To Ethan (11 Months)

Dear Ethan,

You turn 11 months old today. Just one more month to go, I can tell people that you are how many years old, instead of 6 weeks and 4 days, or 8 months and 3 weeks. I know how important a day or a week is to you babies, but your mommy really sucks on figures.

You've been babbling a lot since this month. Let me describe your talk: you talk like those aliens in "District 9", the more human beings listen to it, the more they understand it. I'm now one of the human residents in "District 9" trying to follow you. You have a habit of repeating "da da" on command. You say "da da ba ba" when you look at your teddy bear. Sometimes you say "da da di di" when you play with your duckie. You say "mum mum mum" when you are eating your porridge meal, but you'd grin hugely and then throw yourself at the back of your highchair when you eat what we are eating. Just that reaction, Ethan, you've made me to cook you something gourmet. You are now eating TOMATO RISOTTO.

You've probably figured out your ten fingers are actually individually movable that you don't have to use your whole hands but only fingers. One of your favorite things to play with is Cheerio. Whenever a piece of Cheerio is put onto your highchair table, you'd focus your two eyes onto it, then gather all your energy in the index finger to aim at it. After you play with it a little bit, you'd drop it on the floor. And that's your second favorite thing to do. Whenever you drop something from the highchair to the floor, it looks like you are waiting for an explosion. If that noise is not annoying enough, you'd look for something else to drop. And, Ethan, that is real annoying.

Speaking of fingers, you've learnt to point with your index finger this month. Yesterday, when you aunt Keturah came to visit you, you pointed at her right after you saw her appear on our doorstep. I think you almost made her cry. Sometimes you love to raise your head from your stroller and point at the trees, followed by your alien talk. Oh, this is the cutest thing in the whole "District 9". 

This month, you've achieved what I think you've been trying to accomplish since the first day you came to this world - be SLEEPLESS. You used to sleep from 9pm to 8am plus 2 naps a day. Now, YOU BARELY NAP! Sometimes you'd nap for 15 minutes during the day. 15 MINUTES??? Do people call that "nap"? I'd call that "Are you freaking kidding me?" At night, you'd wake up at inhumane 2am or 4am, when it takes us almost an hour to put you back to bed, you wake up again at 6am. And that's official, you are not going back to bed at all.

Since you've become sleepless. You've also developed a hatred towards your crib. Whenever we put you in your bed awake, you'd literally scream so loud that our neighbor would come over and see if you are being killed. I think the reason for that is you've found your new shelter - under the table. And you have a special ritual to enter your shelter. You'd crawl across the side stretcher of one of the chairs, then exit yourself through under the chair before you go under the table. And you always pick the chair I'm sitting on. Yes, Ethan, you don't have to remind me, I remember you are the youngest member of Cirque du Soleil.

Just a couple days ago, you started pulling yourself up by holding onto something. Though it gives my nerves a workout by watching you falling and banging like thousand times a day, I'm really excited to see you explore things from a higher, newer perspective. Ethan, your perfect poise is going to make you a determined little walker. I'm so proud of you.

This month, you've also developed a great love for your teething butterfly toy, your flip-flap books, cars (any kinds, even GM's!), mommy's homemade dessert, drinking water (oh, I'm so blessed!), letting me bite your figure, smiling to strangers......One day when I was gazing at your dimple on your right cheek and the end point of your curly hair reaching your neck behind your ear, I've noticed you are becoming an independent little creature showing your love and disgust to specific things. While this thrills me that you are on your own soul, I can't help but wish, please don't happen too fast. Stay here.

Love,

Mommy