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| cannon, seven months |
My Dear Little Can-dy Corn,
Happy first Halloween! You went up in your weight percentile by a touch this month, now weighing 17lb 5oz and in the 35th percentile, rather than the 25th you have always been in before! I think Daddy has been sneaking you Halloween candy. You are still in the 75th for height at 28 inches, and the 95+ for head circumference. Today the nurse told me having a large head means you are smart and I think she is right. Another theory I am choosing to accept is that the longer your teeth take to come in, the stronger they will be!
Your lack of teeth has not hindered you from flashing that precious smile everywhere we go. You also love to laugh and are developing your own little sense of humor and laugh at things when you think they're funny, not just when we tickle you. The funniest things around are Tank and Daddy. Whenever you see Tank you either laugh or chase him as fast as you can. Your preferred method of transportation is a speedy little army crawl, from which you just developed your first little boy wound: a rug burn! I was pretty excited it was a rug burn and not something requiring stitches. You will do some regular crawling when your motivation is not time sensitive but army crawling is more common. You have also done a good deal of amateur cruising (holding onto things and walking) as well. When I stand you up in your crib you can hold onto the side rail and walk back and forth the length of the crib, switching arms at each end all on your own. You can also transfer from holding onto the couch to the coffee table and walking slowly along those pieces of furniture. You cannot pull yourself up to standing yet and that seems to be the biggest road block on your mission to move.
When you are not chasing the dog or doing laps around the house it is very common to find you at my feet, ramming your head into my ankles over and over to let me know that you want to be picked up. If I don't pick you up at this point, you pull on my pant legs, yell, and continue ramming. I think you are brilliant for coming up for another use for your blessing of a head; Daddy just laughs. It is much easier to hold you now that you can support yourself a bit and are able to sit on my hip pretty well. We do all sorts of chores together from making dinner to picking up dog poop: there you are on Mama's hip. While we are a great team you have also started to give in to your curiosity a bit and play by yourself on the ground every so often. It is fun to smile at you while I am in the kitchen. You smile back and slide around on the kitchen floor to show that you are helping.
You help in lots of other ways now too! You can hold your own bottle while you eat, though you don't really understand why you can't drink if you flip onto your tummy. You also help me to dress you. I guess I never thought about you starting to understand the rhythm of getting dressed but now when I slip a shirt over your head you put your little right hand in a fist and fish for the sleeve. Once the right one is through, the left one does the same thing. When I am putting on your pants I tell you 'straight!' and you straighten your left leg; the right one is not quite there yet. To me, this is amazing. Even if you do whine the whole time (you HATE putting clothes on), you've got the routine down!
Your whining is getting less and less these days. I remember when you were littler and I would give Daddy high fives on the days you didn't cry your little eyes out at some point. Now when you whine I just pop your binki in your mouth and the everything is better. You need your binki less than you used to now, probably because you have so much to say. You finally said 'dada', which Daddy has proclaimed to be your first word even though you said 'mama' and 'baba' last month. I love to listen to you babble, spit and blow bubbles as you scoot all around town. You have also mastered the art of fake coughing, which you think is HILARIOUS when repeated. The yelling that I used to love has turned more into what I call dinosaur noises. Just imagine what you think a dinosaur would sound like, turn up the volume to MAX and those are your favorite sounds; they come in many different species'. These noises are currently working great to recruit new friends but I wonder how this talent will carry over into your older years. Male cheerleader? Politician?
Your hobbies and interests have stayed pretty consistent to this point. You still love to go to the library to read with the other kids, you love spending time outside no matter the weather, and you LOVE going to the puppy store (the workers ADORE you). Your favorite toys are my rubber cell phone case, my keys, cords, and the plush football that was given to you by your future girlfriend
Ava Demasters.
In honor of the season, Daddy and I took you to the pumpkin patch with Raphael and Sharon Tavares recently and you picked out your first pumpkin! We dressed you up in a ducky costume and you looked SO CUTE!! We got some PERFECT pictures that you will most definitely hate me for later but that is ok. The Murdock family will be redeeming ourselves as The Three Amigos at the rest of our Halloween festivities in costumes made by Grandma Cheryl and Kimpa. I can't wait to see you in your little sombrero! Everything you do these days puts a smile on my face. You are a joy of a baby and I love spending time with you.
I love you forever,
Mama
