Dear Anna,
Yesterday you turned 14 months old. Somewhere in my feverish haze I vaguely realized it was the 12th, but then I had to take a nap. I feel slightly better today, so let’s see if I can make sense…
You are walking! Truly, truly walking, although you also still like to “bear walk” on your hands and feet and are happy to crawl sometimes depending on the situation. You especially love to walk around outside while we’re waiting for your sister’s bus in the mornings and afternoons. I won’t need to bother raking this fall, I’m just going to let you loose to pick up each leaf one at a time, it’s your very favorite outdoor activity. You only try to eat them sometimes…
You have two new verbal words, “ball” and “down” (which is really “dow-dow!”). At one point (in front of several witnesses) you said “button” as clear as day – a few times, even. But you haven’t repeated it since. You don’t really have any new signs (though you sort of sign “ball”, which I suppose is new) but you point a lot. You’re pretty good at communicating what you want, and I’m sure the word explosion is just a couple of months away – by Christmas you’ll probably be asking Santa for a pony!
You have a bedtime routine down: when it’s time to go upstairs, if you’re being carried, you say “dow-dow!!” and insist on crawling up the stairs yourself. Then you crawl into the bathroom, climb up (laboriously) onto the step stool (again, all by yourself) and grab the toothbrush that I’ve put toothpaste on for you (while you were climbing up). While you “brush” your teeth, I finger-comb your hair, and then sometimes you let me take a turn with your toothbrush. Then I put you on the floor and let you toddle off down the hall to your room. Your favorite book to hear is Goodnight Moon, and you’re starting to point out the things in the pictures as I read about them.
Your personality is just starting to blossom, and each day brings something new. I’m enjoying every bit of it!
Love, Mommy
