Sunday, September 20, 2009

Never A Dull Moment.


Oh my goodness, life with an 11-month old. CRAZY.

When I was pregnant, my husband and I imagined all of the different stages of parenting. We knew that there would be a lot of changing diapers and feeding and such, but I think that both of us would agree that the stage Cub is in right now is the stage we imagined the most.

Cub is full of energy and is busy, all the time. He loves to be held, loves to be tossed, loves to hang upside down, loves to ride on his Daddy's shoulders (sometimes mine, but he prefers his Dad). He scurries towards us and immediately involves himself in whatever we are doing, whether it's folding laundry or reading a book or checking e-mail. The grandparents have received several
 e-mails that consist of a very random assortment of letters and numbers, lots of d's and e's and 7's and y's, in a large massive paragraph, signed "Love, Cub". 

Besides his voracious appetite, he has taken it upon himself to attempt to feed himself, and he rarely allows the spoon to reach his mouth before he grasps it and tries it himself. His aim has become quite accurate and he will now take the spoon and dip it into his food before returning the spoon to his mouth. It is, predictably, a very messy endeavor (and often one that is only attempted with orange veggies or green veggies ... never the clear-ish fruits, like pears or apples, which would really be more convenient), but we mostly just let it roll. After all, we would, at some point, appreciate it if he could feed himself without our help, as we do not foresee ourselves feeding our teenage son with a spoon when he is perfectly capable of handling it himself. :) So, the self-feeding ensues despite the mess that inevitably follows.

His Daddy loves his stage. They wrestle and tickle and play. Cub has taken it upon himself to help his Dad wind down at the end of the day by untying his shoes. My husband will pop back the recliner and prop his feet up, and both of us smile as we see Cub's little blonde head moving towards the couch. He pulls himself up and, with a little smile, he grabs his Daddy's shoestring and pulls. He has even begun to do this while my husband is standing, unaware of the little Cub busy at work with his shoes.

I knew that parenthood would be fun, but I never expected it to be THIS fun. I never expected to laugh this hard or to be this absolutely delighted in another human being. The noisy toys, the sound of a little Cub's hands and knees thumping the floor as he crawls from room to room, the facial expressions, the belly laughs, and the hugs--it's just all really, really great. 

I've always enjoyed each stage and welcomed the next, but I would be okay with this stage lasting for a long time!


4 comments:

  1. How sweet. I feel like Levi is at such a fun age right now, but then I imagine the future when he starts to talk and starts to "experience" things for the first time and actually realizing what he's doing and it makes me so excited for that, too. I want to freeze him in each stage and pull them out when I want to. :) Children are just FUN!

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  2. ...and it just keeps getting better! I promise. ;)

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  3. that's exactly how we've felt all along...right now is our favorite stage! SO FUN!!!

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  4. The stages are a blast...there hasn't been one I didn't love and Grace is 3! I just love Caleb's nickname...it fits him so well, he is truly a little cub!

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