ketchup.

our nugget will be a whole year old in less than a week & i have yet to document . . . . a lot. after reading this beautiful post, i recognize that the little milestones are trivial in the grand scope of little monroe's life. however, as a first time mother i cannot help but glorify is those tiny, yet ever so monumental & victorious, achievements.

to my baby roe,

month 10 was a rough month for you. i cant say i blame you since you were fighting with all your tiny might to beat the awful ear infection that has plagued you for two whole months thus far. but in true fashion to your cheerful demeanor, you, were quite the champion.

on top of being a champion of sorts, you are the most tender & loving babe. now when i gather you in my arms, either to carry you to bed or to force you into snuggling, you lay your head on my shoulder & gently pat my back with your tiny palm. you & i then take turns patting each other on the back, until you get bored with that game & move onto the next. however, amidst the game playing, booking reading & regular non-sense that consumes our day you find those brief moments to drop what you are doing, climb into my lap & either lay your sweet head on me or plant a big-wide-mouthed kiss on me. you just came out with a sweet disposition & for that i thank my heavenly father each day.

as all mothers do, i wonder if i am doing a good enough job; teaching you the right things, feeding you the best ingredients & raising you in the proper way. & you do a perfect job of confirming that my efforts are not in vain. you have learned how to sort & stack toys. you hand me toys when i ask for them & are willing to share with others. you throw a ball out in front of you & scoot after it. you know what a dog says & what noise a car makes. you flip through books feverishly & then insist that we read them again saying 'boh! boh!'. you shake the maracas & bang on the drum, just like the musician son your papa & i always hoped for.

among other news, you learned how to sip through a straw, prefer to feed yourself, love watching cats, adore baths in the kitchen sink, your first & second teeth poked through, you squeal at the sight of dogs, finally figured out how to crawl, perfected your fake cry.

your ear-to-ear smile is the bright sonshine in my life.

i'll love you forever, i'll like you for always. as long as im living, my baby you'll be, mama

enthusiasum

our boy has energy. like so much energy that as soon as he picks up one toy he is ready to move on to the next. so much energy that his favorite activity is wrestling & he will literally never tire of it.

we have started bathing rodeo in the kitchen sink & if you cant tell he kinda-sorta likes it a little. i love that these images capture just a hint of his crazy zeal for life. his smile is mostly open-mouthed & his laugh is squealing uncontrollably.

my joy & my song

life has handed us its fair share of trails. the manchild has been combating four ear infections within three months, has cut his two bottom teeth & is simultaneously working on the remaining four top teeth all while being slightly sleep deprived. all combined with my tumultuous personal emotional roller-coaster has resulted in a filthy, unorganized home & literally no home-cooked meals.

amidst all the mayhem, that has become my life, the silver lining remains constant & that is that we oldhams live a beautiful life, share a wonderful home & love each other unconditionally. because even with reoccurring ear infections, teething & sleepless nights our nugget brings us joys that we cannot express. he is, in every sense of the word, my happy place, the apple of my eye, my joy & my song.

i am fully aware that the majority of these pictures generally look the identical. i am still obsessed with each of them equally.

little people.

big world.

i love rodeo's sweet, inquisitive, little hands all over these toys that we revived, over Christmas break, from the time when my tiny hands were playing with them.

the little people have come full circle.

once upon a time.

like, around december of 2011, we, family of three, headed off to my hometown. portland treated us well & thanks to our trusty ole' phones we have a few candids to prove it.

i stopped by the local walgreens in the ush portlandian garb - stocked up @ trader joes - took the max train to visit the tree at pioneer square downtown - snuggled with my boo - caught a crawler exploring mimi's house - enjoyed cinnabons on christmas morning - ate dinner with the family christmas evening - enjoyed a little christmas concert a'la cousin style - mowed down on burgervilles fish & chips & fresh berry shake - let the nugget stay up after bedtime to watch some football - snuck in a little date night with the mr. - took the mr to my secret spot in portland - licked my plate with the mr @ papa haydens - hiked multnomah falls with nugget on board - watched old movies while eating peppermint ice cream, by the light of the christmas tree - visited cafe' yumm twice & walked out with my cravings fulfilled

book worm.

never mind the fact that i have about a zillion photos to edit & document here from the holidays. never mind the fact that my carpets need to the cleaned, my couch needs to be vacuumed & the cushion covers need to be washed. never mind the fact that i have a load of laundry to fold & put away & a few more waiting anxiously to be started & dried. never mind the fact that there are toys strewn about my house & remnants from a certain someone eating breakfast is all over the kitchen floor. never mind the fact that the dishwasher needs to be unloaded & re-loaded.

never mind all those facts because, all of those are irrelevant when it comes to caring for our dearest nugget bebe.

aaron said sarcastically to me this morning, "good thing Roe has a million books." my cheerful reply, "ya it is." but really though. & everyone knows that you can never have too many books - duh. & it really is a good thing because our child has become quite the 'reader'. he would much prefer pull a book off the shelf & flip through its pages than mess with the slew of toys that are all over our living room. so, no thanks to aaron & i {both self-proclaimed non-readers} our son has become quite the book worm. not only does he flip through the pages on his own, but he will toss a book on the floor & chuck it my way while saying "bo, bo" & insist for me to read.

the best part of all of this though, is that all the while the nug sits like this:

also, never mind that all the above photos are blurry. you get the idea & in true mom form, i still love. every. single. image.

on the ninth month.

to my milkdud, the master of the house, my heart & my world,

you have truly changed my world for the better. i have never known the trials that i know now, but when you smile at me, find comfort in my arms or willingly plant a slobbery, open-mouth kiss on me i know, that it is all worth it. this ninth month {that has now come & gone} has been my very favorite thus far. you have learned & accomplished so very much.

you have perfected the art of standing & walking-while-holding-on-to-furniture. grandma oldham watched you the other day & counted the 30 times that you made your way around the ottoman in our living room. like i said, you've perfected this art. you are so proud of yourself & excitedly breathe in & out so quickly that your dad & i are certain that one of these days you will in fact hyperventilate. you can pull yourself up on anything {furniture, the wall, drawer handles, cabinet doors, the oven, our legs} & i thoroughly enjoy the freedoms that this has allotted both you & i. exhibit a - i can stand at the kitchen sink doing dishes & you can find your way into the kitchen & turn the lazy suzan to your hearts content.

although many moms complain about messes that their children make, unless you are coloring on walls, i am thrilled with messes. messes mean that you are finding a way to entertain yourself & that makes me a happy mama. you tear down just about anything that is stacked or sorted within your reach. me & your dad got quite a kick out of this just the other morning when we stacked small piles of dvds on each corner of the ottoman. sure enough, after flinging one stack on the floor you made your way to the next stack & then the next & then the next making certain that every last dvd was swiftly cleared off the ottoman. it was hilarious. you are hilarious.

when you first learned that you could rip the books off the shelf you seemed on a die-hard mission to removed every last morsel off the shelf, but you have now graduated to a much less manic removal of the books & now take breaks from creating mayhem to sit & flip through your books. you have always had an affinity for turning pages while we read to you, but you have mastered holding & flipping on your own now & it is thrilling to watch you. you turn the book upside down & read it backwards & will then turn it over & read it again. you repeat this process over & over as if it were a new book each time you turned it. i certainly hope that you love books as much as you do know when you finally realize that they are more than just pictures {something that is lost on your father & i}.

you have become quite the conversationalist & a fabulous mimic'er. 'mamamamama' means you want food, you want more food, you want mom or you want to nurse {all of which are geeeenerally the same thing}. just in the past few days you have been saying 'yes'. not just 'ya', but 'yes' with an S. it has alarmed us a few times, but me & your dad are certain that you are now saying 'yes'. besides your usuals, 'dada', 'bye' & 'hi', you mimic every little thing that we do. any sound effect that we make while feeding you, while we are driving around town or while we are reading books you mimic to the very best of your abilities. i dont know why i am even slightly surprised that you want to be talking so much, you are in fact your fathers son.

you still love it most when you are outside. you love bananas & green beans best. you love music & playing anything as if it were a drum. you love waving at strangers & clapping for yourself. you love, love, love bathes. you love spending time with your dad. you love being tickled & wrestling with us. you love scooting around the house on your tummy, getting into the fireplace & attempting to climb into the tub. you love sleeping in your own bed. you love watching older kids play. you love the attention of both parents at once & we love giving it to you.

forever, your mama

instagram mash up.

although some days it doesn't feel like it, i promise that we do leave the house every once & awhile. thanks to the trusty iphone for providing living proof that i {sometimes} get ready & that as a family we do in fact contribute to society.

bundled up to watch the nephews championship football game.

lunch date with daddy. passed out in the car running errands.

picking up mimi from the airport for a visit. my handsome little devil.

supporting a pal @ his first concert. family trip to the riverwoods mall to see the lights.

my littlest rascal. cuddle time on a sunday morning.

hottest buns around town. shopping for oh christmas tree.

a mover & a shaker.

to my tiniest boyfriend,

you turned eight months old in the middle of november & since then our lives have been a whirlwind.

daylight savings turned out to be a little miracle under our roof because you started going to bed @ 6:30pm & it works fantastically for you. i will even go one step further & say, i think you quite enjoy it. for a few weeks you slept from 6:30pm to 6:30am & would go back down after nursing until around 9am. but per usual, a good thing cannot last long.

you must have known that you were a month older & wiser because on that very day when i walked into your room to retrieve you from your nap, there you were kneeling on the side of your crib grinning with pleasure. i had been waiting for this moment; the moment when i would start to worry about you leaping from your crib. that same day, i had your dad lower your mattress. now, my little adventure seeker, you have learned to stand up in your crib & i think you are quite confused with this new power. on the one hand, your daddy & i cheer you on as soon as you pull yourself up on the ottoman in the living room & we encourage you as you attempt to climb the stairs in the kitchen. on the other hand, while alone with your accomplishment in your crib, you cry & scream as you hold on tightly to the side-rails, absolutely petrified to let go. this has proven to be quite a challenge, as my once fabulous napper has turned into a boy that will not lay down in his crib. as hard as it has been on both of us, i could not be more proud as you learn more & more each day.

you love reading books. & by 'reading', i mean turning the pages. you have an affinity for two books in particular & i am not sure what it is about 'go dog go' & 'goodnight moon', but i have them both memorized now. beyond turning the pages you love hitting the book we are reading like a drum & then you often follow the hitting with a slobbery kiss on the pages. i hope that this hunger for books stays with you always because your daddy & i are in no way, shape or form "readers".

we do everything together. while i do my hair, you sit in the hall & watch me until you cannot stand it any longer and lurch forward to clammer up my leg. i have mastered the art of brushing my teeth & applying my makeup with one hand because you love being in my arms taking equal time to look at yourself in the mirror. we go shopping together & you sit so proudly in the shopping cart these days. we eat out together & you look forward to any scraps that i send your way. just last week i had to renew my costco card & got a new picture . . . with you in it. i can kiss you all day & you have recently learned to give daddy & i hugs on command. you, my littlest friend, are the boyfriend i never knew i was missing.

you have turned into a fabulous eater & although you would prefer a banana & applesauce day in & day out, you are tolerant of many things & have never put up a huge fight against anything we have given you. you are great at feeding yourself & would prefer it that way. you have gotten so good at this art of feeding yourself that even when a tiny morsel of banana or broccoli falls to your lap your tiny fingers scramble to save the scrap & bring it quickly to your mouth. this has proven to be messy most of the time, but i would not have it any other way. you relish in these small accomplishments, as do i.

now that you are sitting up so well, bath time has become on of your favorite pass times. you love being naked & bask in my undivided attention so on top of being able to splash in the warm running water i will dare say, bath time is your favorite time. you love holding your little hand under the faucet & have recently started putting your open mouth under the faucet like a thirsty little bird. your bath toys dont give you as much amusement as does the water around you, but you still splash in the water with caution. after the water has run cold & your feet & hands are sufficiently pruney i wrap you in a huge towel & you happily snuggle with me. you love, love, love being enveloped in the big towel & i love having my arms tightly around you.

your daddy & i love you to the moon & back and are so very proud to call your ours.

<3 mommy