braxton michael | ten months.

With this new month, you have officially entered into DOUBLE DIGITS! I'm sorry, WHAT!? Yep, it's true, little buddy! As I write this, you are currently bouncing around like a WILD MAN in your jumperoo. Just last night, I was telling daddy how it was probably getting close to putting it away because you haven't enjoyed it in several weeks, and now you're laughing, clapping, screaming, grinning, and exploring all the gadgets while burning some energy. You must have heard me say that, huh? I am thoroughly enjoying soaking in all this sweetness at the moment while being consumed with a range of emotions (yep, you have made a habit out of turning your mama into a puddle). And speaking of emotions, these monthly pictures become more + more FULL of them each time we take them. Most of the shots I take are blurry because you are WILD. You have always been the king of faces, which I love, but you make a lot of teary-eyed, red-cheeked-mad faces when I tell you "no" while I try my best to snap a few of you being still. You go from laughing to crying in a matter of seconds, and I have looooots of proof to show you one day.

You have grown so much this past month, my handsome one! You crawl faster every day (which counts as cardio for both of us), and you love pulling up on EVERYTHING now! Because of your newly discovered love for climbing, you've taken more tumbles this month. Sometimes you cry and reach for me to scoop you up, and other times you simply sit back up and continue on with business as if nothing ever happened. You have started making a new noise, to which I refer to as the "tiger roar," and it cracks me + everyone else up. It's so fun to listen to you figure out your voice, and I talk back every time to encourage you to keep on keepin' on. Your favorite word is still "Mama," and you have even started saying something that sounds like "My Mama." Yep, SWOON. [Insert heart-eyed emoji here if you those are still around by the time you're reading this] Although that may not be what you're really trying to say, no one will convince me otherwise. You've also started mocking us when we make noises to you, and you're pretty darn good at it, too. You say "goo" (good), "coo" (cool), "ay" (yay), and "ow" (wow) regularly, and you loooooove to hum + sing along with music. My second favorite thing that you say (next to "mama," of course) is also daddy's most favorite (especially since BOTH of our teams are currently undefeated): he says, "Down...Set..." and then you finish by yelling "HU-HU-HU-HU." It is SO CUTE, B! It really is amazing how quickly you're learning so many new things! You have four (yes, FOUR!) teeth, and two more are just below the gums waiting to pop out any day. You love to dump out your basket of toys onto the floor, and your favorite ones to play with are your watermelon teether, your foam letters (which also make excellent teethers), your "play triangle," your foam Clemson football, your blue, green, and orange balls, and your race car. Your hair is still white + fine (your daddy and me are both to blame for that one. sorry, bud), and it has all the makings to become a mullet like your daddy once had. Everyone has a different opinion on this specific hairstyle, but I'll just go ahead and tell you this now: as soon as I think it's crossed over into a mullet, we will be heading to the barber for your first haircut. You'll thank me one day, handsome fella!

You're still long + lanky like your daddy, which comes as no surprise, but that doesn't mean that you can't put away some food (also just like your daddy). You feed yourself finger foods most of the time, and you just learned how to drink out of your sippy cup all by yourself last week! We've been practicing for a while, and it's pretty wacky how I go from being so excited for you to learn new tricks to so sad over how independent you're becoming as if one doesn't equal the other. Crazy mama! Seriously, though, I love having a front row seat to your life, and the little things you do + accomplish will always be big things to me.

Over the last month, you have visited your first pumpkin patch, been a real life superhero, spent a weekend in Florida, gotten plenty of smooches from your grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., had lots of opportunities to play with your best buddies, and posed for the camera when your Auntie Em came to town. It had, also, been raining for what seemed like an eternity, so we had been stuck inside waiting for the sun to come back until yesterday when we made our getaway: an hour-long drive to Saluda, NC for a hike with our friends at Hike it Baby. Today is Grandma's birthday (hip hip hooray!) so we will be celebrating with some taco soup + cake tonight, and then you and I are going to take our first road trip without daddy to Beaufort, making a small detour to visit Kerri + meet Baby Ro for the first time.

I love you, silly monkey, and adventuring alongside of you + your daddy is so much fun! I can't wait for all the memories we will make over these next thirty days, especially your first Thanksgiving meal. Get ready to eat your heart out, kiddo!