Dance Partner

Dear Connor,

Daddy and I took you to Barnes & Noble today and you had a great time exploring the long shelves of books and interacting with the other kids in the store. You were especially drawn to a little 9-month-old boy and I really think you were trying to teach him how to walk--you kept tugging on his legs and nudging his butt! And when the boy's dad pulled him up into his feet and made him dance, you walked up to the boy, hugged him from behind and bounced up and down to dance along with him! Daddy, me and all of the adults nearby were cracking up and the little boy was probably wondering why you were dry humping him.

Love,
Mom

Girl Trouble

Dear Connor,

During open gym time at Gymboree today, a two-year-old girl went up to you and hugged you. She also smiled at you and caressed your forehead. You responded to this older woman's advances by reaching out and trying to hold her hand but then she pushed you away. I'm sorry, buddy. I'm afraid women are always going to be that confusing.

Later on, you walked by that same girl and went up to her. This time, she pushed you harder and you fell flat on your back. You were thankfully okay, albeit a little stunned, but I was so mad at the girl for hurting you that I seriously wanted to push her back. Of course, I didn't because she was, well, two years old. But when you got hurt, I felt as if I got hurt, too. I'm so sorry, little guy. I know I can't protect you from all of life's bullies but I will always try.

Love,
Mom

Bottle Service

Dear Connor,

You just learned how to blow kisses to people. You put your hand over your mouth and then pull it away and say, "Muh." So cute! And you can now hold your own bottle and drink from it, but you usually still make me hold it for you. I guess I don't blame you; if I had someone who would hold up my drinks for me, I'd probably take advantage of him or her, too.

Love,
Mom

Perfect Present

Dear Connor,

You received a lot of great gifts for Christmas (and wow, you are still loving that wrapping paper tube) but you have been giving me amazing gifts every day since you were born. My current favorite is the way your face lights up when you see me come into the room and how you immediately toddle over to me and hug my leg. The very best gift, though, is watching you grow up into such an incredible little person. You are so smart (you just learned how to say "apple" and when you see a picture of an apple in one of your books, you say "apoh" and try to bite it, hehe) and so funny (for some reason, you recently started pulling your foot up to your mouth and kissing your toes) and so friendly (we went to a restaurant on Monday and you said "hi" to every single person who walked by our table--seriously, every single person). You are the best gift ever. 

Love,

Mom

Merry Christmas!

Dear Connor,

You were a good boy this year (well, for the most part) so Santa brought you a lot of fun gifts. You especially like your new xylophone, which is so cool that Daddy has been playing with it almost as much as you have!

That's okay, though, because your very favorite new toy is not the xylophone, the bead maze or the toddler bike but the long cardboard tube from the wrapping paper that we used to wrap those items. Once you saw it, you dropped all of your other gifts and played with it the rest of the night. Oh, well. Merry Christmas sweetie! Lesson learned, we've already set aside the cardboard boxes that your gifts came in this year to give to you next year.

Love,

Mom

Snoring

Dear Connor,

You snore like a bear, just like Daddy. At night, I can hear you quite clearly on the baby monitor I keep on the nightstand on my right. And Daddy is always snoring away loudly on my left, so it's like I have surround-sound snoring. You can imagine how fun that is for me.

Love,
Mom

Got Milk?

Dear Connor,

You love milk! You usually exclaim, "nai nai!" when you see your bottle and tonight, you couldn't even wait for me to bring it to you. I was heating your milk up in the bottle warmer as usual and you grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the warmer while saying "nai nai" over and over again. Sheesh, so demanding! Well, at least you are demanding milk and not candy.

Love,

Mom

It's Snot Funny

Dear Connor,

Yesterday, you were in your highchair while I was upstairs getting more bibs for you. While I was upstairs, I heard what sounded like you blowing your nose. When I went downstairs, I found that you had indeed learned how to blow your nose--on your arm. Your arm was coated with yucky, sticky boogers. You looked up at me and laughed. I had a slightly different reaction.

Love,

Mom

The Big 1-5

Dear Connor,

You are 15 months old today! I cannot believe how fast you are growing up. When you were born, you were this tiny five-pound peanut who couldn't do anything but eat, poop, cry and sleep. Now, you are tipping the scales at 23 pounds and talented at so many things. Here's what you can currently do:

-You can walk completely on your own. You occasionally do the drunken-sailor wobble but you are usually pretty stable on your legs. And quick! You can also walk and clap at the same time and walk and drink from your sippy cup at the same time. Way to multi-task!

-You know how to climb down from the couch. When I sit you on the couch, you roll over onto your tummy and shimmy off the couch feet first. You are too smart for your own good.
-Your first words were mama and mum-mum (your favorite crackers are called Mum-Mums). To your vocabulary you have added hi, bye, nai nai (milk), na na (banana), uh-oh (I say it all the time because you are always getting into trouble!) and--much to Daddy's excitement--dada! You also say "wa ish dis" a lot when you see new objects and I'm pretty sure you're saying "what is this?"
-You give the BEST hugs!
-When I say, "Connor, kiss!" to you, you kiss me on the cheek (or chin, nose, lips or eyelid. Your aim is kind of random).
-When people wave bye-bye, you wave bye-bye back to them. Last week, you waved hello for the first time to the Chinese food delivery guy who came to our house.

-You are really good at making a HUGE mess at every mealtime. Feeding you used to be easy. I'd put a spoonful of food in your mouth and you would swallow it. Now, I put the spoonful of food in your mouth and you insist on spitting it back out, smooshing it between your fingers and then popping it back into your mouth (ew). Sometimes you throw the food on the floor and sometimes you wipe it on the high chair, across your face, in your hair or all of the above. Consequently, we go through a LOT of paper towels every day.
-You can make phone calls. You love playing with my cell phone and a few times, you went into my address book and called Daddy, PoiPoi and Aunt Elizabeth. One time, you hit the emergency key for 911 but I grabbed the phone away from you before it rang. I don't let you play with my phone anymore.

-You can charm the pants off of anyone. You are pretty friggen cute so a lot of people (mostly women) come up to us when we go out and coo and giggle over you. Then when you flash them your megawatt smile, they instantly become putty in your hands. This includes me.

Love,

Mom

Precious Moment

Dear Connor,

After your bath tonight, the two of us were enjoying our nightly post-bath snuggle. You were wrapped in your hooded duckie towel, rubbing your face on my neck and babbling away softly in your cute little voice. I hugged you tightly, breathed in the calming scent of your baby shampoo and felt so lucky and amazed to be your mommy. And then you threw up all over my shoulder. Way to ruin the moment, buddy.

Love,

Mom

Pearly Whites

Dear Connor,

This past Saturday, you had your very first dentist appointment. You currently have six little chompers (and two more are cropping up on the bottom) and you absolutely hate it when I try to brush them. I literally have to pin you down to get the toothbrush in and around your mouth and sometimes I even have to ask Daddy to help hold your head still. You always cry, which, ironically, makes it easier for me to brush your teeth since your mouth is wide open. I'm so sorry we have to do this to you two times a day but you'll thank us later for your perfect pearly white teeth! 

Given your aversion toward brushing, I obviously didn't think it would go well with the dentist but like the hair salon we took you to, the dentist had also invested in the magic of TV. You turned into a zombie baby as soon as you saw SpongeBob walk across the screen and wouldn't have noticed if the dentist stuck a jackhammer in your mouth, much less a tiny handled mirror. Your check-up lasted all of five minutes (what with you only having six teeth and all) and you got a snazzy toy ball from the dentist for being such a good boy.

I think you were especially mesmerized by the TV at the dentist's office because last week, Mommy and Daddy (well, Mommy mostly) decided that we are no longer going to let you watch TV. Actually, I never wanted you to watch TV but then I slowly started letting you watch episodes of "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan" and "Bubble Guppies" when I needed to keep you occupied while I did housework. And you loved them! You'd smile and perk up as soon as you heard their theme songs and would sit as still as a stone during the entire episodes, eyes glued to the screen. Initially, you only paid attention to the TV if your cartoons were on but then you started watching it when I watched the news in the morning and when Daddy turned on a sports game after he came home at night. You were so drawn to the TV that you'd try to walk right up to it to touch the screen and you giggled in delight when we picked up the remote to turn on the TV. I don't want you to be a couch potato like so many other kids so our house is now a no-TV house.

The first few days were . . . quieter. It was odd making your breakfast without Matt Lauer's voice in the background. And I had to leave you in your playpen and let you cry while I went to the basement to do laundry. But we listened to the classical music station during breakfast and that was a calming way to start the day. And when I did laundry, you cried for several minutes but then you stopped and just started playing contentedly with your toys. So this will be good.

I do miss Matt Lauer, though.

Love,
Mom

Finger Foods

Dear Connor,

You usually like steamed tofu and broccoli but you wouldn't eat them tonight. I tried feeding them to you with your baby spoon but you turned your head away. I tried feeding them to you with an adult spoon but you turned your head away. I then picked up pieces of tofu and broccoli with my fingers and those you ate. I had to feed you the rest of the bowl of food that way. Can you say "high-maintenance"? 

Love,

Mom

What To Do With Books

Dear Connor,

Your books are for reading, not for chewing, throwing or sliding across the floor so that you scratch up the covers. That is all.

Love,

Mom