Dinner Theatre

A couple of days ago, we had your Nana, Grand-papa and Uncle Dan over for dinner.   We were eating outside so that you would be able to crawl around on the deck once you were done eating.  You love the back deck, and I think one of the reasons is your little inflatable pool.  It doesn't even seem to matter whether there's water in it.

Grand-papa had leaned your pool up against the gate on the deck.  Of course, as soon as you got out of your high chair, you headed straight for your pool.  The next thing we knew, the pool was floating across the deck, seemingly on its own.  You had managed to pull it down on top of yourself and were crawling toward us underneath it.

We all lost it.  You didn't seem all that concerned about having a pool on top of you, and (like I've said before) you do love to make people laugh, so you just kept on crawling.  And of course, no one had a camera.

I don't know if you'll share my love of circus, but if you do, it's looking like you could have quite a successful career as a clown.

Playing Catch Up

You are only a few days away from being 11 months old, and I can't believe the time has gone so fast.  Yesterday, I was thinking about how much you've changed in the time since we moved to Ottawa.  You've learned to sit, roll from your back to your tummy, go from lying to sitting, commando crawl, crawl on your knees, walk holding someone's hands, and pull yourself up.  On everything.

You are a boy who loves to move.  You're on the go all day - from the time you wake up, until the time I wrestle you into your pyjamas at night.  I love to see you exploring your world, but it's also a full-time and exhausting job.  You seem to have no fear about anything, which is more than a little terrifying for me.  You want to climb the stairs and then go back down (head first).  You want to stand up in the bathtub.  You use furniture to pull yourself up, and then let go when something in a different direction catches your eye, as though you don't seem to remember you can't walk yet.

You love playing with balls.  Yesterday, seemingly out of nowhere, you walked (holding my hands) up to a volleyball, lifted your little foot, and kicked it.  I wondered if it was fluke until you did it again.  And again.

Your dad was saying tonight he's noticed recently you definitely have your own ideas about what you want to do, and you get mad when we won't (or can't) let you.  Forget what they say about babies being distractable.  When you're on a mission, it's pretty hard to convince you that anything else is a good idea.

You know when you're being funny and love to make people laugh.  You grin at people now, even strangers (who you used to just look at suspiciously), and definitely flirt with any and all female lifeguards.  You crack me up all the time.


Even though it's hard to keep up with you, every day is such a good reminder about how we learn by doing, how much there is to discover all around us, and how great it is to be present in the moment.