Three signs Christmas is approaching:

1. Starbucks breaks out their holiday cups.

2. The local radio station starts streaming Christmas music 24/7.

3. Piglet finally gets to wear the Christmas jammies that were purchased while he was still in the womb.

Check out his coy expression in the picture above!

Piglet's Ten Month Update

I can't believe it, but today, Piglet is ten months old!  I have loved every stage, but this is my FAVORITE so far.  He is so responsive and fun albeit busy.  His little mind seems to have opened up and he can now communicate with us like signing "all done" when I'm trying to convince him to take ONE MORE BITE or looking up at the ceiling fan and signing "fan" asking me to turn it on for his amusement and then clapping when I do.  It is all just so much fun and I never want it to end!  (But do check back with me when DH has spent a long week away from home and I've been a single parent the whole time.)  Without further adieu, here are Piglet's stats for the month.  I know you've been waiting.  Haha. ;)

Stats: Weight: 22lbs, Height 30.3 inches

Clothing sizes: 12-18 & 18-24 depending on the brand and type of clothing, shoe size 4

Nicknames (a new update category, stole the idea from my friend Joy): Piglet (of course), Baby Reid, Reidy, ReeRee, Shrieker, Little Panda, Monkey, Monks, Monchichi, Bug, Baba-Roo, "Special" 

Piglet LOVES

• being anywhere near his dog
• taking walks
• crawling up stairs
• anything with wheels
• belly laughing at us while we play with the Wii Fit
• yogurt, especially blueberry and vanilla
• pretending like he wants to try what you're eating, but not really wanting to try it
• being outside
• gingersnaps
• Music Together 
• parachute time at Gymboree
• other babies
• empty Motrin bottles 
• sitting on the floor with a large stack of books and having you read ALL of them
• crawling towards you while you pretend to run away from him
• being a copycat
• giving you large, wet kisses
• clapping when he gets what he wants
• the sound of his own voice
• his mom's mom - aka "Ba"

Piglet is OVER

• cramped spaces, e.g. the sale aisle at Janie and Jack - it's a problem.
• being confined
• sitting on your lap for too long
• peas and sweet potatoes
• going to bed at 7:00, it's more like 8:30 now
• the exersaucer
• other dogs barking (his dog is OK)
• fake remote controls, give him the real thing or nothing at all
• sitting in the high chair for longer than 30 minutes
• his level II Gymboree class, time to move up 
• getting his picture professionally taken
• being told "no" (jeepers...)
• having things mommy deems "dangerous" taken away

Copycat!

These are a couple still shots of the FUNNY moment we shared tonight. Video below!

Being a parent, there are moments of pure joy. Tonight we had one of them and it was just too funny not to share. Piglet is becoming quite the copycat. Tonight his dad was making him laugh ala Edward Munch and he started mimicking his dad's gestures and facial expressions, laughing right along with us. Piglet thought his dad was just soooo funny and of course we thought PIGLET was just soooo funny! None of us could contain our amusement at the other. These are the moments that I relish. Yes, the kitchen was a mess (dinnertime wreaks havoc on my normally very tidy kitchen), Piglet had blueberry yogurt on his face and in his hair and there were dirty plates on the table, but nothing could take away from this perfectly hilarious moment!

I hope you laugh as hard as we did.

New skills.

As we approach the ten month mark, Piglet is literally learning something new every day. From sign language to "commands," Piglet shows us that he understands what we're saying and can communicate with us. It's amazing! I recently visited some newborns and it made me muse about how far Piglet has come since those first few months. On one hand it seems like only yesterday that we brought all 8lbs 8oz of him home and marveled at his every involuntary smile. On the other, it seems like it's been QUITE The Journey (and it has) from those first few days until now, nearly ten months later.

A little unsolicited advice to new and soon-to-be moms out there: open up your tired, sleep-deprived eyes and soak it all in. Cherish every tiny thing about your Tiny Thing because it goes all too quickly! Soon you'll be looking at your almost-one-year-old like me and wondering where all those days and hours went. Fortunately, I got the very same advice from a sage friend, so I've got them all tucked away for safekeeping. :)

I leave you with some recent videos of Piglet's newest skills: dancing, saying Da Da very clearly and playing with a truck. He's actually been playing with cars for over a month, but I just now taped it. At the end of this clip he smacks himself in the face with the truck but I clipped it to save you from having to say "ouch!" Don't worry, he only shed a few tears and then was right back to playing.

Enjoy.

Change.

Dear Piglet,

Today the world changed.  For the better.  For greater good.  Forever.  

I can't wait to experience it with you.

Love,

Mom

Dyson's got nothing on Piglet.

We've been letting Piglet use his newly mastered pincher grasp to feed himself. He thought that was okay for awhile but then he wanted to do things his own way. Maybe all those hours of being carried in the Bjorn/sling/Ergo while I vacuumed taught him a thing or two. Haha. Enjoy.

P.S. The bottle of Motrin in his hand is empty, don't worry!

Rituals

One of the things all new parents come to know, love and respect is the mighty SCHEDULE.  The first few months of Piglet's life were spent trying to decipher some semblance of a schedule just so we could, you know, SURVIVE.  

As Piglet's schedule began to reveal itself - naps "around" two hours after waking, awake for three hours, naps again etc.  The obsession with a schedule began to fall away and many of the things we would do together each day became less routine and more RITUAL.  Some things remain just part of our daily routine like diaper changes, eating Cheerios and nail trims.  But some things are RITUALS and they are PRECIOUS.  For instance,

Every

morning

I 

wash

and 

comb

the

baby's

hair.  

~~~~~~

Every

weekend

we 

go 

for

a 

family

walk.

~~~~~~

Every 

day

we 

sing

the

Hello

Song

from

music

class.

~~~~~~

Every

Saturday 

we 

go 

to 

the 

Farmer's

Market

and 

share

a 

tamale.

It's these RITUALS and not SCHEDULES that define our relationship and our family.  It makes our interactions memorable and sacred and anything but mundane.  So the next time you're marching through your day like the good soldier you are, stop and think about your favorite bits and pieces of the day or week and consider sifting out the RITUALS from the SCHEDULE. The little things you do all the time that might seem like just part of your normal routine may actually be little rituals that you'll look back on with so much fondness one day. 

I am also a huge fan of TRADITIONS but that's another entry all together, particularly with the holidays approaching. :)  

Introducing My BFD

...best friend's daughter! Some people have guest bloggers, I have guest daughters. A little about Miss A:

• She is just over two years old
• She can say and do anything you can say and do
• She is a ham (of the finest variety)!
• She has giant curls
  
• She looks and acts like her dad but there's a lot of her mom there too (shout out to my BFJess)
• She is smart as a whip.
• She sings lots of songs for me like "itsy bitsy 'pider."
  
• She calls me "Aunt Maggie"
  
• She is the cutest babe to ever walk the earth and I am IN LOVE with her!
  
• After viewing this video you will a) see what I mean and b) also be in love with Miss A.
  

I give you, Miss A...(after a large-ish piece of pumpkin loaf spiked with chocolate chips) and dressed in part of her Halloween costume.