Ten months

Dear Jackson,

You're smarter than a monkey! A friend of ours told us a while ago (when his son was your age) that when a baby reaches the 10-month mark, he is officially smarter than a monkey. Oh, we're so proud of you!

Yes, you are ten months old. Just a couple months until you're a year--it's so weird to think of it that way. You are continuing to develop quite the little personality. You love to laugh and talk to us in your own little language. We can't wait until you are saying actual words and we can really have a conversation!

We're working on your sleep, which isn't really improving. You've had some tears the last couple of nights, but you are starting to sleep longer periods since I'm not nursing you overnight anymore. Maybe once you get the idea that I'm not an all-night snack bar, you'll stop bothering to wake up at 2:30! In other eating-related news, it's always a great accomplishment to get you to keep down your food. You've had the same cold on and off since about October, and you get pretty full of gunk, and sometimes it makes you puke. Such a bummer!

We celebrated your first Christmas last month. How exciting! When it came to opening gifts, you were really more interested in eating the bits of paper you could pry from the packages. All the more to make you gag! You got lots of fun things. Mostly clothes from Grandma, Mimi, and Poppa. Uncle John painted a cute little rocking chair for you, and you love sitting in it. And of course, lots of little toys that are exciting simply because they are new! We also got you a sled, and even though we've had some snow, we haven't had a chance to use it yet. It will be so exciting when we can!

You had your 9-month pictures taken last week (even though it was closer to 10 months....). You were a little stinker! The photographer would get you to smile, and then when he got back into position with his camera, you would give him a very serious look. I think we got some cute shots, though. Now that you're more mobile, you gave me quite the workout for the half hour we were in there. Up. Down. Crawl away. Roll over. Up. Down. Up. Crawl. Good thing you're cute!

Sometimes when you are crawling around at home, you'll put your head down on the carpet like you're going to sleep. It's super cute. You've also done it to Ruby while she's in her little cat bed. It's adorable! And it's a good thing she's so nice, because you tend to pull her fur and push down on her belly sometimes. You know she's your friend!

We're so excited about how independent you're becoming. Soon you'll be walking around all over the place! You're growing up so quickly, and we just love that we get to be a part of it! You are just too much fun. Keep up the giggles, the quirky expressions, the sweet snuggles, and the priceless cooing.

I love you to the moon and back!

Love,
Mom