Dear Shenzie and Heaten,

Ten months. I’m finding it hard to grasp the fact that you are 10 months. 10!! The other day I told Grandma that time flies too quickly, but the days seem so long. That is so very true…..time is flying away and you two are getting so big so fast, yet some days feel like forever.

This month everything changed. You are no longer just babies who cry and smile and laugh…you are now little people who have likes and dislikes…and you are definitely not scared of letting us know! You are both doing so many new things it is hard to keep up. I am over a week late in writing this letter because I just have so much to say, but don’t know where to start.

Dear Shenzie,

You are such a fun and funny baby. You make us work real hard to get laughs and smiles, but when you give them they are so adorable and contagious. When you smile we can see your two new teeth poking through. You are constantly playing with them with your tongue and they are VERY sharp and hurt really bad when you decided to turn your sweet kiss into a painful bite. I thought you were going to bite my lip off one day. OUCH! Your kisses more than make up for it though. You open your mouth and lean into mine. Sometimes you want me to kiss you over and over and over and over. It is so much fun. Then there are the ‘attack me’ kisses. You kind of growl and bury your face into my cheek moving it back and forth really fast and hard….almost like an Eskimo kiss with a Shenzie twist.

When you get frustrated with something or want me to put you down you become quite aggressive. You growl and attack. The other day you raked your nail down my cheek because you were frustrated about something. I know you don’t do it on purpose, but I am afraid to say that you are going to be just like your Mommy. I have a mean, violent streak a mile wide.

This month you learned how to ‘drive’. You LOVE to stand and love even more to drive in your car. At first it was like you tipped a few too many back and you would crash into the walls, me, dada, or the couch. Now you can maneuver your car around tight corners, do a three point U turn, backup and get yourself unstuck. You love to follow me around the house crashing into me and laughing. If I leave the room you scramble to come after me…it is so cute.

You are no longer my picky eater…it’s Heatens turn for that. You love finger foods. You eat pinto beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, bagels, tofu, soy nuggets, soy hot dogs, cheese, bananas, eggos, and bread. It is quite messy these days, but so much fun.

I love to sit and watch you learn new things. It seems like every time I turn around you are learning something new. You are learning cause and effect. You learned that if you throw your food it falls to the floor. You learned that over and over and over. Then you looked at your tray and to the ground like ‘what happened’. You learned how to clap and do so all of the time. Everytime I clap you start clapping. It never fails to crack me up. You say two words now..mama and dada…and bwah bwah if that counts. Your first word was mama although dada would like to believe it was his name. Sorry Dada.

You are very very close to crawling. You army scoot your way around in circles and roll most places. You’ve started getting up on your knees and rocking back and forth. Pretty soon there is going to be no going back….babies on the loose!

You are such an amazing little girl. I love spending my days with you and am so thankful that I am able to stay at home and watch you grow. I love every moment we spend together and look forward to all of the new things you will learn and teach me.

I love you.
Love,

Mama

Dear Heaten,

My little boy. You are getting way too big and I think you should slow down. You look like such a little boy now, not a baby anymore. Your hair is getting so long it won’t stand up anymore. It is messy and cute and I love it! My little surfer dude.

You are so much fun. You are so quick to laugh and smile and scream and yell and cry. You are a very emotional boy. You go from laughing to crying in a heartbeat. You are so much fun. You love to stand and also love to drive in your car. You are still in the drunk driving stage, but getting better and better. You love to stand and play your piano…and by play I mean bang on the keys. You get bored with toys easily so I am always scrambling to find new things to entertain you.

You used to eat everything and anything…nowadays you are my picky eater. You do not like most veggies whole, but will still eat them mushed up. You love soy nuggets, bananas, soy hot dogs, potatos, eggos, and pinto beans. You do not like broccoli or cauliflower. Your favorite lately is tofu coated in crushed graham crackers. You can’t get enough of the stuff. You now know the sign for milk. You recognize it when we do it and do it yourself. The first couple of times I thought were a fluke, but you now do it regularly. I’m still working on more, eat, and gentle.

You are still a toy thief. It doesn’t matter what Shenzie has, you want it. If you can’t get to it you cry, very loudly. You just reach over and snatch everything right from her little hands and look so pleased with yourself for having done so. Cute, but not nice. I’m trying to teach you to share, but so far I’m not having much luck.

You are so adorable. I love to watch you interact with Shenzie. You look over at her and laugh reaching for her hand, foot, or whatever else you can grab. It is so sweet to watch you play together.

You learned how to turn on your Ocean Wonders Aquarium crib toy. At first you would kick it and turn it on..now you can turn it on with your little paws. Putting you down for naps is a process. I sing you two songs while rocking you and put you in your crib. You then lay there and kick your crib and your aquarium for a bit. Then you move onto your turtle that plays music and finally you fall asleep. Sometimes this process takes an hour. I listen to it all through the monitor and giggle to myself at how cute and funny you are.

You love your Dada. And I mean LOVE. You are still so addicted to him. He can’t be in the same room with you without you fussing and crying to be held by him. We are trying to break you of the addiction and have made a little progress. It is so cute to see you get so excited to see him in the mornings and at night. You squeal and laugh and wriggle all around.

You also army scoot in circles, roll everywhere, and have started getting on your knees. Crawling is just around the corner. You also give me kisses. They are sweet as can be. You don’t give them out as willingly as Shenzie, but I love them just as much! Watching you learn to do new things is so amazing. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family!

Little Heaten, I love you so much!

Love,

Mama.