Nine Month Update

Dear Samantha,

Nine months old already! Once again, I’m amazed at how quickly nine months goes by when you’re not pregnant. Nine months as an uncomfortable, enormous pregnant lady seems like an eternity, but nine months as the mother to a baby as precious as you can never last long enough.

You spent the last month following in the footsteps of your favorite character, Dora the Explorer. You explored every inch of our house, mostly by crawling to and fro shoving everything you could find into your mouth. I don’t even want to think about how much BPA you ingested from the enormous amounts of plastic toys and packaging that you gnawed on. Or, what kinds of grossness might have been on the shoes I was constantly prying out of your mouth. You loved, in particular, shoe laces. Untying, twisting, pulling, and sucking on them -- it was all good as far as you were concerned.

The one thing you did not stick in your mouth last month was a blankie. THANK YOU FOR THAT. I spent at least three years of my life cleaning disgusting, germ laden bunny blankies soaked wet from your sister stuffing them in her mouth, so it was a huge relief to me that you did not begin sucking on cloth to soothe yourself. For your money, nothing was better than your left thumb. And why not? It was just the right size and it never ended up dropped on the side of the road or left behind at a wildlife refuge with free-roaming Llamas. Or left under a table at a restaurant. Or in a cubby at school. Oh, the drama we endured with sister’s bunnies… but I digress. Where were we then? Oh yes, thumbs. They rock. Your thumb-sucking habit was nice not only because your thumb never got lost and was easy to clean, but also because it was a reliable indicator for when you were tired or hungry. If the thumb was in your mouth, it was time to eat or time to sleep. Everything in life should be so simple.

To distract you from the many delicious shoes and plastic bits around the house, we took you to our neighborhood pool for the first time. Walking through the gate, I was immediately reminded of the first time we brought Lana to the pool three years earlier, and not just because you wore the same bathing suit. Your reactions really could not have been more different, though. My 10 month old Lana took in that enormous body of blue water and looked at me like, “That can’t possibly be safe. Are you sure that water is properly cleaned and those lifeguards are adequately trained?” And you, my dear, looked at me like, "HELLS YEAH! Let's do this thing!” Lana couldn’t be forced into the water and you couldn’t get in fast enough. Your big sister eventually grew to love the pool, but it took multiple trips and many baby steps to get her comfortable in the water. You, on the other hand, just jumped right in and splashed until I thought your little arms would fall off.

I’m sorry to hijack your update with another comparison to your sister, but I’m constantly amazed by the dramatic differences in your personalities. You are both very much your own people, even at this young age -- a fact that both amuses and thrills me. Before you were born I envisioned raising a little Lana clone, which makes you quite a surprise. A wonderful, fearless, adorable surprise. I love both you and your sister dearly for the different people you are and can’t wait to see what you do next.

All my love,
Mama