Dear Malachi,

You, sir, have grown by leaps and bounds in the past month. About 3 weeks ago, you mastered crawling. A week and a half ago, you took your first steps at your birthday party for all the family to see. You understand so much more information than you used to. I know that you understand what "no" means. You also understand different phrases like "all done," "good job," and "no mas," just to name a few. You are able to get just about anywhere you want in a blink of an eye, which is sometimes not a good thing with your Mommy having to pee a lot. You love to play with your Daddy most of all. You love it too when you see your Grammy and Grandpa for the first time each day. You have started playing games with all of us. You will hold out your hands and lean to a different person every 15 seconds or, while playing on the floor, will decide its time to "run" away from the person trying to pick you up or hug you. You even figured out how to climb up steps about 2 weeks ago. Thankfully, you are not too interested in doing this action a lot.

I just can't imagine a day without seeing your smiling face with 4 big teeth staring at me and two more little ones coming in. You bit your family a couple of times, but you haven't bit anyone in over a week. I am praying that that was a quick phase. I feel sad to know that when I go back to work in August that you will not be with me all the time. You will spend a couple of days with Daddy and a couple with your great-grandma. I'm OK with that. This summer has been so much fun! I finally figured out your schedule (and so did you). You take your two naps in your crib as well as sleeping between 11-12 hours in your crib. Just this morning, you woke up and decided to be quiet and let Mommy sleep late. Thank you. I needed that.

You are the joy and light of my life (besides Jesus and your father, of course). Each day is a new adventure. You crawl around in dog fur, break out in little pink bumbs, and never complain. You take the most fabulous pictures and make our photographer's job so incredibly easy (especially since she's 7 months pregnant). Your naps have made my summer so much more enjoyable. I get to eat lunch in peace. I get to have over 2 hours all to myself each day. I usually clean and eat, but I look forward to feeding you when you wake up.

Malachi, I am so thankful that you are a cuddler, too! Just this morning, you gave me a big ole hug and the biggest smile a momma could ask for. Don't ever get too old to hug and love on your parents. We love and cherish that time too much!

I love you Malachi James! I look forward to so many more days with you. I'm glad your temper tantrums have seem to have subsided, and you are back to your happy, smiley self. I wouldn't trade you in or give you away for anything else in the world. You are my son, Malachi, and I will love you forever! I thank God everyday for blessing us with you.Love,
Mommy