14 Months!

Dear Miss Marie,

You are 14 Months old today, little lady!  You are such a toddler now and are getting less baby like and more childlike every day.  Except for your hair...which is still taking it's good old time growing in.  It is growing, but very slowly.  You have one little curl in the back that we call your rat tail.  I keep thinking that maybe I should cut it, but I can't bring myself to do it yet, and Daddy doesn't think I should either, so we'll let you go with a rat tail for a little bit longer.  I'm sure we'll hear it from you when you are older!

 

You love to mimic us and try to say what we say and do motions that we do.  And you love to dance!  Whenever music comes on, you stop playing for a minute to do a little shimmy shake.  It's hilarious!  You also can mimic the sounds of a few animals.  Dog, cow, and bird.  And boy do you love birds!  Don't know where you got that, since I am deathly afraid of them.  Great-Grandpa D said that I should take you to an aviary, but Mommy would have to conquer some big time fears before going to one of those!  Ever since our trip to Florida, every time you see a bird your eyes get wide, and you point and say "Oooooh!"  Just last night when we were out for pizza you saw a bird out the window and for awhile Daddy and I didn't know what you were pointing at because it was so far away!  You have eagle eyes, little miss, and one thing that has been true since the day you were born is that you don't miss a beat.  Sharp as a tack :)

For the most part, you speak your own language that Daddy and I don't understand, but yesterday we really think you were saying "More More!" when we were feeding you frozen yogurt!

You are a walking fool and there is no more crawling for you.  You can even balance well enough to walk in soft sand, which is amazing to me.  But, like everything else, you didn't start walking until you were sure that you knew what you were doing ;)

For the most part you are a really good listener, but you are getting to the age where you test the boundaries.  Daddy and I are very consistent with the rules, and what you can and can't touch.  Usually you are OK with it, but you have been known to throw some tantrums here and there too.  You can be very dramatic when you want to be.  You sink to the floor and put your head down and cry like you just can't take it anymore.  Sometimes I catch myself starting to laugh when you do this because it's so theatrical!

You are still a pretty good eater, and mostly eat whatever we give you, but I need to start varying your diet a little bit more so that you don't get picky.  I just find that I am feeding you the same fruits and veggies all of the time.  You don't love meats, especially chicken, but we'll work on it.  And I don't remember if you were done with bottles by this time last month, but you are officially done now.  No more bedtime bottle.  And just like with nursing, you took it like a champ.  No crying or whining, just done.  It's still a struggle getting you to drink enough fluids, and most days I'm pretty sure that you don't, but we try our best.  What I should do is let you drink out of adult bottles, because you are fascinated with them, even though the water usually ends up all over you ;)

 You love to play with Daisy, and you love all dogs really.

You were all smiles when my friend Carolyn brought her dog over to play.  Trying to kiss him the whole time :)

 Ever since you were born, you've loved to be outdoors.  One of your favorite things to do is play on the deck outside.  You are such a fun little girl and Daddy and I get a kick out of you every day.  You are ticklish on your neck, and that little giggle is the sweetest sound in the world.  You recently became like Linus, and you enjoy dragging a blanket around the house.  Doesn't matter to you which blanket, sometimes it's even a towel ;) 

You are a little explorer and love to open every cabinet and door to see what's behind them. 

Playing in the coat closet

It looks like you were just caught red handed!

One of your new favorite toys: the egg strainer

You are so smart, and you know lots of your toys by name.  You will retrieve them and sometimes even put them away when asked!  It's so fun hanging out with you every day, and I kiss your little cheeks more times than I can count :)

Happy 14 Months Miss Marie!  We love you millions!

Love,

Mommy