Month Eleven

Dear Abe,

This month has been jam packed with activities. First things first – YOU WALK! For a while you were taking a step here or there, but now you are a full fledged walker. Congratulations! You miraculously started doing this while on vacation. And, I don’t know what it was about the Outer Banks, but I swear you aged 30 years and grew 2 feet while you were there.


I have to give you props for being the best baby imaginable during the 15 hour drive to and from OBX. I was having nightmares of a screaming baby taking poops and projectile vomiting every five miles, but you were SO GOOD. And, when I say “so good,” I mean you barely made a peep (except on the way home when you became possessed by some sort of supernatural force – lets just say it was because of Pax, West Virginia, but I don’t really count that). Most of the time you sat in your carseat and watched the Wiggles or Barney. You snacked on Cheerios and laughed at me along the way. If you were old enough to understand gold stars, I would give you 20.

Once we got there, you were a little unsure of the ocean, but I blame your trepidation on the 30 mph winds blowing through the beach. Once they died down, the ocean was your friend, and the sand was your snack. You loved your cousins – Jaci, Cassie, Jenn, and Mackenzie – they kept you entertained constantly. I think you really miss them now, and I wish your Daddy and I could multiply ourselves and repeat their giggles for you. You loved to dance to a little singing gangsta frog, “Yo shorty its your birfday … we’re gonna party like its your birfday” … and the more people laughed at you, the more you delivered the goods. I wonder where you got the trait of loving to make people laugh? Hmmmm …

You ate like a maniac – your new favorite food is watermelon. I think you could eat an entire one yourself. Whenever one of the girls would have a plate of it, you would walk over to her and try to steal it away. You also ate macaroni and cheese like it was your job. I was very impressed by your eating skills. I wonder where you got the trait of loving to eat? Hmmmm…

Our vacation was over in a flash. It was a lot different for your Daddy and I with you there. Some things were more difficult like not getting to sleep all night or how much work was involved in getting ready to go to the beach. But other things were really great like seeing you experience the ocean for the first time, or hearing you laugh so hard at the girls, or watching you enjoy all of your cousins and aunts and uncles, and seeing them enjoy you. In the end, we wouldn’t want to go without you, so I guess we will bring you along next year. I fully expect you to take over some of the driving and going on some beer runs for us. Vacation is not a free ride, kid.

Love,
Mama