I miss coming home from work and hearing about your day from your nana, and learning of all of the things you two did together. Your dad said that today you had lots of fun shaking the Christmas bells while she sang ‘Jingle Bells’. I’m excited to see this performance when I get home!

I left for my work trip early this morning. I miss reaching into your crib and picking you up first thing in the morning, being the first person you see and shepherding you into wakefulness with showers of kisses and hugs, and feeling you relax into me, nestling your head into my neck as you almost fall back asleep.

Lately you’ve been sticking out your tongue and making a funny sound. Sometimes you’ll do it randomly, and sometimes you’ll mimic us when we do it. It’s pretty awesome.

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to keep your hands warm in the cold winter weather. I’ve tried too-small mittens thinking you won’t be able to get them off. I’ve tried mittens with a string connecting each of them, which goes over and behind your head so that when you get them off (which you did) they don’t get lost. I’ve tried ones that your dad swears are socks, though frankly they stay on the best of them all. So recently I bought you a snowsuit with fold over sleeves – the kind that form little build-in mittens. I thought this would finally contain your tiny fingers and keep them toasty. But this morning, about halfway through our walk, I peeked into the stroller to see one finger on each hand had broken free of the warm, fleecy confines of the snowsuit and had found their way out into the cold. It appears my solution was only about 80% effective.

It’s been a rough week for your dad; besides being sick, he got diagnosed with shingles! We were worried because neither you nor your papa have had chicken pox, something which you both can get from your dad’s shingles. But after talking to doctors (both your dad’s and yours) we felt comfortable that as long as you two don’t touch the shingles, you’ll be alright. So your dad’s been really careful this week to keep you safe, but we’ll all be glad when the rash clears up.

When your dad first found out he had shingles he was really upset and concerned about you getting chicken pox. Since it’s the holiday season, and trying to make him laugh, I promptly burst into a song about Shingle Boy, to the tune of Jingle Bells. It did make him smile!

A couple months ago you started playing peek-a-boo. The first time you did this we were in the airport checking in for our flight home from Chicago (with a really cranky airline agent, if I might add). You lifted up your blanket over your face, held it there for a few seconds, then lowered it quickly and looked at is expectedly and excitedly. In a few more seconds you raised it again, and we said, “Where’s Emma?”. You lowered it with a huge smile and a little giggle, and thus began our first of many rounds of peek-a-boo. To this day you still do it, mostly raising and lowering blankets or napkins, but sometimes doing it with something so little as a book. I love it.

You really like to take things apart, or take items out of containers. I’m not sure if this behaviour is representative of most ten months old or not, but you are super inquisitive. You take apart the foam squares that we’ve put in your playroom to soften the floor. Each one has a shape or letter in the middle, and you love to take them all apart, leaving a mound of pieces lying around. You love to take the clothes out of the laundry basket and your dresser drawers, love to pull out the Tupperware from ‘your’ cabinet, love to pull out the toys from the bins in your play area, and the bins from the shelving unit. You love to explore everything, and thoroughly investigate it all.

You turned ten months today, unfortunately without much fanfare. We’re all still a little under the weather, and it was a worday, and life just feels a bit chaotic lately. But your nana was here today with you and gave you lots of snuggles and loves to help you feel better and happier. We of course fit in time for the requisite photo shoot and you were so cute and focused. It’s so funny how you like to pose for the camera and smile like a star.

Ten months old, in front of the tree

Standing ten month old

Unfortunately, we are all sick. I had a sore throat late last week and was exhausted by Friday night; I think I slept for almost 12 hours straight. But with each day that goes by I am feeling worse and worse. Your dad has caught up to me and we both feel awful. You had a stuffy nose starting late last week and by yesterday you were clearly not feeling well, unhappy and a bit tempermental. I worked from home today so was able to give you some love and snuggles whenever you needed them. You’re generally handling it all pretty well, but it is so hard watching you and knowing that you’re not feeling well, and also that you aren’t able to explain to us what’s going on. Being sick sucks.

We got a Christmas tree yesterday, the placement of which displaced your toy corner. This in turn motivated us to convert the breakfast nook into a play area for you, something we’ve been talking about for awhile. We bought a storage unit yesterday and spent a great deal of last night moving furniture and setting up the room for you (and also decorating the Christmas tree). We were so excited for you to wake up today so we could show you the tree and your new play area. I was joking to your dad about how strange it must be to wake up and find a huge tree sitting in the place where normally your toys reside. But you didn’t seem bothered by it in the least, merely looking it up and down and wanting to touch all of the ornaments. Next we showed you your play area. You looked around for a minute then crawled over to the toy bins and pulled one out. I hadn’t anticipated that you’d be able to do that, but that’s okay, they’re all filled with things meant for you. You played for a little while, but soon you crawled your way up the one step into the kitchen and set off exploring.

First time in the playroom!