The Abundant Wife

Dear Naomi,

Today you are 8 months old. Can you believe it? Where has the time gone?! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. Now you’re on to your second car seat, taking baths in the big tub, and eating in the high chair! This week we caught you exchanging “kisses” with 2-year-old Josh Anderson at First United Methodist Church. You kept grabbing his face and pressing your lips to his, like you do to me. It looks like you’ll be a teenager before we know it!

What a busy life you have! I laughed today when I realized that you were already exhausted and ready for your THIRD nap of the day. First you woke up at 7:30am, (after 11.5 hours of sleep) ready for breakfast and snuggling with Mommy and Daddy. After you nursed, you fell asleep again and I put you back in your bed around 8:30am. You slept until around 11:30am, and then Daddy played with you for a little while. I watched you “walk” from one end of my dresser to the other while holding the bottom drawer, reaching for my bracelets and hair bands. You ate (or attempted to eat) cheerios, while Daddy and I ate oatmeal. After breakfast and nursing, you slept again from 1:00pm-2:30pm.

This time when you woke up, I took you outside to take out the trash, let you sit in the driveway on the cool concrete while I shoveled the snow, and let you sit on the neighbors’ rug while I delivered their mail. Ken Albright always comments on how alert you are, as you take in all of your surroundings. You liked chewing on the neighbors’ keys, and squinted at the bright sunshine. Then I brought you inside where you held on to a kitchen chair and stood chewing on frozen teething rings while I made lunch. When you dropped the rings on the floor, you practiced squatting to pick them up and then standing up again. You dropped onto your bottom, and then rolled across the floor in search of more toys. Then you ate more cheerios while Daddy and I ate our lunch. You were so tired you could barely keep your eyes open! I nursed you and put you back in bed around 3:30pm. It sure is hard being a baby!

You’ve had a busy last month! You needed to see Dr. Kopp twice: once with a dislocated elbow, and once with pink eye. Fortunately, you are a tough kid and mellow too, so you got through both fine. Your favorite form of locomotion these days is rolling, and you can roll after anything you want, even through doorways and under furniture. You are getting better and better at pulling yourself up, and lowering yourself down though, so I think you might skip crawling altogether. You also do splits, twirl your hair, and open and close the cabinet doors for fun. I often have to grab you away from cords, papers, heaters, and trash cans. You like watching the Maryland Terps on TV with Daddy, and you are both very excited that they are now tied for #1 in the A.C.C. You even have a Terps onesie that you wear for the games. This past week you started saying “dadadada…” so Daddy has decided that he is your favorite! We will see… You also like to say “babababa…” and “rararara…” and “gagagaga…” and “eyeyeyeye…” and whisper “whooshwhoooshwhoosh…” Either way, you are a very talkative baby!

You are such a cheerful and beautiful baby! Every time I look at you, I am amazed that you are our child. You truly live up to the “pleasant” part of your name, and you daily bring joy and laughter to our home. I can see that you won’t be a baby for much longer, but for now I love this special time with you. I love being your Mommy, and Daddy loves you too. We are so glad that you have joined our family, and so excited to be getting to know you!

Love,
Mommy

“Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. He will renew your life & sustain you in your old age.” Ruth 4:14-15