Dearest Bugaboo:

Tomorrow you will be 10 months old!

I know, right? This means that I have somehow managed to keep you alive for 10. Whole. Months. 

And, trust me, little buddy? It hasn't always been easy, this keeping you alive thing. You hate to eat and fight me me tooth and claw if I have a bottle/bowl/spoon in hand. You flail your hands, purse your lips, scream, fake gag and slap any/all food items out of my grasp:

Thankfully this has gotten better since you learned how to feed yourself:

Not many things are cuter than watching you try to put food in your mouth, and I love, love, LOVE seeing the pride in your eyes when you succeed.

The most amazing thing about you right now is your inquisitive personality. "Wassat?", you whisper a zillion times a day as you point. It could be a doorknob, it could be my nose, it could be a tiny fleck on the carpet, but it's amazing and new to you. My days are spent telling you about your world. Doorknob. Nose. Dirt. Eye. Nose. Cat. Nose. 

You do circuits throughout the kitchen and living room, touching and feeling. The slightly serrated edging on the stove. The wooden cabinet. You taste the glass on the coffee table and bang on doors. Your little fingers are always busy discovering, and when you find a sound/texture you like, you turn to me and grin...wiggle your fingers against your new discovery and clap your hands.

You can say Mama (Mamaaa), Grandma (Ama), Grandpa (Umpa), Bones (Bow), All Done (Aaaah daaaa), Down (Dow) Cat (Gat!) and Hi (Hiiiiiii) and are working on Hello and Wow. You do the sign for All Done (although you have not yet figured out how to rotate your wrists, so you simply look like you are surrendering) after every single bite of food, and have only signed Eat once. You wave like the queen and clap like a maniac if anyone says "YAY!!!!" or "WOO-HOO!!!!!" (to everyone's amusement. You can bet your adorable little tushie that we have fun with this one often!) and, if asked whether Grandpa is on the phone, you immediately hunt for one of your many "phone" toys. If there is not one nearby, any toy will do. Yesterday, you placed your firefly rattle against your ear and said "Hiiiiiii, Umpa!", followed by much baby rambling.

You never stop moving, so most of your pictures look like this:

But you are, hands down, the dearest thing (and thank you for letting me capture at least SOME "still" shots)

I don't remember what my life was like without you in it, and I don't want to. I imagine it was pretty dull, because between your tantrums, grievances and attacks of love, I have my hands full.

And, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy (almost) 10 months, muffinlump. I love you.

Moments old and already cheeky.

At 7 months. Still cheeky.

Some things never change.