Dear
Phoenix,
You are 8
months old today. Before your update, here’s some fun facts:
Your
nicknames:
Phee/Squirrely
Boy/Squirrel/Squirrely Bird/Sweet boy/Biggest/Sweetest
Your profile
most resembles:
TiTi Rix aka
Erika Lauren Cruz
Your biggest
fan:
Jazzy. Your
big baby cousin is obsessed with you. We send her videos and pics of you, and
TiTi Cec and Tio Chris have to show them to her ALL THE TIME. She loves you,
and when you two FaceTime you just look at eachother. Cute!!!
What I say
to you that I hope you can understand:
Phoenix, you
are my teacher. I learn so much from you and your Dad everyday. I am so
grateful for our family, and the big love that you two are to me.
Your
silliest sound:
Dragon’s
breath, still! You sound like a little baby dragon shooting fire, and now you make your
fireless-fire breath interactively. Your dad makes the noise, and you respond!
Too cute.
Your
favorite sleeping position:
Bum in the
air, face down. I love when babies and kids sleep this way.
Compliment
that tickles us:
“Girl, he is
advanced.” –your Abuela, Dr. Ashley
What a
healer said when saw your photo:
“He’s a
hero.”
Your
favorite yoga pose:
Virasana or
Hero’s pose
Here’s
what’s been going on in our world.
Stalker or Sweet?
Damien
Rice’s “The Blowers Daughter” is my song for you right now.
There’s a
lyric in this song that makes me think of you. Because I’m with you almost all
the time, it amazes me that when I’m away from you I miss you! This song is
exquisite and has a kind of stalker-y feel. But the lyrics say it all. He
repeats “I can’t take my eyes off of you” over and over. And then “I can’t take
my mind off of you.” And baby boy, I’m smitten! Can’t take my eyes or mind off
of you.
To puree or not to puree, that is the question.
We are
having fun on this journey of introduction to solids and baby led weaning. I
use the word introduction, still, because the waiting a week between each new
food (exhausting but safe) and the fact that you barely swallow said food keep
us in a kind-of introductory phase. You seem to be completely content with
drinking your milk and playing with your food. Fine with me! But for the
record, some things that you seem to like are pears, carrots and padipan
squash. These you continue to grab for, and there’s other evidence that they’ve
made it down the hatch.
We tried a
puree for you yesterday, just to see what would happen and it was a hilarious mess! Just as I
suspected you did not want to be fed; you wanted to hold and steer the spoon
yourself. So not very much of the sweet potatoes with banana made it into your
face. But when it did make tongue-contact you made your typical “funky food
face.” As in, what is this foul nastiness you’ve placed before me?! That face
never gets old; mostly because you proceed to play with and “chew” whatever it
is that grossed you out in the first place. Life with you is already an adventure, especially in the
food department.
Express Yourself
You have
found a new way to express your dissent! Long ago are the days of crying and
tears—record scratch! Oh, yes, you still use those classic ways of
communicating. But your newfound method of protest is the back arch! Pretty
much anytime we put you down, take away a choking hazard or do something that’s
not in line with your plan you throw your head back and arch your spine like a
gymnast about to do a back handspring. It makes us laugh. And you are smart
enough (most times) to only do it while being held or on a soft surface. I
think you learned very quickly that you your head will move to Splitsville on
its way from back arching on the hard wood or near the coffee table.
Home Sweet Home
Speaking of
coffee tables, we may need to baby proof a new living space very soon. Fingers
crossed that our new house will happen in the next month! So excited for you to
be able to roam freely, with lots of baby-proofed acreage. Your Dad is beyond
thrilled about making this new place ours! He has so many ideas for projects
and home improvements. He can’t wait to get you a Leatherman and teach you how
to be as handy as he is. Hopefully we’ll have more to tell you about your new
childhood home as of your 9 month update.
Social Studies
You have
been out and ABOUT! In the last couple weeks you started a Mommy and Me class
where you play with other babies (your besties Theo and Bandit) and toys; sing songs and let Mommy have some
bonding with her peers (thank you Sarah and Khali for playdates and wine) about the joys and hard parts of being a new parent.
You braved
your first day of gym day care. I was very proud of you for being brave,
especially now that your stranger awareness is beginning. You let mommy spin
for 30 minutes, and I needed it BAD! We haven’t had a chance to go back, but
I’m feeling pretty good about you getting to play and hang with other babies
while I work on my fitness.
We also did
a music class, and it was a riot! The teacher is adorable—you zoned in on her
and her epic voice for a lot of the class. Otherwise we sang, danced and played
(read: occasionally hit, but mostly sucked on) drums and baby tambourines.
Speaking of, we are going to have to get you a baby tambourine, those things
are the coolest. When you’re old enough I think you will tear that thing up
when we play “LAUNDRY FAIRY.” Laundry fairy is a lady who looks a lot like your Mom, but she thinks
she’s a pop star. She throws you in the Ergo, turns up some dance music (you
prefer MJ, Madonna, Sia and Jill Scott) and puts the laundry away while performing a
VMA-worthy routine for you. You and the laundry fairy dance and sing in the mirror, and that
tambourine will only add awesome to the equation someday.
My favorite
part of music class was the final song, a slow dance. I got to slow dance with
my darling squirrely boy….and snuggle and smell and love on you for a few sweet
minutes, and I think my shirt ripped a little with all the love that I felt
flowing in my heart.
Cult of Personality
You make us
laugh so much. All day long. And all night, too! During the day you crack us up
with your hilarious grunts and baby-ese. Your ability to find the most
dangerous thing in the room and go straight for it is funny/scary. Your
insta-smile and body convulsions when we dance for you are quite entertaining. Your facial
expressions often channel your Dad, i.e. a range of silly, eye-brow raising
smirks. Oh man, I am in for it with you two!
Crib
We finally
got your crib—thank you Grandma and Grandpa! It’s beautiful, and you spend
about 50% of the night in there. Haha! After I nurse you, I put you in your
crib (usually asleep) and you spend anywhere from 1-2 hours in there. When you
wake up you are ready to be in bed with us, and I scoop you out, repeating the
nurse and lay down in the crib routine. It’s far from a perfect set up; we are working
on teaching you to fall asleep on your own, and to feel confident in your crib.
So it’s nice that I get to nap with you in bed during the day sometimes…cuddle
time with Mommy!
Our
challenges today are trying to get you to sleep because Mommy is tired, and learning how to let you
cry, as this is a way that you express yourself. Being with you has taught me to be patient, even (or mostly) when I’m so
tired I can’t see straight. Before you I was definitely lacking in the patience
department. Something in your eyes tells me to pause and listen when you cry.
That you’re not just crying to make noise, but that there’s something you are
trying to communicate. I’m grateful that we are connected enough that I can truly hear
you. Thank you for teaching me to slow down, and that I can’t always rush in
and fix things.
Looking Ahead
When I think
about the challenges of the future, what you will face when you grow up, my
heart gets a little heavy. We live in such complicated world. There’s so much
beauty, so much love and yet so much senseless hate and destruction. I hope
that you can stay pure in your heart; connected to the life-force that is love and light. I hope that you will be wise. Wise enough to
rise above the petty and ignorant. I hope you will be humble enough to love
them, too. And strong enough to forgive the ones who hurt you.
Sometimes
when I read about people killing each other over race or money or just being
different I stop and say to you: May you have love and light in your heart. May
you have endless compassion, a strong will and the ability to forgive. May you
know unconditional love and give the same. May you bring joy and healing to
others, my little hero.
These are my
wishes for you.
Endless
love upon you, about you, within you, always...
Your Ma, Dad
& Violet
