Tooth 3 and Tooth 4

Dear Julien,

You cut your third tooth a few days after we got back from Smith. Last night you cut your fourth. They’re a matched pair up on top, but not the middle two. Instead the two teeth to either side of the center pair have made an appearance first. Also, while those teeth have cut through the gums, they’re not visible when you smile yet, so we have gummy smiles to look forward to for a little bit longer.

You get very clingy and needy when you’re about to cut a tooth. I’m starting to recognize the signs, so really I shouldn’t have been surprised when I caught that spot of white on your gums this morning. There’s a palpable bulge across your gums so I know the other two in the middle are on their way too, thought it seems to take you a week or two to cut teeth once they make their way down.

We’ve had some restless nights, but not the endless crying that I remember my parents telling me about so I am thankful that both you and your big brother are gradual teethers and cut me a little break in that department.

While I’m going to miss the gummy smiles, I’m looking forward to your being able to chew better. You’re very into your food now and frustrated with puree, but you can’t quite chew properly or even take good a good bite with only 2 teeth!

10 Month Portrait

2006_0603_julien 002

Originally uploaded by littleowl.

Cruising is one of Jule’s favorite things to do now. Here he is midway through a round of the furniture in the living room. I’m trying to stay on top of the mess (with mixed results) so he has room to maneuver without pulling half a ton of junk down on his head.

10 Months

Dear Julien,

I’ve missed two updates from life being so hectic in the past few months and here we are staring your first birthday down way too soon.

You’re starting to have that look, that toddler look instead of an infant’s look. You’ve been so busy crawling and cruising the furniture that you’ve slimmed down some, though you still have nice chubby thighs and dimples in your cheeks.

Mobility has been the big milestone of the past two months since I last updated. You’ve gone from uncertain to expert crawling baby and from crawling baby to cruising baby, tentative pulling up that started about a month ago giving way to constant, capable pulling up and the first trial steps between pieces of furniture, holding onto one and stepping to the other without letting go until a hand is firmly in place at destination.

Like your big brother before you, you’ve drastically reduced the amount of milk you’re drinking over the last few weeks as your overall consumption of solid foods increases and the range of foods you can eat broadens. I’m looking forward to serving ice cream at your first birthday party so you can have some at last after months of “not for baby” while serving you sorbet.

You’ve grown a lot too, you now weigh just a few ounces shy of 20lbs and you’re 30.5 inches tall (last well-baby visit was on May 29), again matching your big brother’s growth curve with your height up in the 90th percentile or higher and weight hovering around average. You’re comfortable in 6-12 month sizes and starting to edge into the 12-18 stuff, especially pants, due to your height.

Verbally speaking, you’re starting to make more and more speech-like sounds and you correctly use “m” and “d” sounds to identify me and your father. It’s not quite “Mama” and “Dada” yet, but it’s close. You also enthusiastically say “Umyumyumumum” during mealtimes, lunging for the next spoonful of eats with eager appetite. You vastly prefer feeding yourself in fact and I’m thinking of ways to let you do that without turning mealtime into a total smear-fest of baby food. My best ideas are veggie breads and meatloaf, but I’ve yet to sit down and bake any of these for you.

Emotionally you’re starting to show signs of separation anxiety. You don’t like it if I leave the room you’re in and follow doggedly after on all fours, wailing at changes in direction that take me out of sight. You’re also showing affection these days, tilting your head to rest on shoulders with a sweet look, giving slobbery kisses and proto-hugs.

You only get sweeter as you grow up.