Tooth!

Corbin FINALLY cut his first tooth! He isn't the most chill teether. I'm just glad I know why he was so needy and cranky!

He has been working on this tooth for. so. long. It would come up, and then go down, and then come up, and then go back down. I think it's finally high enough out of his gums that it isn't going down again! Now he just has tooth number two (on the bottom) and his two top teeth that are really close.

My adorable toothless almost one year old is no longer toothless!

See you belly, mommy?

Cambria was interested in bellies today. We read a book I love about a baby growing inside a mommy's belly: God Gave Us You. Then she talked about how she came out of my belly. She pulled up her shirt and looked at her belly, then pulled up daddy's shirt and looked at his belly. Then, she came over to me and asked to see my belly. There came the moment of truth...

Let's just say that my belly isn't what it used to be, it looks like a mommy belly (loose skin that creates the look of a pudge, even if there's nothing extra under the loose skin) and I have a TON of stretch marks. I think it's probably the area that I'm most self conscious.

But! I had the thought, I don't want her to think that a mommy belly is something to be ashamed of. It looks like that because I have had the miracle of growing two beautiful babies inside there. It also doesn't hurt for her to see "real life bellies" not just what you see on bilboards, or anywhere else.

So... I showed her my belly. I was expecting her to say something about how my belly looks different than hers, or daddy's... But she didn't. She just touched it, and felt it like it was like any other normal belly.

I'm proud of myself, I feel like I took a step in the right direction.

My little helper.

Cambria was a fantastic helper yesterday! We went on a few errands (that ended up being a lot of errands... grrr) but Cambria helped the whole time! I decided that carrying my wiggly almost 1 year old into a post office would be unwise, so I put him in the stroller. Cambria pushed while I steered and held the boxes that I needed to send.

Later, I was doing laundry and Corbin decided that nothing would do unless I was holding him. So I went out to the garage (because that's where the dryer is) and unloaded the dryer into a laundry basket. Cambria helped. THEN... here's the crowning moment. She grabbed one end of the basket and I grabbed the other and we carried it back into the house and to my bedroom. Something I really couldn't have managed without her help since I was holding Corbin.

Corbin 10 and 11 months

Dear Corbin,
I cannot believe that you are one month away from being 1!!! These last few months you have exploded developmentally! You went from barley being confidant in your sitting abilities to crawling, to pulling yourself up on furniture! This all happened within a few week period. You also decided that it was cool to feed yourself.

This last month you have become much more able to stand while holding on to something. You can move from one object to another, although you haven't figured out how to walk from one side of the couch to the other. You have also gotten brave and let go a few times. There have been a few times that you have stood for about a second.

You love to dance. Whenever there is any sort of music, you start rocking side to side. You have also added a head banging motion to your dance moves. You also bounce a little bit too. It seems like you are just jamming out, all the time! You are too cute! Let's not forget the huge smile on your face!

You are a very brave climber as well. When we were on vacation, you learned how to climb stairs. You aren't very stable on them, especially when you think you can push yourself to sitting on a stair... not a good idea... But you haven't figured out how to go down. Every time I tried to teach you by turning you around so you could slide down on your belly, you just wanted to go forward. You would get very frustrated if I tried to move your feet or knees. So, someday you will learn how to get down off the things you climb up. Your favorite thing right now is a little kid-sized picnic table we have in our kitchen. You have figured out how to get up on top. You love it up there. But falling off is painful for you, and scary for mom. I keep trying to convince you that there are more fun things on the ground, but I haven't succeeded in that yet.

You are a very happy boy most of the time! I think back on when you were a little tiny baby and how much you hated spitting up (but did it so often) and how much mommy's milk made your tummy hurt. I wondered if you had a happy disposition, or if this was just your personality (to cry and scream all the time). I'm so grateful that I now know you as a happy boy who is quick to smile. (It's still really hard to get you to laugh though, You will smile at anyone, or just about anything, but laughs are for special occasions.)

You are a fantastic hugger. Everyone that you met on our very long trip mentioned how wonderful your hugs were. It was nice to know that you would give a smile and a hug to anyone. Grandma Kershaw mentioned that you hug like daddy did when he was a baby. She says you hug with so much love, you can just feel it. I agree.

When you are upset, how you cry is pretty cute. You cry for a minute, and then through your tears you talk to me in baby talk, almost like you are trying to tell me what is wrong, or how much it hurts. It's so cute!

This is right before you turned 10 months. You are so proud of yourself!

Now that you have figured out how to move, you are always on the go!

This picture was taken on July 30. (11 months old to the day). Look how easy it is for you to stand while supported.