hitched up the Burley baby bike trailer and we rode up to Manhattan Beach and then back to Hermosa and stopped and ate dinner by the beach. We watched the sun set, we rode home. Leo loves his bike trailer, he smiled at all of the ladies and all of the dogs and laughed as we barked like dogs at him all the way home. He took a bath and went to bed. Then I took a bath and relaxed.

We adore him. It was a good day. Eating TWO meals out in one day? This baby is a champ. Did I mention he got a tooth today? Nary a fuss.

We are blessed beyond belief. I think I have made that perfectly clear, and that is why I don't feel guilty about being honest about missing my old life. It's ok. As one of my wise friends told me - missing your old life means you had a good life even before the baby.

Avocado Face, I love you more than anything.

He makes me laugh.

Malibaby

We took a spontaneous day trip to Malibu today so Matt could surf and Leo and I could play on the beach. It was so spur-of-the-moment that we just threw a bunch of stuff in bags and went...it was cool at our house so I didn't even bring swimsuits for Leo and I and I sort of wish I had, as he had SO much fun crawling in the wet sand, his pants were soaked through.


When we first got there, we set ourselves up with his play blanket and some toys and he had some lunch, then I carried him down to the water and let him watch the surf come in. Then I held his hands while he walked around a bit. Finally, after much hesitation on my part, I just put him down and let him go. He immediately squealed with pure glee and headed straight for the waves. For the better part of an hour he crawled in the wet sand (I had to constantly redirect him from the water, surfboards, tasty-looking kelp) screaming and laughing with joy. He absolutely loved it.

He finally started melting down a little and was getting really annoyed with his hat and with me for wiping sand off of his face and not letting him put things in his mouth, then he face-planted and took a big mouthful of sand and it was not happyville anymore. Very fortunately, Matt's daddy-telepathy kicked in and he came in from his surfing at that moment and gave Leo a little cleaning in the cold shower.


We ended our day with a little dinner out (burgers for Matt and I, avocado and bits of sweet potato fries for Leo) and a trip to the park. Lovely day for a mama, a papa, and a 9 1/2 month old sweet boy.


We had so much fun, I could hardly get him to stop to nurse. Sitting with the pump for a loooong time tonight...hence, a blog post.

Leo's dad at nine months

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