My little Miles, today you are 2/3, aka 8 months old.  We just got back from a trip to the library with Mubby; you had so much fun listening to the books at story time, doing the chicken dance, and staring at the big kids.  You yourself are looking a lot like a big kid lately, especially since you have three teeth.  They all came within a few days of each other; first a bottom one and then two top ones.  Surprisingly, teething didn’t seem to upset you a whole lot.  You’ve even been sleeping pretty well lately, overall.  Last night was a notable exception.

Your pattern lately has been that you sleep in your crib until about 2 a.m., waking once or twice between bedtime and 2.  Then I haul you into our bed where you sleep soundly until 8 in the morning.  Yes, I know, we thought we had quit with the whole co-sleeping thing, and you still do a great job napping in your crib and spend the first half of the night there.  But six solid hours of sleep are wonderful, and that’s what we generally get once you’re in the big bed, so that’s what we’ve been doing lately.

Last night, as I mentioned, didn’t work out quite so well.  We’ve heard that sometimes babies practice their new skills in the night, and that must have been what you were doing, because at 5 a.m., all you wanted to do was roll around and squeal.  Those aren’t new skills, exactly; your newest skills involve fine-motor work, especially with your hands and fingers.  You were probably communicating very eloquently in sign language early this morning, only it was dark so we couldn’t figure out what you were talking about.  You didn’t go back to sleep until 6:20, which would have been pretty brutal on a normal day, but luckily Mubby and Skittergramps are here to visit, so I am able to rest and recover today.

One of the most exciting developments of this month is your improved ability to recognize people.  When we iChat AV with Mubby and Skittergramps, your eyes dart back and forth at them and you shout with glee.  Another of your favorite things to do is stand at the window and watch your daddy walk up to the house when he gets home from work.  As soon as you see him, you start kicking and smiling, and he always gets a huge grin out of you when he taps the glass and puts his face up close to yours.

You’ve had a lot of exciting adventures this month.  You’ve enjoyed swinging at the playground, and running errands is getting easier all the time since you’re so good at sitting in the front of a shopping cart.  We went to the Co-op the other day and you charmed all the employees.  I had a moment of horror at the Co-op when they didn’t have any organic blueberries.  Blueberries have emerged as your favorite food, followed closely by squash, and I knew you wouldn’t want to live in a world with no blueberries.  Luckily, we found some in the frozen section.  I hope you aren’t too big of a fresh fruit snob.

You are only allowed to have blueberries on your bath days, and then only immediately before said bath, and then dressed only in a diaper, and not a fresh diaper.  You still think your food is about 75% for eating and 25% for spreading around your environs.  This is not such a big deal with bananas, but blueberries not only stain, they stick.  Once a week or so I take a chisel to your booster seat and try to make it look a little less like a car parked under a mulberry tree.

You like to take your food and do a wax on/wax off movement on the chair tray, sweeping your right arm in circles.  We noticed you doing that at other times too, along with some rhythmic smacking, and we were mildly concerned that something weird was going on with you neurologically.  I did some Internet research, and about the only thing it could be (besides, you know, a baby whapping his arms because that’s what babies do) is seizures.  Luckily, you don’t show any other signs of seizures, so we’re pretty sure it’s just your body trying to sort itself out as you grow.

I think my favorite of your recent tricks is your newfound interest in hugs and kisses.  Up until now, you were always more of an explorer than a cuddler, but lately, particularly (but not exclusively) when you’re sleepy, you’ll wrap your arms around your daddy’s or my neck and put your head on our shoulders.  You also like to dive mouth-first into my face, and you usually have two handfuls of my hair at that moment, so I can’t escape.  It’s slimy and it tickles and your breath is always sweet, and I don’t hurry up too much to extricate myself.  It can get awfully loud, though.  You’ve taken to shrieking at an outrageous volume when you get excited, and sometimes that happens when your mouth is right by my ear.  One time when it’s guaranteed to happen is when I change your clothes and diaper.  All I have to say is, “Miles, you’re nude!” and you start kicking and screaming with joy.  It’s fun to watch you so excited, but it makes your dad nervous because he’s been on the wet end of a between-diaper spray more than once.

Sometimes when things like that happen, he forgets that loud noises startle you and yells.  Just the other day, I heard him yell from the other room, and then I heard you crying. I was about to go scold him for upsetting you when he came in and showed me the source of his yelling.

As I mentioned in my description of this photo on Flickr, it’s moments like this when I know your daddy really loves me.  More than the diamond ring, more than the dozens of roses, more than the thoughtful cards and romantic dinners, the fact that your daddy did not immediately wipe off his face, but rather came to show me because he knew it would make me laugh—that’s love right there.

Thank you for that, Miles.  Thanks for reminding us that vomit can be hilarious, that there are worse things to do at 5 a.m. than hang out with our baby, and that super-slimy kisses are wonderful.  Please enjoy your nude time now in your youth, while a squealing naked guy is more likely to get kissed than pepper-sprayed.  I think you can still get away with it.  Your two front teeth make you look very mature, but you could still pass for a seven-month-old otherwise.

I love you, my big boy.

Mommy