The Timberlake Family: 10 Months!

Dear Mason,
Yesterday you turned 10 months old. You were sick with a cold on your "birthday", so we didn't do anything except stay at home and relax. I say it all the time, and I know people tire of my lamentations, but I just cannot believe that you are already 10 months old. In just two short months, we will be celebrating your first birthday! Part of me is sad that you are growing up so fast - those days of napping together on the couch for hours are over, and I always wonder if I cherished those moments enough.

But while I have sad moments, they are far outweighed by the happy moments. You are becoming your own little person with your own little personality, and I love watching you grow up. Sometimes you are shy - for a long time people wondered if you ever smiled or "talked", but just give them a few minutes to know you, and they fall in love too. Once you know someone, you are able to wrap them around your little finger so fast. You talk like crazy - "mama" "dada" "baba" "uh-oh" and lots of other things that you still have to teach us, and you even wave at people you love when we leave them. Alisha is teaching you how to blow kisses, and (Mr.) Steven is teaching you how to high-five. You learn so fast that we can barely keep up with you!

You pull up on furniture now, and cruise all over the place. Nothing in our little house is safe anymore, especially little Molly! Sometimes she's not quite sure what to think of your mobility and your ear-pulling, but she loves you anyway. I think she wishes you would cuddle with her sometimes, but you're too busy for cuddling! Your daddy and I have joked about having everything taken out of the living room except maybe a padded wall to keep you from bumping your head so many times, but I'm pretty sure your head is hard enough to handle it! We definitely see a stubborn streak in you from time to time, but you come by it honestly - with the family you have, we would expect nothing less! When you grow up, I hope you use that stubborness to stand up for what is good and right, I pray that I am up for the task of teaching you to do that.

Your favorite foods are cheerios and Mum-mums, and we're giving you lots of other tastes too - pancakes, malto-meal, eggs, pretty much anything we're eating. Your favorite toys are the things you can't or shouldn't have - power cords, laptops, remote controls, grandpa's cell phone (which he lets you have because he just can't resist!)

We think you're getting ready for another tooth or two...sometimes in the evening you're just not happy, and we don't always know how to make it better, but I hope you know that we're trying. Being a mommy or a daddy is hard, but you are worth every hard moment. We love you so very much, and I hope that you remember that forever.

Here are some pictures of you on your 10 month birthday (and the day before.) Even though you didn't feel good, you were a trooper and tolerated mama's flash yet again!