Dear Archer,

Ten months! You have hit double digits. Congratulations, kiddo! The past month has been a whirlwind of learning and developing. You are much more confident with pulling yourself up, and have just started standing up in your cot which is GREAT (not). I pin you down with the blankets and by the time I am at the door you are standing up and waving at me. Eventually your legs give way and you conk out and fall sleep wherever you were standing. You have pulled down the bunting and pictures around your cot and stick your arms out trying to reach the curtain too.

You are such a BOY, and rarely does a day go by when you don't end up filthy and covered in dirt. Just this morning you managed to get your whole face covered in Vegemite, right up to your hair, and all over your hands right up to your (second) elbows. Minutes after I cleaned you off, you crawled into the wet shower and got saturated, then crawled out the door and got covered in dirt.

I can see a bit of your temper coming out, which might turn into tantrums soon. You get visibly angry and frustrated sometimes, especially if you are waiting in the high chair for food. You throw spoons, bang the tray, scrunch up your little face and bellow and spit at me. It is a bit terrifying but mostly still cute.

You love pulling everything out of my handbag, pulling books off the bookshelf (and ripping the pages out), crawling on the grass, having a shower with Dad, Vegemite toast, and Dave and Layla. You LOVE daddy's guitars, music and dancing. You don't like eggs in any form, plums, being in the car for too long and people wearing sunglasses.

On Saturday night the three of us went out for pizza at the place around the corner that made the pizzas for our wedding. You were perfect, sitting up and yabbering away. You had your first taste of pizza, and loved it. There was a family with three little girls sitting nearby and you were cracking up and giggling as they pulled funny faces at you.

Lee has taught you how to turn lightswitches on and off, which makes you very proud. Except you have just figured out the you can also turn powerpoints on and off, and the dishwasher, and the TV. I couldn't figure out why the dishwasher would turn itself on randomly for no reason, or stop halfway through a cycle, until I realised that you reach up and press the buttons yourself. Mama's little (un)helper!

I think you will stand properly on your own soon. You can stand for a few seconds before reaching out for balance. I love how you reach out for me and climb up in my lap for a cuddle, and give big, sloppy open-mouthed kisses with a cascading drool waterfall all over my face.

Yesterday was the six year anniversary of when your Dad and I met. It seems strange that you weren't in existence all that time ago. But maybe you were. There is a poem I have read about this very thing, about being a speck in my mother's hair the night her and my father first danced, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. You are part of both of us, and yet entirely your own person.

I love you, little man.

Love,

Mum