Next week you turn 14 months old. You are a walker now, pulling yourself up in the middle of the room and walking all around, often collapsing into our arms as your destination. You are a talker, saying, "Hiiiii!" loudly and distinctly to just about everyone you see - strangers, family, The Daddy and I, doggies, trees... You also come out with new words all the time. On Sunday after I told you that you were a good girl after I had changed your diaper, you looked at me and said "good girl!" (though it sounded more like gooo guuuuul) - and then repeated that over and over back to our table at the restaurant. "Gooo guuuuul. Goooo guuuul!" Then, this morning the Daddy asked how you slept, and you said, "Gooo!" You're really communicating with us, and it is so much fun.
Your repertoire of animal noises has grown, and you now include what Elmo says and what Cookie Monster says as part of it (Ha ha ha and Nom nom nom, respectively). You know eyes and nose, and say and point to them all the time too.
And your eating - my goodness, you are a GOOD EATER my baby girl! Baby food and formula no longer - it's anything and everything to eat, and soy milk in your bottles! (Oh yeah, you're allergic to milk and eggs. That was not a fun discovery, and it's been a little bit of a challenge to look at the ingredients of everything we buy for you and make sure there's no milk in it, but I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you never have hives like you did the first day we gave you whole milk in your bottles.) You love things with strong flavors - Dina makes you chicken soup that you love, and her lentils are awesome too - you love pasta with meat sauce, and have even gotten into the habit of eating all of our leftovers!
One day I gave you a bite of chicken with taco seasoning that Daddy and I had for dinner the night before, and you gobbled it up and wanted more! You ate a whole bunch of it! You love trying new things, and are very clear about letting us know if you don't like something by opening your mouth and letting it fall right out - and then not even considering trying it again.
You have had awesome playdates with all of your friends recently - with Neve at Sadie's house when she was visiting from London, with Max, Lilly and Marshall at the Silbermans, where your favorite playmate that day was Molly the dog! She would bark at you - a loud, startling noise, and you would CRACK UP - you absolutely loved it!
There have been crazy times recently too - Dina hurt her ankle, and had to stay home for a few days. Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Mimi and PopPop (sidenote, that's another word you came out with out of nowhere when they were over one day! He came in the door, you pointed and said "PopPop!" and now when they're here, it's all you say! It's so cute and I know it makes his day!!) all juggled taking care of you - and at the end of that week you got sick. You had a high fever, were fussy and just generally not my happy baby girl. We thought it was an ear infection and put you on medicine and brought you to Neve's first birthday party. You were a little fussy, but ate, watched the puppet show and played with the other babies. The Daddy had you on his lap when you flailed your arms and poked him RIGHT in the eye! He knew something was wrong immediately, and we had to leave to take him to the hospital! You cut his cornea, making him not be able to really see or even open his eye. Then, the next night, we saw spots on you and freaked out - were you now allergic to penicillin too?? We went to the doctor (again - and the third mommy had seen that weekend, since the Daddy had to go to a special eye doctor) who said it was a viral rash, not allergy. Phew! But - uh oh, you really shouldn't have been at that party! And then you wouldn't have poked Daddy in the eye! And if Mommy was half as good at cutting your nails as Dina was, this probably wouldn't have happened at all! So - yeah a crazy week or two in there. But all is now seemingly on the up and up...
And so is the weather! It is so nice out these days - we hardly had any snow at all, which is crazy! We've been taking walks on the weekends, and the past two Sundays have gone over to the swings at the end of the day - the perfect way to end our weekends together. The three of us enjoying th eplayground - you the most though! When we're walking in that direction you can sense it, and as soon as the swings are in sight you start jumping up and down in your stroller! You are my little thrill seeker, and love when The Daddy and I push you so high on the swings, when he pops out and says "Boo!" to scare you, and going down the slides. That must come from your Daddy, because I get scared just watching you do all these things, never mind doing them myself...
Daylight savings just passed so it is staying lighter out longer. Last night I brought you outside after I got home from work, and you were walking up and down the path in front of our building with your walker - you loved it, and then I showed you The Daddy when he got out of the parking garage, and you (and he!) lit up. It was exactly what I had pictured a year ago, when I would walk around with you outside in the evenings waiting for The Daddy to come home. All of the kids in th ebuilding would be outside playing, and you were too little to even acknowledge them. I can't wait for this Spring and Summer, when you run and play with them, the perfect way to end all of your days.
