Dear Delilah...

Dear Delilah,

You are almost 9 months old! You have almost been outside as long as you were inside. And I continue to find you to be the most fascinating little thing in my whole world. You do so many things that strike me as strange, but then I realize that you are just trying to figure out what kind of person you will be. You crawled across the floor to me the other day, but instead of giving me a sloppy, wet kiss, you bit my left eyebrow. You are very into biting these days, and boy does it hurt. They have started calling you “The Shark” at daycare. You have seven teeth coming in now, and you have such a gap between the top two. You look just like I did, with a big “Cattle Gap” up front. I am guessing that braces are going to be in your future.

You now get into even more stuff, which I didn’t think was possible. I have barriers set up all around the living room, trying to keep you contained and away from the heaters, but I am sure it is only a matter of time before you figure out how to launch yourself over them. The trouble with having a smart kid, is that they will eventually outsmart you. You love to do your sprint crawl away from me, straight towards the dog’s water bowl so you can splash your hands in it. And last night I had to dig cat food out of your mouth while you screamed in protest and the cats looked at me like something horrible was happening.

Speaking of the cats, you said your first word when Weasely rubbed against your hand. Plain as day you said “kitty”. I can’t get you to repeat it, so it may have just been a coincidence. You do still say “Da da da “ all the time, and even when I sit in front of you on the floor and say “Ma ma” you still look me dead in the eye and say “Da da”.

You got to bed so early still, so I go in and make sure you are all covered up before I go upstairs. Sometimes, I sit in the rocking chair next to your crib and watch you for a few minutes. You do the funniest things in your sleep. Last night you got up on your hands and knees and rocked back and forth four times before laying back down and putting your fingers in your mouth. I went upstairs and told Daddy and he said “Oh yeah, you do that all the time”. Daddy thinks he is very funny…

Tomorrow they are lighting the town’s Christmas tree at 6pm and I hope you are awake to see it. I am sure I will bundle you up in your little snow suit and drag you down there so you can see.

I love you more than Twizzlers and Jane Austen,

Mom