Dear Miss Eleanor Louise,
(Don't ask us why, but we seem to have changed your middle name from Frances to Louise. We have no intention of making this an official change but for some reason we started calling you that and we can't seem to stop. We even sing "Hey Louise" to you by Neil Diamond. Don't tell your grammy, though. Frances was her grandmother--your great-great-grandmother--and we were all really excited about bestowing her name on you. So for now that's just between you, me, your daddy--who incidentally thought your middle name was Kathryn, which is my middle name--and the Internet.)
My, I am a bit behind with this letter aren't I? At nearly nine months old, you are doing a spate of new things fast and furiously. You are sitting up by yourself, and when your naps are over I find you sitting cross-legged in your crib punching the buttons on your kick toy and looking pleased as punch; you have stood up in your crib twice; you are mere minutes away from crawling, which I wish would happen like YESTERDAY because you are so unbelievably frustrated that you can't figure out how to move forward; and you have even attempted to say the dog's name and Daddy's name a few times. They come out largely the same: "NAN-DE" for the dog (Mandy), and "DA-DE" for Daddy. You also have six seven teeth, with numbers seven, eight, nine, and ten just below the gumline. These new teeth mean you are biting and chewing food and looking so grown up picking food off your high chair and putting it directly into your mouth. You also want to help when I feed you--you guide the spoon and water cup into your mouth, then flush with pride at your accomplishment. It's been a busy nearly three months since I last wrote!
At your six-month pediatrician's appointment, your weight was down to the 50th percentile (and your head was up to the 50th percentile), while your height was past the 95th percentile, making you quite the little string bean. The comment I get most often about you by friends and strangers alike is how "delicate" you are (a nice word, I think, and interesting that so many different people use it to describe you), followed by how big and blue your eyes are (and how long your eyelashes are--all Daddy). I find the comments about your size a little amusing, as at six weeks you were in the 91st percentile for weight and you continue to inhale anything I put in front of you as well as nursing four times per day. Still, two weeks shy of your nine-month appointment, you are only a wee 16 pounds (and a very tall 28+ inches--I can't get you to sit still long enough to measure your height) and I am a bit concerned that they will want me to supplement breast milk with formula or some such thing. However, I am pretty sure you come by your height genetically, as my biological father is rumored to be six-foot-six, and your grammy Diane is five-foot-ten (tall for a woman). Her brother, you're great-uncle Dilly, is six-foot-seven. And if you are anything like your parents, your weight will catch up eventually.
Every three months or so, I still struggle with whether I should go back to work or not, and I am shocking myself by continuing to enjoy staying home with you so much. You are just a delight to be around, particularly as you play and grow, and I still feel just really lucky to get to hang out with you all day. I know Daddy feels the same way and is a bit envious of our time together. Don't tell him, but sometimes I feel like being home with you is like an extended vacation. But I hear that things change rapidly with mobility so check back with me in a month or two.
On the same note, I feel like while I'm home it's important to expose you to as many other children as possible, and recently we have been around the same babies and moms more and more. I love this not only for the social stimulation it provides me (and boy, do I need it!) but also because although you seem to be kind of a shy kid (much like your mother), you recognize the other moms and babies and greet them with huge grins each time you see them. Occasionally, you'll even let another mom hold you. This was one of the reasons I was interested in having you go to daycare a few times a week and although we haven't found a workable solution (the nanny we were sharing flaked out and part-time daycare is too expensive on one salary) we continue to go to playgroups on Fridays and meet up with other moms several times during the week. And this month I have joined the gym so that we can take you swimming and you can go to the daycare while I'm working out (we'll see how that goes--you will probably find me lounging in the hot tub instead!).
We are also expecting the birth of your cousin very, very soon, and I am hopeful that the two of you will be great friends. Since your dad and I moved away from New York a year and a half ago, we don't see as much of your aunt and uncle as we used to, and I like to think that getting the cousins together will be a good excuse to plan family outings between New York and Baltimore. I only hope that you don't end up wishing you were growing up in New York like your cousin is. Of course, that is always an option but for now we are firmly entrenched in Baltimore.
Someday you will want to know why after living in places like New York and London that we decided to raise you in Baltimore. And the answer to that is multi-faceted: We wanted to raise you in a city so that you could be exposed to all kinds of people and cultures, but we also wanted more space to live in and a car so that we could take long leisurely drives together out to the country together on the weekends. We could do those things in New York or London but not as easily, and if we ever decide to give you a sibling the lack of space would be increasingly difficult. And despite your being born there, London never really felt quite like home (though I do miss those lovely accents!). This became more clear after three of your grandparents had long waits to see you until after you arrived in the US. And then there was the fact that your dad's new job is based in Baltimore. He worries a lot about raising you here, actually. The schools aren't as good (yet--but they are getting there) and Baltimore still has more crime than New York. There was a (police) shooting on our street not long after we moved here and last night there was a fire in a row house across the street. And your dad's favorite show, The Wire, is based here (not exactly a ringing endorsement). However, I am loving it. I love that we're walking distance to the water, I love the eclectic row houses and stately old brick buildings, I love the edgy East Coast vibe mixed with the friendly Southern hospitality, I love that we are an easy train ride from New York and DC, and I love that we can walk everywhere we need to go in our neighborhood. I hope you will feel this way too.
In sum, my darling girl, life is good. And I can hardly imagine it getting any better. I feel so incredibly lucky to have you and your dad (and Simon and NAN-DE) in my life.
Love,
Mama
UPDATE: At your nine-month appointment, you are in the 25th percentile for weight and remain in the >95th percentile for height and 50th for head circumference. Still my little string bean but no cause to supplement.
