Monthly Maly Letter: Month four

Dear Maly,

You turned four-months-old this past week. You’ve become such a fun baby. Your personality is really starting to shine through and you’re an absolute blast to be around! Except when you cry. And when you insist on hiding the TiVo remote when Dog the Bounty Hunter is on.

You have reached many milestones this month. You laugh more and more each and every day. Your Mom is jealous because she tries all day to get you to laugh to no avail. When I come home, you and I have a regular gigglefest. You love it when I sing 80’s pop songs to you. Unlike your Mom, I know very few 80’s pop songs by heart so I have a feeling she will start winning you over soon. It’s wicked scary how astute your Mom is with 80’s music.

Nothing is more fun than making you laugh. You have a very dedicated laugh where you want to make others laugh with you. You also have a very shy laugh where you turn away and hide your giggles with your fist. You can be very bashful and it’s absolutely adorable. You’re very smitten with me and I call you on it all the time. And every time I do you try that much harder to hide it as you keep a constant check on me from the corner of your eye.

We took you swimming for the first time this month. It wasn’t really swimming, more like anxiously holding you in a $30 inflatable pool from Target as you splashed and giggled while we wondered if the mosquito larvae in the pool would creep into any of your orifices and conveniently turn you into a evil blood sucking alien when you reach the age of fourteen.

You have been really honing in on your motor skills this month. You grab and hold onto your feet now. You also hold onto most objects that we can fit into your hands, although, you don’t really know what you’re doing with your hands so it’s pretty painful to watch you jab your baby duck rattle into your eyeballs.

You’re very good at holding your head up now. You used to lay back and turn your head to take everything in. Now you’re much more determined and can lean forward in your car seat or swing so you can look at things at your leisure.

We don’t have the same evening schedule as we did last month. Now I bathe you at 7 p.m. and move you to our bedroom where I try to distract you with either 1) singing 80’s pop music or 2) some really weird song that I make up about Santa Clause renting a van and driving on the ocean floor with Jimi Hendrix to Transylvania to open a beauty salon called “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” while I put your diaper and pajamas on. After bathing and dressing you, your Mom or I have to rock you to sleep. You used to fall asleep while sitting up in my arms as I walked you about the house.

You discovered the joys drinking water just the past weekend. We went to your Grandma and Grandpa’s house and your Grandma let you drink from an icy glass of water. I don’t think you swallowed much of it but we could all tell you really liked that new sensation of something other than breast milk passing your lips. It was cute to watch you grab for the cup and bring it to your mouth and lick the outside of the vessel frantically until Grandma tilted it enough to let water reach your mouth. You’re such a determined little creature.

I love you more than ever and I know that that love can only grow exponentially as each minute passes. I want to see everything as new and innocent through your eyes as you grow and take in your new world. I want to taste water again for the first time and hold and protect and nurture you. I want to make sure that there is always a reason for you to giggle.

Never ever, ever, ever stop laughing. If not, I’ll have to stay alive that much longer to make sure you do.

I love you, junior.

Smooches,

Daddy

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