Eleven Months

11 Months

Gordita,

You are now eleven months old.  One month left before you have been with us for one year. 

On one hand, it seems too soon.  How can you possibly be eleven months old, standing up, beginning to talk, crawling, communicating, a whole human being with a spit-fire personality.  Weren’t you just born?  Shouldn’t I still be cuddling a newborn?  It doesn’t seem possible that you have been here that long, that we have held you and cuddled you a loved you for eleven months?  On the other hand, life seems incomplete without you.  I can’t believe that we lived for so long without knowing you.  Your soul fits so perfectly into our family; it feels as if you have always been here.  Was it really less than one year ago when I first saw your face?   Have you only been making us laugh for eleven months?  Time has a funny way of passing us by, each moment frozen into eternity, yet passing by in an instant.  Moment passes after moment, and months, then years, fly past.  What I know is that I have an incredible child in my arms.  You no longer fit neatly in my lap when we nurse, but stretch out your long legs and chubby arms, reaching, pinching, kicking, grabbing and moving.  You like to lift up my shirt and stick your finger into my belly button, tickling me.  You repeat words and sounds that you hear.  Abuelita swears that you say Gato, Beba, Muchacha, and Gracias.  I’m not so sure, but you do imitate our inflections and sounds.  You want so desperately to be big.  You imitate every little thing that Sofia does, or that Mama or Papa does.  You want to play with the same toys that Sofia has.  You grab brooms, shoes, clothes, telephones, computers, spoons, forks, knives when you can get at them, and anything else you can find and try to use it the way the big people do.  You try to put on your shoes and make Sofia’s My Little Ponies trot across the floor.  You will stand up onto anything and everything, wanting so much to let go and walk.  When you see other babies walking (Lucia and Valeska) you watch them intently, willing them to give you the secret.  You chase after the big kids with your speed crawl, never fearing getting your hands stepped on by bigger feet.  You blow kisses and raspberries, love ‘pat a cake’ and ‘pon nina pon’.  You would eat bananas all day long if we let you.  You have always liked bananas, but the cambures in Venezuela  are so delicious, I’m not sure you are going to like that ones we can get in Wisconsin.  You love to eat, but love to do it yourself.  It is hard here, because we don’t have a booster seat to let you eat by yourself.  You are nursing more than ever, and I love it because it gives Mama and baby a chance to reconnect in something familiar and loving in a time and place of change and differences.  You love meeting all the new tios and tias and especially primos, and give everyone smiles and love. 

You are wonderful Amalia.  Every single inch of you.  Happy eleven months, peanut butter.

Love,

Mama

Double Digits

 *I wrote this the day after she was ten months, and am finally publishing it now.  At least it is before she's 11 months!

Little Miss Amalia has now reached ten months old!  How can it feel like she was just born, yet feel like she’s been here forever at the same time?  I can hardly imagine my family without her.  This darling soul has been so much fun to get to know, and we’re still discovering things every day. 

Dear Amalia,

This month, you discovered movement.  At the beginning of the month, you had only just figured out how to move forward using your hands and knees, but didn’t go very far, and it wasn’t very deliberate.  At first, you only crawled to reach beer bottles or coffee mugs.  We could just see your head working so hard to figure out which limbs to move in order to crawl.  It didn’t take very long for you to discover that this crawling thing could be very beneficial to you.  You could get places previously forbidden to you!  You could go where you wanted to without scooting or rolling.  You could follow your sister!  You started to practice to see how fast you could go.  You didn’t have to think quite so hard to get forward, and began to race yourself.  It was quite funny to watch you trip over yourself as you tried to go faster and faster.  You have become an expert crawler.  A few weeks later, you started to pull yourself up.  At first, only on shorter things, like Mama’s hips when lying down, or on a stair.  You started to get on your feet when on the floor, sticking your butt up in the air and crawling on all fours.  You mastered the downward-facing-dog.  Now, at ten months old, you are pulling up to a full stand, and starting to try to cruise along furniture.  You figured out how to climb onto low surfaces, like the mattresses on the floor.  Now, if only you would figure out how to get down without falling.  You are starting to stand holding only one hand, and just the other day, I let go and you stood by yourself for a few seconds.  You were so proud.

This month, you also discovered Venezuela.  You were an incredible traveler, not crying even once on our 36-hour journey to Venezuela.  You love to meet new people, and are so sweet with everyone.  Abuelita, Tia Juli and Tia Jeli love you so much.  You will let most people hold you, and smile and play.  Since we’ve been here, though, you are nursing more and more.  Perhaps you just need the reconnection with Mama.  I’m glad to oblige.

You love to play pretend.  You take a phone and pretend that are actually talking and put it up to your ears and say, “Hiiiii.”  You love to imagine things – you’ll climb on the bed and lay your head on the pillow to pretend you are sleeping.  You’ll pretend to brush your hair with the comb.  You love to hug and rock and kiss your baby dolls.  You especially like Sofia’s Bitty Baby.  She says she is going to use all her money to buy you one for your birthday.  So sweet.   You still absolutely love to play with other kids.  You get so excited when you see other kids, and screech with your whole body.  You love to be where everyone else is, and want to do exactly what everyone else is doing.

I can’t believe how big you are getting, and how much fun you are.  What a personality you are.  I love you so much, little lady. 

Loveyoualwaysandforever,

Mama