To Stella, Nine Months Old
Dear Stella,
Today is May 30th which means that you are nine months and three days old. You have officially been living on the planet for longer than you lived in my belly. A big new development is the two little teeth that have emerged in your mouth. They haven't come in fully but they are indisputable there, two almost teeth in the center of your lower gums.
We have been having the best time lately. Your personality is really developing and you are playful, fun, curious and determined. You are standing really well now, on your own. You don't need a hand or any support at all, your balance has gotten really good. You have started to take steps and cruise around a little as long as you are holding onto someone or something. Lots of people (Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa) seem excited for you to start walking. I'm not in a rush for that, though. I am madly in love with my little crawling around daughter.
This past month you became such a good crawler that when I would wake up and come out of my bedroom in San Diego, you would crawl across the living room and hold my legs until I picked you up. Or if I was in the kitchen, you would crawl to me. It is my favorite sight in the world -- you coming around the corner, your smiling face shining up at me. So if you want to keep crawling for a few more months, that's okay with me.
These days you are really into emptying out the contents of my bags, exploring new objects, playing with pots, crawling, walking, singing. Sometimes we play a game where I say, "It's windy in here" and then blow on your face and your face invariably erupts in a great big smile, your nose crinking. You like dancing which means that either me or Daddy holds you and then we all dance together. This is especially fun if we sing too. Oh, Little Stella, I hope you inherit your Daddy's voice but even if you don't, I hope you always sing with as much commitment and joy as you do now. You like when Daddy and I swing you back and forth between us, tossing you like a football. You like eating bananas and avocadoes and prunes and peas from a jar. And if there is a pile of 30,000 toys with one pacifier somewhere in the pile, I guarantee you will find the pacifier and pop it into your mouth faster than we can say 'crackpipe'.
Our last night in California, something very scary happened. Daddy and I came home from the opening night party and he went to drive Grandma to her hotel. I left you sleeping on our bed and went into the living room. When Daddy came home I told him that it was pretty precarious -- you sleeping on the bed without either of us in there to protect you. A minute later we heard a loud thump and then you started to cry really loud. Daddy jumped up so fast I think he actually may have gotten to you before you started crying. You had crawled to the end of the bed and then fallen off. You were crying so hard, we gave you your pacifier but then you started making a sound like you were choking and you spit it out and then threw up a huge amount. I turned ghost white and was shaking, I was so worried and, of course, felt incredibly stupid. We woke up Ranny who was very confident that you were fine (you stopped crying and went back to smiling fairly quickly) but we decided to call 911. I was worried -- what if you had a concussion and would it be dangerous to bring you on a plane the next day? About five minutes later, 12 paramedics showed up at our door. You did not make a peep the whole time they were there. You just stared at them, sizing up the situation. They took your vitals with a little machine that they attached to your finger. You let them do it. One of them asked, "Is she always this quiet?" You were just completely mellow and unafraid. They assured us that you were fine and that we didn't need to take you to the hospital. We thought maybe you'd wake up the next morning with two black eyes (we assumed you'd fallen on your nose) but you were actually completely fine. I think you probably got scared more than hurt. It was a really bad Mommy moment and I'm sorry I put you through it. I will be much more careful in the future.
You were amazingly cooperative on the plane home. You were quite fascinated, for some reason, with the people sitting behind us and kept wanting to climb up and peer at them over the seat. You didn't cry at all on the whole flight, maybe you knew that you were on your way home. I think that you are really happy to be here. When Grandma showed up in California, you were so excited to see her. You laughed so much you almost hyperventilated. And since we've been home, you have had such a good time with Grandma and Grandpa at Washington Square Park; you seem very pleased to walk around the city and to be reunited with your piano and all your toys. Last night, we put our stone coffee table away because it was just too dangerous especially now that you are so mobile. It's a relief that we don't have to worry about you crashing into that and, by getting rid of it, you now have a huge area to play in. Before you were born, Daddy and I thought that we would try to be really neat with your toys and keep them in your room except when you were playing with them. Instead, our entire apartment has basically become Stella's playground. It's funny how different things are than how you think they will be before you are a parent. For example, you are still not sleeping so well unless Daddy and I bring you into bed with us. A lot of people have told us that this is a bad idea and, before we had you, we probably would have agreed. But now that we know you, it's a little different. You fall asleep in your own crib but when you wake up around 1 or 2am, we bring you in with us and then we all wake up together. It's really nice for all of us and we like having you there. I admit that I ordered a couple books from Amazon that will hopefully help us find ways to keep you sleeping through the night but, in the meantime, we are really enjoying cuddling with you.
Another new thing that has just started this month is that you sometimes burst into tears when I leave the room. This is true even if there are other people there playing with you. When I remember that this is likely to happen, I will take you with me (or ask someone else to get me the glass of water or whatever I need) but sometimes I forget. And then you cry as though you are afraid you might never see me again. My darling Stella, I give you my word that, no matter what, I will always return to you.
I love you.
Love,
Mom
p.s. At your nine month doctor visit, you weighed 18 1/2 pounds (30 percentile) and were 29 1/2 inches (90 percentile).
Today is May 30th which means that you are nine months and three days old. You have officially been living on the planet for longer than you lived in my belly. A big new development is the two little teeth that have emerged in your mouth. They haven't come in fully but they are indisputable there, two almost teeth in the center of your lower gums.
We have been having the best time lately. Your personality is really developing and you are playful, fun, curious and determined. You are standing really well now, on your own. You don't need a hand or any support at all, your balance has gotten really good. You have started to take steps and cruise around a little as long as you are holding onto someone or something. Lots of people (Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa) seem excited for you to start walking. I'm not in a rush for that, though. I am madly in love with my little crawling around daughter.
This past month you became such a good crawler that when I would wake up and come out of my bedroom in San Diego, you would crawl across the living room and hold my legs until I picked you up. Or if I was in the kitchen, you would crawl to me. It is my favorite sight in the world -- you coming around the corner, your smiling face shining up at me. So if you want to keep crawling for a few more months, that's okay with me.
These days you are really into emptying out the contents of my bags, exploring new objects, playing with pots, crawling, walking, singing. Sometimes we play a game where I say, "It's windy in here" and then blow on your face and your face invariably erupts in a great big smile, your nose crinking. You like dancing which means that either me or Daddy holds you and then we all dance together. This is especially fun if we sing too. Oh, Little Stella, I hope you inherit your Daddy's voice but even if you don't, I hope you always sing with as much commitment and joy as you do now. You like when Daddy and I swing you back and forth between us, tossing you like a football. You like eating bananas and avocadoes and prunes and peas from a jar. And if there is a pile of 30,000 toys with one pacifier somewhere in the pile, I guarantee you will find the pacifier and pop it into your mouth faster than we can say 'crackpipe'.
Our last night in California, something very scary happened. Daddy and I came home from the opening night party and he went to drive Grandma to her hotel. I left you sleeping on our bed and went into the living room. When Daddy came home I told him that it was pretty precarious -- you sleeping on the bed without either of us in there to protect you. A minute later we heard a loud thump and then you started to cry really loud. Daddy jumped up so fast I think he actually may have gotten to you before you started crying. You had crawled to the end of the bed and then fallen off. You were crying so hard, we gave you your pacifier but then you started making a sound like you were choking and you spit it out and then threw up a huge amount. I turned ghost white and was shaking, I was so worried and, of course, felt incredibly stupid. We woke up Ranny who was very confident that you were fine (you stopped crying and went back to smiling fairly quickly) but we decided to call 911. I was worried -- what if you had a concussion and would it be dangerous to bring you on a plane the next day? About five minutes later, 12 paramedics showed up at our door. You did not make a peep the whole time they were there. You just stared at them, sizing up the situation. They took your vitals with a little machine that they attached to your finger. You let them do it. One of them asked, "Is she always this quiet?" You were just completely mellow and unafraid. They assured us that you were fine and that we didn't need to take you to the hospital. We thought maybe you'd wake up the next morning with two black eyes (we assumed you'd fallen on your nose) but you were actually completely fine. I think you probably got scared more than hurt. It was a really bad Mommy moment and I'm sorry I put you through it. I will be much more careful in the future.
You were amazingly cooperative on the plane home. You were quite fascinated, for some reason, with the people sitting behind us and kept wanting to climb up and peer at them over the seat. You didn't cry at all on the whole flight, maybe you knew that you were on your way home. I think that you are really happy to be here. When Grandma showed up in California, you were so excited to see her. You laughed so much you almost hyperventilated. And since we've been home, you have had such a good time with Grandma and Grandpa at Washington Square Park; you seem very pleased to walk around the city and to be reunited with your piano and all your toys. Last night, we put our stone coffee table away because it was just too dangerous especially now that you are so mobile. It's a relief that we don't have to worry about you crashing into that and, by getting rid of it, you now have a huge area to play in. Before you were born, Daddy and I thought that we would try to be really neat with your toys and keep them in your room except when you were playing with them. Instead, our entire apartment has basically become Stella's playground. It's funny how different things are than how you think they will be before you are a parent. For example, you are still not sleeping so well unless Daddy and I bring you into bed with us. A lot of people have told us that this is a bad idea and, before we had you, we probably would have agreed. But now that we know you, it's a little different. You fall asleep in your own crib but when you wake up around 1 or 2am, we bring you in with us and then we all wake up together. It's really nice for all of us and we like having you there. I admit that I ordered a couple books from Amazon that will hopefully help us find ways to keep you sleeping through the night but, in the meantime, we are really enjoying cuddling with you.
Another new thing that has just started this month is that you sometimes burst into tears when I leave the room. This is true even if there are other people there playing with you. When I remember that this is likely to happen, I will take you with me (or ask someone else to get me the glass of water or whatever I need) but sometimes I forget. And then you cry as though you are afraid you might never see me again. My darling Stella, I give you my word that, no matter what, I will always return to you.
I love you.
Love,
Mom
p.s. At your nine month doctor visit, you weighed 18 1/2 pounds (30 percentile) and were 29 1/2 inches (90 percentile).
posted by Carolyn, David & Stella at 5/30/2006 02:53:00 PM
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