Month 16

Dear Corbin,

You are 16 months old today. This month, you started climbing. You climbed up onto the couch in the living room. You climbed up onto the couch in your bedroom. You climbed up into your climbing cube and went down the slide. Then you turned around and climbed back up the slide. You are almost running and almost catching a ball. You are so much fun to sit and play with, or just watch as you play.

You have also started feeding yourself with a spoon. We started handing you a loaded spoon and helping you actually get it into your mouth. But it didn't take long before you wanted to do it all yourself, so I gave you a bowl with some mac and cheese and you fed yourself the whole thing. Which is kind of amazing on two fronts: using a spoon successfully for a whole meal, and eating a whole serving of any thing at one time.

Dad gave you a real haircut this month. He studied up on some videos on YouTube, strapped you into your high chair and snipped away. You were pretty patient and sat about as still as you ever do. I was afraid you'd end up looking like one of the Three Stooges, but you didn't. You look just as cute as you always have, thank goodness.

You became a theater orphan this month. I took a stage management gig so I've been missing out on bedtimes for a couple of weeks now. Grandma and Grandpa Lam took advantage of the situation and got me to agree that you could go on a trip with them. (They were like wolves: they sensed the weakest one in the herd and went in for the kill.) So, you went over to the cottage with them for a couple of days. Next week, they're taking you to Madison for four days, and I'm sure by next month they'll have just moved you in with them. Hopefully, they'll let you live at the apartment with them, so I can babysit for you sometimes.

It's been interesting being back in the theatre life, but also incredibly hard. Before you were born, when rehearsals got boring or tiring, I would think to myself, "This will be worth it when we are actually doing performances." And it was, and I would be a little bit sad when the show closed. But now my thoughts go in a different direction, and I think to myself, "I could have been home with Corbin," and I have discovered that no amount of anticipation is making up for that disappointment. I think my best bet is to wait until you're in highschool, and then direct your highschool plays. Don't you think? What do you mean you want to play football?

Love,
Mom