HERS & HIS.

bobo choses bicycle shirt // fifi baby boy bloomer shorts // 

freshly picked moccassins //jellycat chequer lion

(hers photo from here)

mama and son coordinating outfits, in a way reminiscent of childhood and siblings wearing an identical wardrobe.  don't mind if i do.

BABYLEGS TO THE RESCUE.

after a few days of constant movement on hands and knees across every rug and carpet in the house, holden's little knees were raw and red with rug burn.  after a day or two he seemed to be somewhat tentative about crawling, attempting a frog-like leap versus the traditional crawl in an effort to salvage his knees.  i remembered the pair of babylegs leggings that holden wore often during the winter as an extra layer and realized they would be a perfect solution to this crawling dilemma.

HAPPY 8 MONTHS.

hello little (slightly big) boy,

you are eight months old.  um, how did that happen?  how is it possible that we are now closer to your one year old birthday than your birth.  i have already scheduled the date for your first birthday party.  not sure if i can really wrap my head around that.


while i often lament about the speed in which your life is passing me by, i must admit that life with you just keeps getting better and better. i love you more every day, every hour, every minute, every second and you have become my little buddy, no longer the baby i took care of and entertained, now the best friend i spend my days with. you have quickly become the company i enjoy being in the most.  you are such a loving, affectionate, golden hearted, smiley, happy-go-lucky child.

we spend our time rough housing around the living room, snuggling up to good stories on the couch, climbing over blanket and pillow mountains on the bed, peek-a-booing, playing at the park, getting our hands dirty in the sand and the grass, meeting other kids at gymboree and playgroup, running errands and doing chores, and as long as we are together we are happy.  you are definitely a mama's boy and in the past couple of weeks you have become even more attached to me (which i wasn't sure was possible), often crying to get back into my arms when someone else is holding you and although i hope you will be an outgoing child, i love how much you need me.  it makes my heart swell to proportions i didn't know were possible.  you wrap your arms around my neck, plant giant kisses on my cheeks, run your hands through my hair, and reach out for me.  you truly love daddy with all your heart, lighting up when he walks in the door, we facetime with him, or you hear him on speaker phone.  when the three of us are together, you are at your happiest.

you are developing at lightening speed, each day bringing something new learned: giving kisses, waving bye-bye, blowing spit bubbles and raspberries, crawling, pulling up on everything, trying out new sounds, and eating adult foods, to name a few.  you are very in tune with your surroundings and you love imitating the people around you.  if we laugh, you laugh.  if we smile, you smile.  if we hum or sing a tune, you try doing the exact same tune.  with how aware you are, i think we need to start being on our best behavior around you.

you have always been a busy boy, our little wild child, and even before you were crawling, you were all over the place.  now that you are mobile, there is no stopping you.  your current infatuation with cords, power strips, opening cupboards, and everything else that is off-limits really means that i should begin baby proofing, but i've been neglecting that motherly duty and realized today as you stood up on the entertainment center and pulled a few heavy things off of a shelf that i really need to take care of that.  your mobility is allowing you to experience a little independence and you love exploring and investigating.  when we are out of the house, you are very inquisitive and take everything in. when you look at new things your mouth drops open in amazement and i can almost see your mind working as you decipher exactly what everything is and how it works. grandma calls you a little engineer.

your favorite thing of the moment is animals, especially tobi even though tobi isn't your biggest fan (you haven't figured out the concept of gentle yet).  i sing old mcdonald probably fifty times a day with every animal noise imaginable and you could read books about animals infinitely over and over.  you are completely enchanted when we go to the zoo or the animal farm.

you are such a sweet and caring little boy and it is amazing to see your personality come out.  your daddy and i love you so incredibly much.  these really feel like the best days of our lives because of you.

love,
mummy and daddy

you love:

water

fruits
giving kisses
walking everywhere
jumping
crawling
clasping your hands together (something you have done since birth)
clapping by swishing your hands up and down
blowing rasberries
spitting
saying dada and ah da
spending time outdoors
playing in sand, dirt, and grass
pulling hair and grabbing faces

you hate:

getting your diaper changed

having things taken off of you
missing naps (in the sense that you are then overtired)
taking naps
the car seat 

THE WILD MAN IS ON THE MOVE.

have i mentioned that my wild man is on the move?  as of april 17, my little man is officially crawling and if i thought i couldn't keep up with him before, i had no clue what i had in store for me.  he is into everything and is keeping me on my toes more than ever.  it's so amazing to see him exploring and discovering the world around him.

A WEEKEND WITHOUT HIM.

this weekend, dustin went to san diego for a guys golf weekend (my present for his bday) and i missed him horribly.  each week i look forward to the weekend, sometimes counting down the sleeps we have left until we get to spend together as a family.  although holden and i spent saturday lazing around a pool with a bunch of my friends and spent the entire day on sunday with my mom at a really awesome park in berkeley, there was a sort of emptiness to the weekend, knowing that each special moment that happened i wanted to be sharing with dustin.  waking up this morning to realize that we had another five days before we could spend the day as a family was pretty depressing and regardless of how much fun we all had over the weekend, i think we felt a little cheated out of time.

on sunday, i discovered an amazing park, tilden park, with my mom.  it's located in the berkeley hills and has a steam engine, a merry-go-round, a petting zoo, a few lakes, and a bunch of places to picnic and hike.  holden loves animals.  on a daily basis, we read tons of animal books, make a lot of animal noises, and listen to silly songs about animals, so the animal farm was the perfect place to take him.  he was entranced at the animal farm, mouth gaping in amazement and crying each time i turned him away from one animal to go explore another park of the farm.

AS I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP.

at night, holden is still, still enough to be cuddled for hours without squirming out of my grasp, my wild man tamed by night's fall.  i sneak into bed, curling my body around his as he rolls his body towards me and snuggles closer.  i bring my legs up towards my chest, tucking him against me, my body enclosing around him completely and we morph into one, recreating those nine months that we spent together as one body and we stay that way throughout the night as if our bodies are bonded together by some invisible super glue.  as we dream, i roll around throughout the bed and holden rolls with me, following me wherever i go, remaining attached to my side.  he traces his fingers up and down my arms, memorizing me as this comforting motion lulls him to sleep.  i kiss the top of his head, his puft of white blond hair tickling my noise and i breath in his sweet baby scent, an intoxicating sleeping potion that immediately slows my breath and puts me into a deep slumber.  these quiet hours that we spend together is time that i will forever hold sacred in my heart.

yesterday, my pediatrician asked where holden was sleeping and wasn't very happy when i told him that he was still in bed with us.  he pointed me to an ancient article (literally early 1990's) taped to the back of the exam room door.  i asked if he knew about the benefits of cosleeping, but he rejected me before i could even start.  we never anticipated that we would end up cosleeping, it's just something that happened, worked for our family, and enabled us to get the best sleep possible.    before the little man arrived, we bought the first years close and secure sleeper instead of a bassinet, because it was cute, reasonably priced, and we thought it would work well in our california king-sized bed.  when holden outgrew the sleeper, we removed it from our bed, but holden remained, sprawled out in between us as we talked in hushed whispers and marveled at all of his accomplishments for that day, still (to this day) reeling at the fact that this amazing little creature is ours.  we have contemplated moving him into his crib, but we haven't been able to bring ourselves to do it.  we would miss him too much.

maybe it's because i've always required the security blanket of company to sleep at night (growing up, my sister and i couldn't sleep without one another until high school and even then we would talk on the phone for hours, each in our own room, falling asleep to the others breathing through the phone), but i can't imagine a night without him burrowed into my side.  of course there are nights that i wish i didn't wake to every fart, cry, and other random noises holden makes in his sleep, but what if i don't have this opportunity again?  what if i don't get another chance to have a tiny body, an extension of myself, curled up against me for eight hours?  i know that this time will pass too quickly and in the blink of an eye he will be in his own bed and i will be missing the nights we spent together...so why rush it?

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.

father: lrg tank, quiksilver shorts, toms shoes.  

son: circo sunhat, tea collection waves bantik romper, toms shoes.

because what could be cuter than a father and a son with the same fashion sense?