Thursday, January 30, 2014
18 Months Old
Dear Mackenzie,
Happy 18 month birthday! Happy 1/2 birthday! Happy girl! I can't believe you are 18 months old today. I swear, just yesterday I was holding you in my arms in the recovery room at the hospital just staring at you amazed at how beautiful you were (still are). Now, you are a full of energy, loving life, smiling, giggling, sometimes temper tantrum throwing toddler. You are no longer my "baby" though you will always be my baby. I haven't written you a letter in so long that I have a lot to catch you up on when telling you about how you have grown and changed in the last 6 months. So, let me try to organize this in some sort of way...
Eating:
Shortly after your first birthday we started the full on weaning process. You took to the change really well and after just a couple of weeks you were only nursing at night. We eventually weaned you from nursing before bed at around 14 months. I had a hard time giving that up but you did it without looking back and never seemed to miss it. You also still eat like a horse most days. You aren't the biggest meat fan and currently you really only eat meatballs and fish. You LOVE fish. I can sometimes get you to eat porkchops or chicken and just recently you have started to accept chicken nuggets sometimes. I don't know why you have such an aversion to most meats. Eh. The doctor isn't really concerned. You are still growing like a weed so we don't have a lot of concerns. Plenty of people don't eat meat or eat very little. Your favorite food is definitely cheese. Cheese anything. You like quesadillas, grilled cheese, pieces of cheese, cheese pizza.. you get the idea. You also still love fruit and will eat just about any fruit we give you. You also LOVE spaghetti. I would say that and pizza are your two favorites. You have no Italian genes but you wouldn't know based on how you eat pizza, pasta, and bread. You also love water. We have avoided giving you anything other than organic whole milk and water so you don't really know any different but you drink water like you are afraid it is all drying up never to be seen again. You are definitely never dehydrated.
Health:
Shortly after we started weaning you... you got your first real cold. I swear. It was like your body was just waiting for the antibodies from me to leave so it could get sick. You handled it really well. You were slightly fussy and had a slight fever but we never even had to take you in to the doctor. Since then you have had one more very minor cold but you never even had a fever with it. What we do have going on though is a runny nose. It has literally been running for a couple of months now. I once heard that babies can't have seasonal allergies but I beg to differ. Our weather has been erratic here lately and I'm convinced that is causing allergy problems for you. The runny nose never even slows you down though. We just have to constantly have tissues on hand. I'm going to include teeth in this section. Even before your first birthday you were teething your 1 year molars. Those things are killer. You teethed for about 4-5 months before the first one finally cut through. Shortly after that you finally cut the remaining three. Now, you have also cut both bottom canines and I can see the top canines thinking about making their appearance soon. I have to say that you are still one great teether compared to what I know it could be like. I know in your 12 month letter I mentioned how difficult teething this molar was for you but I have realized in the grand scheme of things, it is nothing compared to what it could be like. You drool some and chew on EVERYTHING but you rarely cry, it rarely disrupts your sleep, and you only get a little fussy at times (at least fussy that I can attribute to teething). You also do not tend to run a fever or anything so... whew! I guess I will also include potty training here though really that isn't what I should call it at this point. We got you a potty this past month but we are definitely not pushing training. If you seem like you might need to go potty or if you see it and express interest we will sit you on it. We also sit you on it right before bath time. You have yet to actually go in it but you at least aren't scared of it. You know where your "potty" is and that you have to take off your pants and diaper to use it. You also know what it seems to mean when we go potty so I figure you are still young and we are just exposing you to the language and process of what it means to use the potty right now. We will start pushing it a bit more closer to your birthday if you haven't started to show more interest but for now we are working at your speed. I just know that I would like to have a goal to have you trained by the time we add another to our brood. More than one kiddo in diapers full time might make me go crazy... and broke.
Talking:
My goodness. I always wanted you to talk and I worried for a long time about how much you babbled... or rather how much you didn't. I should have known not to worry. You are your mother's child. You never stop talking now. Granted, we still don't understand a lot of what you say but you certainly do. You tend to use the same "words" over and over again when you want something so while it isn't what we understand you are using the same word for items or activities again and again. You have quite a vocabulary building too though. You can say all the norms like mama and dada and I could attempt to list all the words you have. I don't know that I would come up with all of them but I will give it a shot. Words we know you say: mama, dada, Jack, duck, dog, nana, papa, hi, bye bye, chair, car, go, ball, truck, fish or fishes, shirt, wawa (for water though this one is scarce), che (for Cherry, the name of your pink puppy or for Cheerios. Your words for each sound very similar but we can usually tell which you want based on the circumstance or whether you are pointing at one of them.), beh (for belly) what's that (your favorite question and phrase as you point to something so we will tell you the name of it). I know there must be so many more and I am just not thinking of them. You also say a couple of phrases, specifically "Hi Jack". You say it every time we come into the house. You go looking for your best buddy and wave to him saying "Hi Jack". It's quite adorable actually. There are times as well that you say what sound like full phrases to us that you would have heard us say in the past. Daddy and I will look at each other and ask "Did you hear her say such and such?" We always hear the same thing so while I'm sure you may not understand what you are saying, you can definitely parrot things we say. Your receptive language is phenomenal. You follow simple commands with ease and answer questions by shaking or nodding your head. One of your newest things is to shake your head and say "no". It is in the cutest little voice I have ever heard. You can express what you want by pointing and telling us (though not always in words we understand) and you get frustrated at times if we don't get it right away. You have recently started saying dada and mama even more than you used to and you will often point to one of us and say either mama or dada (correctly). You tend to say dada more often and you will call his name all the time when he is not around... and even when he is. You ask "where dada" when he is at work. Sometimes I will ask you who I am and point to myself. Most of the time you respond with mama but periodically you call me dada then laugh. You seem to know you are calling me Daddy's name but think it is funny. You are definitely a Daddy's girl though and you show it with how much you talk about him as well as how concerned you are with his every move whenever he is home.
Motor Development:
In the biggest motor development news... you learned to walk! You took your first real steps (more than just one) on September 28, 2013. I remember because we were visiting Nana and Papa for Nana's birthday and you walked from me to her. You were just under 14 months old. After that... you never looked back. Within a week you were walking just about everywhere. Now you never crawl and you are starting to figure out how to run. You can walk backwards sometimes and can walk on your tip toes as well. You are busy, busy, busy. We thought you never slowed down once you learned to crawl... but you are even faster now and you never seem to stop. You aren't the snuggly type of kid. You prefer to be moving and doing something at all times. I sometimes envy those moms that get their children to just sit and be. It's just not you and I love you for it. We are always on the move around here. You definitely keep us on our toes. You love to dance! We turn on any music or sometimes you just hear music from a commercial or something and you start to dance. You have a new "spin move" as we call it and you can usually do it on command. When we got to church on Sunday we always keep you in the sanctuary through at least one song and you always wander into the aisle and just dance away. Everyone seated around us knows you and asks if you are going to dance today when they see you in the service. You have also started to work on some other motor skills such as drawing. You don't have a great grasp of the process yet but you like to try to take colors or markers and draw. It usually only lasts a short time though before we have to take away your crayons because you are trying to eat them but we keep practicing. You are also learning to feed yourself with a fork and spoon. I usually help you "stab" or "scoop" food but once it is on your utensil you have no issues with getting it in your mouth. You are also learning to drink out of a regular cup. We have a special trainer one so it doesn't spill all over you but I think we will be on a regular cup in the next couple of months. You also love to play the piano. It's not really playing so much as exploring the keys but you love the music. I mention it as motor development because we have noticed that unlike what we would expect you do to (beat on the keys) we have noticed that you often use one finger at a time to push each key individually. It's sort of impressive sometimes. I wonder if it's some innate thing you know how to do. =) We always figured you might be musically inclined somehow between Daddy's and my abilities but we won't know for sure for a while. I figure when you are older we will see if you want to take lessons. That is mostly why we have the piano after all. You have learned to climb on to most chairs as long as they are not too high. You still can't make it on to the couches without help but you certainly try. You usually pull over your little chair and use it as a step stool if you want on a couch. Your ability to get off of chairs is somewhat less developed. Sometimes you can... sometimes you cry and reach our your arms for one of us to help you because you aren't sure what to do.
Sleep:
Right about your first birthday we dropped to one nap a day. It was a great decision for you and we did it without any transition issues. One day we just dropped it and here we are. You now wake up around 7:30am and go down for your nap around 12:30pm. You usually nap between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours and then go to bed between 7:45 and 8 (after bath and bedtime routine). Since dropping to one nap you because a world class napper compared to where we started. You still cry before naps and bedtime but you usually settle within a few minutes and are out like a light. We tend to have about one night a week that you wake up and can't settle yourself back to sleep. Sometimes I just go in once and rock you and you are fine but sometimes it goes on for hours with Daddy and I taking turns going in. You learned to take your shirt off recently so this has been a bit difficult with sleep because you take it off then get cold and wake up. When it is really cold at night we put you in footed sleepers to keep from having issues with you taking clothes off. On mornings that you wake up early I have found that usually you can be left in your crib until at least 7:30 without any issues. You play, talk, stretch, and sometimes doze again usually waking up all smiles. I try to not get you out of your crib before 7:30.
Holidays:
We had three, yes three, major holidays in the interim between you turning a year old and 18 months. The first was Halloween and you seemed to enjoy it. You were a calico cat. It was absolutely adorable. We went to the church's Fall Festival and you even won for Best Kid's Costume. Now, it's a matter of figuring out what to be next year that one ups this year. I have an idea but I'm keeping it to myself for now. =)
Thanksgiving was less exciting for you other than the fact that we had Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandaddy and Uncle Rick visiting for the holiday. You didn't eat all that much "Thanksgiving" food. I think a lot of it was too rich for you. You enjoyed the cranberry sauce and ate a ton of it but you weren't too excited about the rest of it.
Christmas was probably your favorite though. Really, what child doesn't like Christmas? We started a tradition this year of doing an Advent Calendar that included a new activity for every day (as opposed to candy or treats) and you seemed to enjoy some of the activities. You are still a little young but I think next year you will just love it. We went to the annual Young Christmas Party at Grandma and Grandaddy's house and then had Christmas Eve at our house. We went to the candlelight church service. You did surprisingly well for being expected to sit for 45 minutes. I only had to take you out once during the reading of the Christmas story because there wasn't any music so you couldn't dance in the aisles. We had Buca di Beppo for dinner (our tradition) and you loved it since you love spaghetti. Last year you spent dinner sleeping and nursing so it was such a change to have you participate in dinner this year. Christmas morning Santa came! He brought you a new play kitchen and you still really enjoy it. Christmas day we had Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandaddy, Aunt Julie, Uncle Eric, and Uncle Rick at our house for dinner. Just like with Thanksgiving you weren't really enthused with most of the food but you ate some. You really just seem to enjoy the company. You did chow down on a few Christmas cookies though. You rarely get sweets so it was a nice treat for you.
As far as your little personality... you are so very happy. You smile and laugh almost constantly, especially when doing something you know you shouldn't be doing. You are a bit of a trouble maker too. You love to push your limits and see how far you can get with something before told it is "off limits" or something you shouldn't do. We have seen glimpses of the terrible twos coming as well. Some days it's as if you have already hit them. You push and push then lose it when redirected. Neither Daddy nor I play into it though and we ignore any tantrums you might throw. That means that they also don't last very long before you are all smiles again like nothing ever happened. One of your favorite "off limits" activities is to sneak by the gates that keep you out of the kitchen (okay... now a days they just slow down your entrance to the kitchen in the hopes we notice and redirect you before you get into it) to Jack's bowl and splash your hands in his water. Last week I was cooking dinner, didn't notice you in time, and found you putting your hand in his water and then licking the water off your hand. I mentioned you were obsessed with water right? Speaking of gates... they no longer work. We didn't want to put permanent gates in the house because I do plan to put them away at some point and we are finding that when you want out now... you go out. It's a bit exhausting because you are still in such an inquisitive stage that we can't let you out of specific rooms if we are not right behind you because there are some things in the house we can't have you getting into. We keep the gates up to slow you down but I am hoping we can set enough limits soon and you are independent enough that we can put them up. I mentioned church earlier and how you love to dance but we also take you to the nursery after a song or two because you would never make the service. Finally, after months of difficult times you walk right up to the nursery now, go right into your room and come out smiling and saying "hi" when we pick you up. Every now and then you are upset when we pick you up but we are told that usually it seems to relate to others in your class leaving and you not going as well or something totally unrelated such as a couple of weeks ago when you got stuck in a chair you wanted to sit on. Speaking of church, we had you dedicated in September.
I just sit and shake my head as I think about the fact that you are not a year and a half old. 18 months. 6 months away from being 2. You are truly the light of our lives and we are loving continuing to watch you grow and learn. Just try to not do that so quickly anymore okay? I can't figure out how to stop time so I guess it's a matter of trying to remember everything you do and file it away as memories. We love you so much kiddo.
Love,
Mommy
18 Months Old
Dear Mackenzie,
Happy 18 month birthday! Happy 1/2 birthday! Happy girl! I can't believe you are 18 months old today. I swear, just yesterday I was holding you in my arms in the recovery room at the hospital just staring at you amazed at how beautiful you were (still are). Now, you are a full of energy, loving life, smiling, giggling, sometimes temper tantrum throwing toddler. You are no longer my "baby" though you will always be my baby. I haven't written you a letter in so long that I have a lot to catch you up on when telling you about how you have grown and changed in the last 6 months. So, let me try to organize this in some sort of way...
 |
| Seriously... this face. You are constantly cracking us up. |
Shortly after your first birthday we started the full on weaning process. You took to the change really well and after just a couple of weeks you were only nursing at night. We eventually weaned you from nursing before bed at around 14 months. I had a hard time giving that up but you did it without looking back and never seemed to miss it. You also still eat like a horse most days. You aren't the biggest meat fan and currently you really only eat meatballs and fish. You LOVE fish. I can sometimes get you to eat porkchops or chicken and just recently you have started to accept chicken nuggets sometimes. I don't know why you have such an aversion to most meats. Eh. The doctor isn't really concerned. You are still growing like a weed so we don't have a lot of concerns. Plenty of people don't eat meat or eat very little. Your favorite food is definitely cheese. Cheese anything. You like quesadillas, grilled cheese, pieces of cheese, cheese pizza.. you get the idea. You also still love fruit and will eat just about any fruit we give you. You also LOVE spaghetti. I would say that and pizza are your two favorites. You have no Italian genes but you wouldn't know based on how you eat pizza, pasta, and bread. You also love water. We have avoided giving you anything other than organic whole milk and water so you don't really know any different but you drink water like you are afraid it is all drying up never to be seen again. You are definitely never dehydrated.
Shortly after we started weaning you... you got your first real cold. I swear. It was like your body was just waiting for the antibodies from me to leave so it could get sick. You handled it really well. You were slightly fussy and had a slight fever but we never even had to take you in to the doctor. Since then you have had one more very minor cold but you never even had a fever with it. What we do have going on though is a runny nose. It has literally been running for a couple of months now. I once heard that babies can't have seasonal allergies but I beg to differ. Our weather has been erratic here lately and I'm convinced that is causing allergy problems for you. The runny nose never even slows you down though. We just have to constantly have tissues on hand. I'm going to include teeth in this section. Even before your first birthday you were teething your 1 year molars. Those things are killer. You teethed for about 4-5 months before the first one finally cut through. Shortly after that you finally cut the remaining three. Now, you have also cut both bottom canines and I can see the top canines thinking about making their appearance soon. I have to say that you are still one great teether compared to what I know it could be like. I know in your 12 month letter I mentioned how difficult teething this molar was for you but I have realized in the grand scheme of things, it is nothing compared to what it could be like. You drool some and chew on EVERYTHING but you rarely cry, it rarely disrupts your sleep, and you only get a little fussy at times (at least fussy that I can attribute to teething). You also do not tend to run a fever or anything so... whew! I guess I will also include potty training here though really that isn't what I should call it at this point. We got you a potty this past month but we are definitely not pushing training. If you seem like you might need to go potty or if you see it and express interest we will sit you on it. We also sit you on it right before bath time. You have yet to actually go in it but you at least aren't scared of it. You know where your "potty" is and that you have to take off your pants and diaper to use it. You also know what it seems to mean when we go potty so I figure you are still young and we are just exposing you to the language and process of what it means to use the potty right now. We will start pushing it a bit more closer to your birthday if you haven't started to show more interest but for now we are working at your speed. I just know that I would like to have a goal to have you trained by the time we add another to our brood. More than one kiddo in diapers full time might make me go crazy... and broke.
 |
| You are obsessed with rocking chairs. |
Talking:
My goodness. I always wanted you to talk and I worried for a long time about how much you babbled... or rather how much you didn't. I should have known not to worry. You are your mother's child. You never stop talking now. Granted, we still don't understand a lot of what you say but you certainly do. You tend to use the same "words" over and over again when you want something so while it isn't what we understand you are using the same word for items or activities again and again. You have quite a vocabulary building too though. You can say all the norms like mama and dada and I could attempt to list all the words you have. I don't know that I would come up with all of them but I will give it a shot. Words we know you say: mama, dada, Jack, duck, dog, nana, papa, hi, bye bye, chair, car, go, ball, truck, fish or fishes, shirt, wawa (for water though this one is scarce), che (for Cherry, the name of your pink puppy or for Cheerios. Your words for each sound very similar but we can usually tell which you want based on the circumstance or whether you are pointing at one of them.), beh (for belly) what's that (your favorite question and phrase as you point to something so we will tell you the name of it). I know there must be so many more and I am just not thinking of them. You also say a couple of phrases, specifically "Hi Jack". You say it every time we come into the house. You go looking for your best buddy and wave to him saying "Hi Jack". It's quite adorable actually. There are times as well that you say what sound like full phrases to us that you would have heard us say in the past. Daddy and I will look at each other and ask "Did you hear her say such and such?" We always hear the same thing so while I'm sure you may not understand what you are saying, you can definitely parrot things we say. Your receptive language is phenomenal. You follow simple commands with ease and answer questions by shaking or nodding your head. One of your newest things is to shake your head and say "no". It is in the cutest little voice I have ever heard. You can express what you want by pointing and telling us (though not always in words we understand) and you get frustrated at times if we don't get it right away. You have recently started saying dada and mama even more than you used to and you will often point to one of us and say either mama or dada (correctly). You tend to say dada more often and you will call his name all the time when he is not around... and even when he is. You ask "where dada" when he is at work. Sometimes I will ask you who I am and point to myself. Most of the time you respond with mama but periodically you call me dada then laugh. You seem to know you are calling me Daddy's name but think it is funny. You are definitely a Daddy's girl though and you show it with how much you talk about him as well as how concerned you are with his every move whenever he is home.
Motor Development:
In the biggest motor development news... you learned to walk! You took your first real steps (more than just one) on September 28, 2013. I remember because we were visiting Nana and Papa for Nana's birthday and you walked from me to her. You were just under 14 months old. After that... you never looked back. Within a week you were walking just about everywhere. Now you never crawl and you are starting to figure out how to run. You can walk backwards sometimes and can walk on your tip toes as well. You are busy, busy, busy. We thought you never slowed down once you learned to crawl... but you are even faster now and you never seem to stop. You aren't the snuggly type of kid. You prefer to be moving and doing something at all times. I sometimes envy those moms that get their children to just sit and be. It's just not you and I love you for it. We are always on the move around here. You definitely keep us on our toes. You love to dance! We turn on any music or sometimes you just hear music from a commercial or something and you start to dance. You have a new "spin move" as we call it and you can usually do it on command. When we got to church on Sunday we always keep you in the sanctuary through at least one song and you always wander into the aisle and just dance away. Everyone seated around us knows you and asks if you are going to dance today when they see you in the service. You have also started to work on some other motor skills such as drawing. You don't have a great grasp of the process yet but you like to try to take colors or markers and draw. It usually only lasts a short time though before we have to take away your crayons because you are trying to eat them but we keep practicing. You are also learning to feed yourself with a fork and spoon. I usually help you "stab" or "scoop" food but once it is on your utensil you have no issues with getting it in your mouth. You are also learning to drink out of a regular cup. We have a special trainer one so it doesn't spill all over you but I think we will be on a regular cup in the next couple of months. You also love to play the piano. It's not really playing so much as exploring the keys but you love the music. I mention it as motor development because we have noticed that unlike what we would expect you do to (beat on the keys) we have noticed that you often use one finger at a time to push each key individually. It's sort of impressive sometimes. I wonder if it's some innate thing you know how to do. =) We always figured you might be musically inclined somehow between Daddy's and my abilities but we won't know for sure for a while. I figure when you are older we will see if you want to take lessons. That is mostly why we have the piano after all. You have learned to climb on to most chairs as long as they are not too high. You still can't make it on to the couches without help but you certainly try. You usually pull over your little chair and use it as a step stool if you want on a couch. Your ability to get off of chairs is somewhat less developed. Sometimes you can... sometimes you cry and reach our your arms for one of us to help you because you aren't sure what to do.
 |
| This was taken the day you started walking. Maybe 2 hours after this picture... you just got up and went essentially. |
Sleep:
Right about your first birthday we dropped to one nap a day. It was a great decision for you and we did it without any transition issues. One day we just dropped it and here we are. You now wake up around 7:30am and go down for your nap around 12:30pm. You usually nap between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours and then go to bed between 7:45 and 8 (after bath and bedtime routine). Since dropping to one nap you because a world class napper compared to where we started. You still cry before naps and bedtime but you usually settle within a few minutes and are out like a light. We tend to have about one night a week that you wake up and can't settle yourself back to sleep. Sometimes I just go in once and rock you and you are fine but sometimes it goes on for hours with Daddy and I taking turns going in. You learned to take your shirt off recently so this has been a bit difficult with sleep because you take it off then get cold and wake up. When it is really cold at night we put you in footed sleepers to keep from having issues with you taking clothes off. On mornings that you wake up early I have found that usually you can be left in your crib until at least 7:30 without any issues. You play, talk, stretch, and sometimes doze again usually waking up all smiles. I try to not get you out of your crib before 7:30.
 |
| How adorable is your "palm tree" hairdo? |
We had three, yes three, major holidays in the interim between you turning a year old and 18 months. The first was Halloween and you seemed to enjoy it. You were a calico cat. It was absolutely adorable. We went to the church's Fall Festival and you even won for Best Kid's Costume. Now, it's a matter of figuring out what to be next year that one ups this year. I have an idea but I'm keeping it to myself for now. =)
Thanksgiving was less exciting for you other than the fact that we had Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandaddy and Uncle Rick visiting for the holiday. You didn't eat all that much "Thanksgiving" food. I think a lot of it was too rich for you. You enjoyed the cranberry sauce and ate a ton of it but you weren't too excited about the rest of it.
Christmas was probably your favorite though. Really, what child doesn't like Christmas? We started a tradition this year of doing an Advent Calendar that included a new activity for every day (as opposed to candy or treats) and you seemed to enjoy some of the activities. You are still a little young but I think next year you will just love it. We went to the annual Young Christmas Party at Grandma and Grandaddy's house and then had Christmas Eve at our house. We went to the candlelight church service. You did surprisingly well for being expected to sit for 45 minutes. I only had to take you out once during the reading of the Christmas story because there wasn't any music so you couldn't dance in the aisles. We had Buca di Beppo for dinner (our tradition) and you loved it since you love spaghetti. Last year you spent dinner sleeping and nursing so it was such a change to have you participate in dinner this year. Christmas morning Santa came! He brought you a new play kitchen and you still really enjoy it. Christmas day we had Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandaddy, Aunt Julie, Uncle Eric, and Uncle Rick at our house for dinner. Just like with Thanksgiving you weren't really enthused with most of the food but you ate some. You really just seem to enjoy the company. You did chow down on a few Christmas cookies though. You rarely get sweets so it was a nice treat for you.
As far as your little personality... you are so very happy. You smile and laugh almost constantly, especially when doing something you know you shouldn't be doing. You are a bit of a trouble maker too. You love to push your limits and see how far you can get with something before told it is "off limits" or something you shouldn't do. We have seen glimpses of the terrible twos coming as well. Some days it's as if you have already hit them. You push and push then lose it when redirected. Neither Daddy nor I play into it though and we ignore any tantrums you might throw. That means that they also don't last very long before you are all smiles again like nothing ever happened. One of your favorite "off limits" activities is to sneak by the gates that keep you out of the kitchen (okay... now a days they just slow down your entrance to the kitchen in the hopes we notice and redirect you before you get into it) to Jack's bowl and splash your hands in his water. Last week I was cooking dinner, didn't notice you in time, and found you putting your hand in his water and then licking the water off your hand. I mentioned you were obsessed with water right? Speaking of gates... they no longer work. We didn't want to put permanent gates in the house because I do plan to put them away at some point and we are finding that when you want out now... you go out. It's a bit exhausting because you are still in such an inquisitive stage that we can't let you out of specific rooms if we are not right behind you because there are some things in the house we can't have you getting into. We keep the gates up to slow you down but I am hoping we can set enough limits soon and you are independent enough that we can put them up. I mentioned church earlier and how you love to dance but we also take you to the nursery after a song or two because you would never make the service. Finally, after months of difficult times you walk right up to the nursery now, go right into your room and come out smiling and saying "hi" when we pick you up. Every now and then you are upset when we pick you up but we are told that usually it seems to relate to others in your class leaving and you not going as well or something totally unrelated such as a couple of weeks ago when you got stuck in a chair you wanted to sit on. Speaking of church, we had you dedicated in September.
 |
| After your dedication |
I just sit and shake my head as I think about the fact that you are not a year and a half old. 18 months. 6 months away from being 2. You are truly the light of our lives and we are loving continuing to watch you grow and learn. Just try to not do that so quickly anymore okay? I can't figure out how to stop time so I guess it's a matter of trying to remember everything you do and file it away as memories. We love you so much kiddo.
Love,
Mommy
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