11 months!

Dear Chip,

In (a little under) one month, you will be a year old.  That is as amazing, marvellous and yet unsurprising for me as it is for most parents.

Your last month has been full of excitement, including:

• A visit from Aunty R and Funkle A (Highlights: pub time and a walk on Maungatautari.  Lowlights: car meltdowns, plural)

• Your first Christmas (in summary: enjoyed present time, napped long so we missed church, loved eating dinner in your new swing) 

• Meeting some of our Feb babies friends (and your first go on a big kid tramp)
• Meeting the rest of the family at Great Gran and Granddad's 60th anniversary party
• A lovely, relaxed welcoming ceremony (Highlights: family, friends, Dr Seuss, love, laughter, bubbles.  Lowlights: you had a short nap and grizzled through the whole thing!)

• A few days with friends in beautiful Havelock North (Highlights: lunch at a serene vineyard, fun with baby friends, runs for Mummy and walks up Te Mata Peak and out towards Cape Kidnappers.  Mixed light: seeing the New Year in with Mummy cuddles after waking up at 11:53pm. Lowlights: Few)

You have continued to grow and change.  Unsurprising yes, but still wonderful to see.  You have mastered going backwards down the stairs and sliding backwards off the bed.  We are pretty sure we can officially count "Daddy" and "birds" as your first words.  You are practicing standing unsupported, and working on getting yourself up into a standing position.  You ask us to read to you, over and over again (and boy do you make a fuss if we're not quick enough).  You still study your books on your own too- I have no idea what you're trying to learn, but it looks fascinating. You love turning the tap on in the tub and drinking the cold water. You know that there are plums on the plum tree and that they taste good (stone fruit in general is a huge favourite). You have rediscovered your love of bubbles, and you can spend minutes on end marvelling at the antics of mirror baby (I even have a feeling you've just about figured out who he is).  You are busy as anything, full of fun and mischief, and a perfect mix of delightful and utterly exhausting. 

I look forward to the changes the next month brings- in the meantime, first birthday party planning is calling!

Love,

Mummy.