Dear Chunky Monkey,

I've been your Mama for five months now...  Most of your life, and definitely one of the best parts of mine...

With you, for the first time, I've called myself "Mama."

I know you better than anyone on the planet.  No one knows you like I do!

I know your sounds...

I know that your high-pitched, frantic squeal means that you suddenly realized that you want a bottle and that you think you are being starved to absolute death by your mean Mama for making you wait the thirty seconds that it takes to make it. 

I know that your happy, high-pitched squeal means that Kitty Cat Tommie is close by.

I know when you are talking in your sleep (which you do almost every night) vs. when you are actually awake, but content vs. when you are just on the verge of wanting Mama to come get you.

I know your smell...  (Let me interject that I will not be waxing poetic about your little baby smell.  While you do smell like a great combination of baby shampoo and lotion most of the time, I do believe you are quite possibly also the gassiest baby on the planet...  the stench of which led me to write a post about your Superhuman Baby Powers...)

I know that the quickest way to get you to fall asleep when you are just on the verge and are fighting it is to rub your little forehead.  Mama has magical forehead rubbing powers from which there is no escape.

I know that you can eat your weight in most foods, but you inhale Stage 2 Macaroni and Cheese as though it will disappear before your very eyes if you don't eat it quickly enough.

I know that you would rather starve than be forced to eat peaches or drink juice of any kind.

I know that you do know how to hold your own bottle, but you pretend like you don't just so Mama will do all of the work and free up your hands so you can play with mine.

I know every last one of your tickle spots and that you start laughing the second I lay you down on the changing table because you know what's coming.  I know that you crack up every single time I go to pull your arms out of your sleeves and that nothing is funnier than pulling a shirt off of your head.

I know that you have a newfound, odd obsession with your tongue and a strange inability to keep it contained within the confines of your mouth.

I know that you also love to blow spit bubbles with projectile spit.

I know that your current vocabulary consists of, "Grrrrrrr," "Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba," "EEEEEEEE," "Aye-aye-aye-aye," and "Phftlphftlzzz."

I know that you are a ladies' man and that all the girls love you almost as much as I do.  ;-)

I know that your favorite song is "Little White Duck," that "Brahm's Lullaby" knocks you out within seconds, and that "Patty Cake" has been your favorite game since you were three months old.

I know when you're congested because of your reflux and when you're congested because of allergies or teething.  Strange that it has a distinctly different sound (at least to me)...

I know not to make eye contact with you while you are teething because you're boo-boo face will pop to the surface.  ;-)

And I know that nothing can melt my heart like seeing your big, toothy smile.

I am so blessed to be your Mama.  I will love you, protect you, and cherish every second with you for whatever time I'm lucky enough to have you.

I love you so very, very much, Baby Boy...
~Mama