Dear Teo,
My sweet boy, how much you have grown in the last month!
Some of the things you are enjoying these days are: your fish mobile, the game where I stick out my tongue and then you stick out yours, the game where papa lifts you up over his head and then back down over and over until his arms feel like they are going to fall off, having conversations with your Grammy, listening to me tell the story of the Three Little Pigs with silly voices, a book with photos of baby faces, papa's made-up songs, and snuggling with me all night long.
Some things you do not like: riding in the car seat, skipping your morning nap, trying to nurse while people are talking, trying to nurse if I'm not looking in your eyes and holding your hand, the pacifier, the bottle, hiccups, and 7:00 in the evening (appropriately called the "witching hour" by some parents).
Your Grammy has been babysitting you for about an hour a day. I use that time to take a shower, go for a run or get chores done. I often wonder how parents survive without a Grammy (or some loving, patient, intuitive person) nearby.
And here is your honorary grandma. We went back for another visit with our midwife at the Birth Center, and this time we remembered to get a photo!!
Papa and I have joined a Birth to Three group. Birth to Three is a local non-profit organization that brings together parents with babies the same age. We meet every other week with a facilitator who offers some parent education, and we share with and get to know 9 other families and their babies. The groups will be really fun once you and the other kids start to notice each other and interact. I know some people who went through Birth to Three with their babies who are still in contact with the other parents when their kids are teenagers. It is helpful to have a community of people who are experiencing the same joys and struggles of parenting.
For your first Halloween we dressed you as a chili pepper. You had your costume on for about 10 minutes, and then seemed to find it irritating, so we took it off. You slept peacefully through the party we went to, which was no small feat since it was a party of boisterous two-year-olds!
On your two month birthday, I planned to take a photo of you. Note to self: don't schedule a photo shoot and vaccinations on the same day. Actually, don't schedule anything on vaccination day! You got your shots at 10:30 in the morning. You cried for most of the day and by 4:00 in the afternoon you were running a fever. We skipped our Birth to Three group that night, not wanting to put you through yet another car ride, and we ended up taking your photo a couple of days later.
Other family news:
Your Uncle Levi sent us this amazing shelf that he build. It is made without any screws or nails. Instead, it is held together by wooden pegs. We put it in the kitchen to hold jars of cooking supplies. It makes me happy every time I look at it because I think of Levi.
Your papa got me a pizza stone and a bread recipe book, and I have been learning to bake bread. This (and cooking in general) have been so nurturing for me. When I met your papa, I literally didn't know how to cook anything more complicated that macaroni and cheese. Somehow I survived until my young adulthood without ever learning to cook or plan meals. After some diligent work (and lots of experimenting) on my part, it now feels fairly easy to cook healthy meals for our little family. I look forward to when you start eating and I can try making your baby food.
Your cousin Oceana has been enjoying helping me bake. Muffins are her specialty, and she particularly likes any baking project that includes chocolate chips. She and my sister, Sarah, are going to help me make Thanksgiving dinner this week.
We have so much to be thankful for this year, Teo. Most of all, we are thankful for you and all the fun and learning and sweetness you bring to our lives.
All our love,
Mama and Papa
