Dear Jackrabbit,
Sorry this letter is a bit late. I’ve been hugely busy lately and it’s probably not going to slow down much anytime soon. That said, I figure the least I could do is give you a little bit of an update as to what you’ve been up to.
Did you know that you’re standing? Well, mostly. You need to hold onto something, but not necessarily with both hands. You’re getting big, fast. I swear I just saw you see if you could climb over the gate to freedom, sweet freedom. That might have been my imagination. More likely, you’re experimenting with this whole standing and, soon enough, walking thing. And as for climbing… yeah, you’re into that. I caught you standing on your more sturdy toys in order to get some height by that gate.
Why?
So you could grab stuff off the shelf just within reach.
This is stuff you do right now.
You’re also starting to eat people food, i.e., grown-up food.
I mean, you’re not eating steak and potatoes or anything–not with a knife and fork. Instead, you’re eating macaroni and cheese, chicken, hotdogs, scrambled eggs, or whatever else we, too, are having with dinner. You’re not eating them in big bites, of course, but in little tiny pieces that you won’t choke on, but can still get some practice chewing up.
You make quite a mess at times, but it’s all part of the process. The dog doesn’t mind the mess you make. He gets to clean it up.
Back to the gate… it has greatly given you more room to move around in now–pretty much most of the living room. No more Pak ‘n Play penning you in. No longer trapped on my lap on the couch.
You seem to be enjoying it. I’ve been trying to take advantage of it by taking my laptop into the living room and seeing how possible it is to sneak in some work as I watch over you playing. It’s had some mixed results. You’re not a fan of my attention being diverted. That’s okay.
And you really like peek-a-boo (see picture). You’ll come up and pull yourself up by my knees, hold onto the laptop, and peer around the side at me… then hide… then peer around again with that great goofy grin of yours.
So, yeah… not going to get much work done. That’s okay. I’m in awe while watching you.
You’re getting chatty, too. We get some “mamas” and “dadas” and something that sounds something like “doggy.” You sometimes make noises to match noises I make at you. And we make harmonies (somewhat).
Your favorite music videos are about baby sharks and power-hungry cyborgs.
You still like me singing sea chanteys to you. Your favorite, for some reason, is “General Taylor.”
You have occasionally opened a book to see the insides without putting it in your mouth. Good boy. That’s what we call progress.
You still try to grab things you shouldn’t, but you don’t put up too much of a fuss when we take them away or move them out of reach. You also no longer grab my hair and beard as much as you used to.
Thanks for that. Really.
So that, my boy, is more or less where you stand (wobbly) at around nine and a half months.
Good job!
All my love
–Dad