He’s officially 3 months today, since he was born on the 29th. Forgive the roughness; I just sort of rambled:

  Dear Elliot,

            On the Wednesday that we took your first long car trip (down to your grandparents’ for Thanksgiving), you turned 12 weeks old. Initial thoughts: wow, I’ve been off work that long, wow you used to be this little alien looking thing with a head full of hair and shifty eyes, wow I can’t believe how far you’ve come!

            I realized on the day you turned eight weeks that something had changed. Your eyes opened wider, you suddenly understood a little more about this world you now live in. I think you saw your mommy and daddy too – as if for the very first time. Sometime right after that, we got down a really good nighttime routine. Whereas you used to sleep almost all day long, wake up long enough to feed, and then a few hours at night before we could get you down by 12 or 2, now you take your last feeding sometime between 11 and 12 and will sleep well into the four o’clock hour. I am grateful for this but sometimes, when I wake up around three, I go in to your room and lightly lay my palm on your chest, just to make sure.

            Between eight and twelve weeks, you became a real little person: making more noises such as “a-goo” (complete with a little bit of gurgle), a gurgly little hey-ah, and lots of coos. When you sneeze, often three or five times in a row, you always say, “aye” afterwards, as if those were a work out! You make the most noises when I am changing you. As I remove the diaper and your clothes, you get this big open mouth smile on your face and coo at me. I think you like to be naked.

            You are content in your swing or your vibrating chair for small bits of time. You entertain yourself and give mommy some time to do laundry or sweep. I love walking by you in the living room and seeing your face, your brain obviously filling itself full of the sights and sounds around you.

            You found your frown and pouty face and I sometimes feel like crying with you when your little bottom lip juts out and I can feel your pain. You are fussiest at night but between my walking you around the house (I think you are never happy unless moving) , and your daddy shaking you in his lap with the pacifier in your mouth, we get you to find contentedness. We each use different methods but always find the same end.

            Your daddy was the first one to prompt you to stand, which you absolutely love. You shriek and flail your little arms about, straightening your back and tilting your head down, for balance. Daddy says, “Be the man!” and you flail some more and push as hard as you can with those legs. I think you might be one of those babies who skips crawling and goes straight to standing and then walking.

            I sit on the couch with my feet on the table and rest you on my thighs. We play a game where I make raspberries and silly faces that prompt you to smile and laugh. I could do this all day long, just to see the unending happiness on your face.

            You are infinitely more rewarding than I could ever imagine. Every day I see more and more things develop behind those steel blue eyes and I have this immense feeling of joy and pride when I realize that you can be anything you want. And that you are my son. I can’t even begin to express how much love I have for you – a love I never knew I could feel. I know too that with each passing day, month, and year, we will grow together as a family and I will experience new ways that we love each other. I am so happy we have you in our lives; I can’t even imagine our home without you.

Love,

    Your mom