Dear Corben: One

Dear Corben,

It's been too long, and it's almost to late, but here I am in the nick of time to say Happy Birthday.

*Cough* 2 weeks ago *cough* you turned one.

One. Dude, that's huge!

I don't even know what to say about it...you've developed into such a little PERSON over the past few months and it has been so much fun getting to know you.

You are happy. Everyone remarks on it. "Wow, that is one happy baby!" I hear it all the time. (Actually, what they often say, is "that is one happy little girl," which may be an indicator that it's time for me to cut your hair, but I flat out refuse, it's not even open for discussion, so lets not even talk about it.) In the weeks since your birthday you've gone from crawling mostly everywhere to being a full out walker. Last Sunday I was in the laundry room and turned around to see you walk in the door...that's going to take a little bit of getting used to! Your steps are still hesitant, and there's a little bit of the cutest little side shuffle going on, but I'm guessing it won't be long until you're giving Griffin a run for his money around this place!You are so easy to understand...you communicate SO well for a kid your age. Not only with the little bit of sign language that you know, but your facial expressions are well developed and terribly varied (and often hilarious) and your wants and needs are usually pretty simple. You're hungry, you're tired, or you're bored...those are about the only few things that piss you off. Oh, or your brother stole your (fill in the blank.) Don't worry, soon your aim will improve, as will your motoring skills, and you can chase that turkey down and smack him yourself. (Not that I'm condoning violence between siblings...unless it's truly called for.)
Speaking of communicating, you're picking up the sign language and an awesome speed, and it's so encouraging to see. Two days ago I showed you the sign for book. Today you saw a book sitting on the stairs, pointed to it, and made the sign! Wicked! I was so chuffed that I looked around the living room for something else to sign. Seeing some dirty clothes that never made it to the bedroom, I immediately looked up the signs for "pick up" and "laundry." Hell, if you're going to be so clever, we might as well put it to good use! (You didn't quite get it...don't worry, we'll keep working!)

Your birthday was lovely by the way. We had a very relaxing day. Some friends, a few presents, some obligatory cake smashing. Griffin enjoyed playing with your birthday present all day long, which you ever so graciously shared.
Oooooh, pressies! There was even a PRE party nap, which may have been partially responsible for the delightfulness that was the party! Dude, being one is hard, I know!Little man, you complete this family in a way that I never knew was possible. I love you so much. Happy birthday, little one, we look forward to watching you grow!

Love Mama

Dear Corben: 10 Months

Dear Corben,

Corben, Corben, Corben. What can I say? Today you are 10 months old, and holy shit do I love you!

You, my youngest son, are a big old pile of fun right now. I've had such a wonderful time these past few months, soaking you up, taking it all in, while quietly listening to the clock tick down to the end of my maternity leave. This time though, I can see it coming - I know the end of our year together is on it's way, and I want to take every last chance I can to snuggle with you in the big chair, to roll around on the floor with you, to read (aka I read, you eat) books with you, and to just BE with you.
This whole second child thing is crazy. With Griffin, we sat and watched with amazement and wonder, never quite knowing what he'd do next. He was (and still is) a fascinating little creature to us. As the oldest, he gets to "do it all first," for better and for worse. You are different. Having Griffin pave the path for you, and for us, I know what your potential is. I trust my instincts more. I trust you more, I give you more credit than maybe I gave Griffin when he was your age. I KNOW you're smarter than I think you are some days. I KNOW you're comprehending things that I'm saying to you. I KNOW that you're seeing the signs that I'm making to you, and when you throw your hands up in the air, it's NOT just coincidence, you're trying to say "all done" in sign language, just like I've been showing you how to. This trust of you, and of myself with you, has given me a closer connection with you then I ever thought possible. In turn, I think it's done wonders for my relationship with your big brother too, and for that I thank you.

Speaking of your brother, and speaking of love, holy schmoly does your big brother love the heck out of you. Sometimes his love may feel a little like mauling, but trust me when I say his intentions are genuine. Griffin just can't wait till you're old enough to run with him, ride dragons with him, watch movies with him...there's just so much that he's BURSTING to share with you, that it makes me smile from ear to ear. I think you guys are going to be awesome little buddies...provided of course that you love dinosaurs and dragons. (If you grow up to love cows and horses, the poor guy is going to be crushed!) This past month I've really seen you turn from baby to boy. You crawl with lightening speed, you stand, cruise the furniture, and boy do you ever like to climb. And child, you are into everything. Every little morsel of every little fiber of every piece of anything in this house has to be touched, tasted, pulled, chewed, shredded, whatever it is that you can possibly to it to make sure you've experienced it to it's fullest. This is cute and fun and harmless when it comes to things like kleenex and toys, and even the occasional crayon. It's less cute when you tear the shit out of my books. It's even less cute when you do things like pull Daddy's laptop off the kitchen table and smash the screen. Oh yes you did. Stick to the kleenex, wouldja?
We're working on improving your sleeping habits, although frankly I don't mind them at all. You nurse through the night, and enjoy falling asleep while nursing too. Truth be told, I enjoy it too. However, since it's going to be a little tough to nurse yourself to sleep for naps at daycare, I best do something about that.
I love you to bits and pieces, you little stinker. You are impishly cute. You have a smile that lights up the room. You are smart and charming. You're a snuggler, just like your Daddy and your brother before you. There's few places that you'd rather be than in your Mama's arms, and quite frankly, I like it just fine that way. I love you forever, and I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

Love Mama

Dear Corben: Seven Months

Dear Corben,

On Monday, you turned 7 months old.

I can hardly express to you how much you have changed in the past month. You have gone from stationary to mobile - not quite crawling, but perfecting the scootch, and you are all over the place. Last night I looked over at you and you were sitting. And then you were laying down, and then suddenly you were sitting again! I have no idea how you did it, but it's clear that you're a man on the move. Just like your brother, and millions of babies before you, when we put you down on the floor you head straight for the one thing you shouldn't be playing with. Shoes are your favourite, and while they're great for playing with, they're less great for chewing on, which is where everything that you get in your hands inevitably ends up - your mouth.
You've become way more vocal, testing out the boundaries of your voice. The bababababa's can stay. The high pitched squeals that drill directly into my cerebal cortex have GOT to go. And the growls, which sound remarkably like Griffins's growls, are just cute enough to stay. (Keep in mind though that there are only a certain amount of things that you should be picking up from your brother.)You're also eating solid foods (and pooping solid poops!) You've become quite the snuggler, and I love sitting in the big chair with you and have you rest your head on my shoulder and fall asleep for a brief moment until you're ready to go again. I love love love snuggling up with you at night, even though you are a sweat hog. Since you come by it honestly, I'll forgive you.You're the cutest kid around, dolling out smiles to all the ladies wherever we go, like your brother (and father) before you. I love watching your personality emerge - you love to laugh, but you're that quiet explorer kind of kid, which, frankly we could use around here!
And dude, you suddenly have HAIR!
It's been another great month. It's been such a pleasure to watch you grow, and emerge, and I think you really are the perfect addition to our little family!

Love Mama

PS. Remember yesterday, when you did that swan dive out of my arms and hurled yourself towards the pavement? Remember when I caught you, only after you flipped and flopped out of my arms 3 or 4 times on your way towards the ground and certain head injury? No? Don't remember? Well, I do, likely because I nearly had a freaking heart attack. Please, for the love of all things holy, don't EVER do that again.

(If my heart rate climbs above 200 bpm and stays that way for an hour, does that count as an extra workout?)

Dear Corben: 6 months

Dear Corben,

How is it possible that in the last 6 months you have gone from this:To this?
You've turned into a tiny little man! A vivacious, beautiful, (almost always) happy little man!

And...you're a man on the move! You're rolling, scootching, doing some rocky-backy-forthy moves on your hands. Your dexterity has gone through the roof in the past few weeks, and the angels now sing every time you put that little soother back in your mouth on your very own, which you've gotten quite adept at.
I'm happy, and proud as hell to say that we've made it to the 6th month mark with only Mama's milk for food! Your little rolls and chubs and folds? All breastmilk, all the time! And the jury is still out on the whole solid food business. Every time I've attempted giving you something other than my famous boobs, you get this look on your face like I'm trying to torture you. And then you gag. And spit. And I scrape another bowl of various mushed foods into the compost, and we go back to the boobs. And honestly, I'm just fine with that for as long as you want!
These past few weeks have been a little rough, what with the teething and the hot and the sweaty and all, but you've come through it all like a trooper, and since you've only bit my nipple once with your brand new little teeth, I've decided that you can stay. (But don't let it happen again....it freaking HURTS!)
You have the most beautiful smile in the world. And I love it when people tell me that you have the most beautiful eyes in the world, because your eyes look just like mine. (I'm selfish like that!) You're one of the happiest babies I've ever had the pleasure to know, and I'm so lucky that you're mine.It's easy to get to a mark like 6 months and ask yourself "where has the time gone?" However, I've been very aware of the time ticking by this time around, so I can tell you exactly where the time has gone - it's gone to snuggles on the big chair, to hours of lying on the big bed making funny noises and funny faces at you; it's gone to countless hours of nursing, while I stare at you, and you pull on the skin at the back of my arms. (Which, by the way, needs to stop!) It's gone to naps, lots of naps together, and nights upon nights of sleeping curled up in each other. There will never be another year of your life where you come so far and change so much, and I'm proud to say that I'm doing my best not to squander a single moment of it. We're halfway into a year all to ourselves as this new little family unit, and if the next 6 months are anywhere near as blissful as the first, I'll be one happy Mama!

I love you little C!

xoxox
Mama

Dear Corben: 4 months

Dear Corben,

In the midst of this past weekend that was Mother's Day, and company, and crazy, we also had another little milestone. You, my darling dearest, turned 4 months old.

You, my second son, are a joy. You're smart, you're charming, you love the ladies just like your brother (and father) before you, and you sleep. Thank god for that.You've certainly become more aware of the world around you this month. You're grabbing at everything you can see, which includes my hair, and the skin on my neck, which is getting stretchier by the day. (As if you little punks weren't already ageing me enough!) You're starting to enjoy hanging out on the carpet a bit more, and have begun to make moves to roll over...we were certain you were going to go for the gold last night, but you just couldn't seem to get all the way over.

Tummy time usually looks like this for the first 5-8 minutes or so (complete with the puke, nearly every time):And then we switch to this:(I like to call this look "Mad Mad Carpet Face.") And that's when we know tummy time is over.

I think you've had a little growth spurt in the past few weeks, and I'd guess you're tipping the scales around 16 lbs right now. You've certainly shot up in height, suddenly we're into the 9 month sleepers for length...got a ways to go before you fill out the width! We're staying away from the solid food still, I know a lot of people that start their kids early around 4 months (we did with Griffin too) but I just don't think you're ready for it.

Your smiles have become extra cute in the past month, and you're "talking" up a storm. You love to talk to anyone who will listen, or if there is no one to listen, you'll just talk to yourself! You especially love talking to your big brother. You're also one of the few people that find Griffin's antics absolutely hilarious...which may spell trouble for the both of you somewhere down the road!

You make a lovely addition to this family, Corben. We're glad to have you here (even if you've been a little cranky these past few days....I think there may be some teeth on the way.)

Yup, that's pretty much how we feel about teething too.

Love you, dude.

xoxox

Love Mama