10 Months (and 2 days)

Dearest Devyn,

Sorry this letter is a little late, my darling, but your Daddy and I have been incredibly sick with food poisoning since Monday night.  I can't tell you how glad I am you didn't get it!  We thought we were going to have to call in reinforcements on Tuesday, during the worst of it, but you were so incredibly good, we managed to get through.

You, by the way, are the sweetest little 10-month-old I know!  Just in the last week or so you have started wanting to snuggle more, you climb up into my lap just to sit with me, and when we were sick and would pull you up into the big bed with us, you covered me in the sweetest baby kisses.

You "sing" when you're happy, long, high-pitched notes of joy that make me smile right down to my toes when I hear them.  You have learned to clap your hands, and like it when we take turns clapping to each other.  And you have started to point to pictures in books—especially dogs—when I ask you to.  You absolutely love to read, whether someone is reading to you or you are looking at the books by yourself.

You love to get out and go, regardless of where we are going.  In the grocery store, you smile at little old ladies and little old men and just make their whole day.  You grin at the girls at the check-out register, so even when they're feeling a little surly, they just have to stop and smile back.  You love to shop with me, whether at the grocery store or anywhere else, because you just love to look around and see everything.  Long walks in your stroller are a favorite, too, when the weather is nice enough.

You rub your head against us as a sign of affection. (We think you must have learned it from the cat!) And the sweetest thing is that we have seen you doing it to the dog, as well.

Your hair is getting longer, and it curls up charmingly in the back when it is damp from a bath.

Generally, you are a very happy girl, and you bring so much joy into our lives.

We got some sad news this week that your great-aunt Marti passed away.  She was fighting a long battle against cancer, but all her family was able to say goodbye before she passed.  She was a sweet, kind woman who loved my uncle Joe very much.

In the wider world this month, the singer Whitney Houston died.  The Afghani people are rioting against American forces because some Americans burned some copies of the Koran.  It's been the snowiest February on record here in Colorado.  And they broke ground on the National African American History Museum on the National Mall in Washington DC.

I think we will finally get to leave the house today, after nearly a week of being sick, and do a little shopping, so it should be a nice day for you today, little one.  I've started plotting and planning for your first birthday party—just two months away!  I cannot believe how fast this year is going.

I love you always, my sweet girl.
~Mommy