Dear Jack, Month 10

Dear Jack,

I am stunned at your capacity for showing love and compassion at only 10 months old. I didn’t realize until now that children your age were capable of demonstrating these qualities. I'm not sure why that's such a surprise to me . . . you've been created in God's image and you are able to reflect His qualities just like the rest of us. Your mild temperament and sweet disposition are such a blessing to me. I hold my breath every morning hoping that this day will not be the day that the tables turn and you become a little stinker! But morning after morning, you greet me with hugs and kisses and I'm reminded of how lucky I am. Don't get me wrong . . . you're not perfect. You have lots cranky days, too. It's just that the good days are so good that I don't really remember the bad days for very long.

The changes that we have seen in you this month have been staggering. Of course, walking has been the most poignant. You’ve taken 3 or 4 steps here or there, but on Friday you walked back and forth ACROSS THE ROOM several times in a row. It’s so funny that you know to be proud of yourself when you accomplish something like that. You applaud wildly when you walk and reach your destination without falling. You always give us this look that says, “THAT WAS AWESOME!” And you’re right. It is awesome.

The whole time, your dad was cheering you on and I was sitting quietly watching while I was trying to hold my tears back. My emotions caught me a little off guard, but I was so proud. I am so proud.

You’ve starting to play games and interact with us on a new level this month. You love playing peek-a-boo. You love trying to sneak up and tickle me. You love, LOVE, love wrestling with your dad and laugh out loud when he scares you. You love making other people laugh at you. You love clapping your hands and prefer that we do it along with you. If we do not, you make fake laughing noises until we join in on the fun. You wave at people by opening and closing your fist, but your hand is usually positioned so that it looks like you're waving at yourself. I, of course, think that this is adorable.

You love throwing your hands up in the air as if you were filled with the Holy Spirit whenever someone asks, "How big is Jack?" You love chasing Murphy. You’ll look for anything with buttons that you can push . . . remote controls, phones, the back-up power source to my computer, etc. You love cheerios. You love to point at things/people and have me tell you who/what they are. You’ve tried lots of new food this month and I’m not sure there’s anything you won’t eat, however, you’re not all that fond of formula.

You have two teeth on top that are slowly making their way to the surface. You also have a molar that's working it's way out too. Because of this, when you sit in one place too long, I usually find you sitting in a large puddle of drool. Murphy apparently thinks that I am shirking my responsibility as your mother when I'm not there to immediately catch the drool as it leaks from your lips. She is continually trying to lick your face and keep it clean. You think this is hilarious. I think it's gross.


You were baptized this month. In our church, the ceremonies for baptism and dedication are essentially the same thing and we made the choice to have you baptized. I’m writing a separate letter to you about why we made this decision and I’ll let you read it when you’re older. But for now, I want you to know that we are committed to teaching you God’s commandments and helping you to find personal faith in Jesus. There is no other part of parenting that we take more seriously than this.

I love you.
Mama