10 Months

I chose these pictures because we spend a lot of time doing this every day. You unload and I throw everything back in. It's a fun game.

Dear Calder,

The last month went by like it was just a few days. We've been so incredibly busy. You have changed and grown so much. Here's what you've been doing:

• You now say 'all done', 'snack', 'amen' 'hi', 'hey' and of course 'mama' and 'daddy'. 'All done' is by far your favorite. I am trying to get it on film but every time I get out the camera you just smile and stop whatever you're doing.
  
• You fold your arms to pray and you like to do it randomly throughout the day. You'll sit patiently with your arms folded until I pray. We say a lot of prayers. The other day we were in the car and I couldn't see that you were folding your arms. You started grunting and finally said 'hey' so I would notice you.
• Last week you said 'Hi Daddy!' when I brought you into our room in the morning.
  
• You finally started signing 'please'.
• You mimic the number syllables in the words we say. Daddy said 'raining' the other day and you said 'maimnin'.
• Reading is a new love. You used to somewhat like it but now you just love it. Sometimes you like to look at books by yourself and sometimes you like me to read to you.
• A few weeks ago you were on the deck and decided you didn't want to scrape your belly by army crawling, so you started to crawl on your hand and knees. Now you do a mixture of both.
• You use everything to pull yourself up and love to walk by holding one of my hands.
• You still don't have any teeth but I'm sure they're on their way. That doesn't hold you back in the eating department. You can chew everything I throw at you. It's so nice that I don't have to puree everything anymore. String cheese, grapes and blueberries are your favorites.
  
• I cut your hair for the first time. It was just a little trim in the front. You were very curious about what I was doing.
  
• You can crawl up the stairs by yourself. You also race toward the stairs when we're upstairs. You think it's a fun game when I come running and lunging to catch you before you hit the stairs. I don't think it's funny.
• You started giving a few snuggles here and there. I LOVE IT.
  

I love the stage you're at now and am so proud of you.

Love,
Mommy