Oh the little things. I’m so glad I take a moment to jot these things down. These posts might be my favorites to go back and re-read.
At 4-days shy of 11 months old, here are the little things you do that I’m enjoying.
1. Snuggling:
All right, so I may have had to “teach” you how to snuggle, but now that you’ve learned it may be my favorite thing ever! When you get tired and we’re on our way up to nap-time, or bed-time, you rest your little head on my shoulder. You feel so small, so secure, so loving when you do this that it just melts my heart into a puddle of gooey mommy love. I also love seeing you snuggle other people and things. You’ll snuggle Big Bunny, you’ll snuggle Daddy and once in a while you’ll try your darnedest to snuggle Oliver. Keep on snugglin’ little buggie, keep on snugglin’.
2. Stuffed animal lugging
You’re in a stuffed animal phase. I believe it started with Pink Bunny (can you tell we’re creative with our stuff animal names around this joint?). Pink Bunny was an easter gift from G.Auntie Kathy. Pink Bunny was so soft, and since you had just started taking steps/learned to snuggle, it was an instant attraction for many reasons. Then it moved onto Big Bunny. I grabbed him out of desperation for a particularly difficult diaper change, and it was love at first squeeze. We’ve been letting you nap with him since you just love to cuddle him. He’s also so super soft, that I like to snuggle him too! Then, you discovered an oldie but goodie! Winston! The first stuffed animal/present your Father ever gave to me. (Back when we were 14!!) You love poking his plastic nose, and tugging on his heart. All these animals combined with your new found love of walking has led to stuffed animal lugging. You scoop a stuffed animal up in your tiny arms and waddle forward with them. They’re the size of your tiny body, but you’re determination sees you through and off you go lugging around big stuffed, cuddly animals.
3. Excited dance:
You have a special excited dance, although I’m not sure dance is the right term. Usually this happens when Daddy is threatening to rough house with you on the couch. If he’s “coming to get you,” you squeal with delight and get all giddy and do a little jig! Your feet go, your little arms wave around, you don’t know which way to look. It looks hysterical and tiring all in one!
4. Standing up from squatting
When you first started taking steps, and those steps became more and more frequent I knew as soon as you learned to stand up without holding onto anything you’d be off like a rocket. I was right. But what I didn’t anticipate was just how darn cute your standing up would be. We’re talking wide stance, for balance, flat palms ready to push up, and the fluffy diaper butt high in the air. While I probably should feel badly when you fall down, in reality I get a little excited since it means you have to stand back up, and it’s just so darn cute!
5. Running instead of falling down
This one gets me every time. You’ve been honing your walking skills and with that comes the risk of walking faster. A little quicker stepping, a little longer stride, and a lot more attitude. But what happens when the rush from the thrill of walking faster starts to turn against you? There’s no way you want to stop since that means you’ll end up falling. When pushing your limits of speed seem to get away from you, you embrace the adventure and you end up running. Your little legs going faster and faster until you inevitably fall down with a little thud. I think it’s only a short matter of time until you’re running on purpose.