Eleven Months

September 03, 2012

Seth,

This month is brought to you by the letters N and O. Proceed to climb on the couch, unroll the toilet paper, attempt to stick your tongue in the phone jack, or climb into things, and respond with an emphatic “No” when asked to do something else, or anything you don’t want to do.

You’re solving problems now, more and more complex each day. We’re slower catching on than you, thinking that we can keep things from you by just hiding them from view. That’s certainly not a good approach. You even give us a look that says “really?”. Still, I certainly hope that you’re still as impressed with your parents in five years as you are now. You get this amused/awed look when we do things you thing are amazing, apparently like stealing food off of your highchair tray.

You’re cruising, climbing, and working on your physical skills. From stacking blocks, to putting things inside other things, you’re starting to do more than just pick things up. You can put the colored blocks into the right slots on your toys, and nest different sizes. It’s a joy to watch you learn. You pick out the moon each time we’re outside at night, and you’re pointing to everything. It’s most often a directive that means “take me there” or “help?”. You can sign More, Eat, and Thank You, but refuse to sign Please. It’s much easier just to point. You can climb, and you’re starting to jump now. All you need is Daddy’s leg, or possibly Addy to climb up onto the couch. You’re jumping when you’re standing against something, be it the gate or the side of the crib. Walk away, come back, and you’ve climbed up onto the kid’s picnic table. Walk away, come back, and you’re standing on the file box in the office looking to climb up the bookshelf. It’s nothing if not keeping us on our toes.

You got to play your first hand of poker with Mike. One hand lost, then one hand won. It’s very hard to tell when you’re bluffing. I think you’d be up if you started by betting less than 1000 on the flop in your first hand ever. Hopefully you take after your mommy, and bluff like a champ, but only at poker.

Each and every day we get to watch you learn new things, and we get to watch you do new things. Lots of the credit goes to Mommy, she’s dedicated to showing you and telling you things each and every day. We have any number of books memorized now, especially Eric Carle’s books. You pick out the books you want, and then close and flip them over when we’re done to go again. Each day is a learning experience for all of us. Our prayer is just that we can continue to help you learn, and direct your insatiable curiosity. Also, keep you alive. That’s a big one right now…you’re bound and determined to get into trouble, but we love all of it.

Daddy and Mommy