Today you are 14 months old. Wow. I can hardly believe you are becoming less of a "baby" and more of a "toddler" with each passing day. Although, you will
always be my baby.
At 14 months old you are experiencing your first serious illness. You have pneumonia, and are on day 4 of medication. Yesterday was the sickest I have ever seen you. But through this I have learned that you are a very resilient sick person! You still smile. You still play (although perhaps not as much). You are still good natured for as crummy as you feel. You are a trooper.
At 14 months you are not quite yet walking. You love to practice with mom, dad or anyone who will walk with you all around the house. You get going so fast that sometimes it seems we are practically running to keep up. I think you probably could walk a bit without our hands, but you just aren't quite ready to let go. And that's ok with me. I'm not ready to let go either. You are only this small once.
You get braver and more adventurous each day. You climb on things. Things that are high. Higher than I like since you haven't figured out how to get down yet! You crawl into things. You pull things out of cupboards. You reach things on shelves and tables that I didn't know you could reach....but you found your tip toes. You are resourceful.
At 14 months you are saying quite a few words - probably 20. Recently you have learned to say your name. You point at pictures of yourself and say "Anna, Anna, Anna" over and over and over. You love to look at the picture book of our family and tell us who everyone is. You still love to say "up", "down", "hi", and now a new favorite....."vac".
"Vac" is the vacuum. You are obsessed with the vacuum. You are scared to death of the vacuum. The vacuum is the most fascinating thing you have ever seen. When it's on, the tears pour down your cheeks so fast that it must be turned off and returned to its home. FAST. When it's off, you point to the closet in which it lives and say "VAC!" until I open the door so you can wave "hi", "ba-bye" or "ni-night" to it. You wake up in the morning talking about the "vac". I think you probably dream about the "vac".
At 14 months you are still very independent. You like to play with people when they are around, but you like to direct the play. You like to decide what will be read to you, or played with. You know what you want.
You are not afraid of people. You say "hi" to everyone you meet at the grocery store, at Target, and anywhere we go. You also call many men walking by "dada" - which I am sure scares the crap out of some of them. HA! You do know who your daddy is though. He is definitely the most important man in your life. Let's keep it that way for a loooooong time, ok?
You are learning to cuddle for a little while at night. However, after you have cuddled for a few minutes...rather than fall asleep in our arms listening to music, you point to your crib and say "ni-ni" (night-night) and then smile when we put you in bed. While that is nice for us in many ways, we also love those nights when you will cuddle a little longer. One night while you've been sick you slept in my arms for an hour. I wasn't going to let go. Had you not woken up, I would have stayed with you there in my arms all night.
At 14 months you are drinking whole milk. You are eating a variety of table foods including meats, cheese, fruit, grains. Vegetables are not your favorite, although you have been experimenting a little bit. When you don't like/want something, or just want to torture your parents, you throw your food on the floor. This happens A LOT. In fact, it happens so often that we have spent over $50 on books on how and when to incorporate discipline (different from punishment) into our lives. So far...the books aren't helping. You love to drop your food, look at us and say "uh-ee" (your version of uh-oh). It's funny, and not so funny, all at the same time.
At 14 months your personality is blossoming. We are learning more about you every day. You love to giggle and laugh. You love to listen to music - to sing and dance. More than anything you love attention. You love when you are surrounded by people and can show off all of your tricks. You love to play games like peek-a-boo, chase and
stinky p u. You know how to fake a cry or a wimper to get what you want from someone who doesn't realize it's not real. You also like a certain amount of alone time. This is typically in your crib before you fall asleep for a nap or at night. You play, sing and talk yourself to sleep. It's your downtime. You need it, because all day you are very busy.
At 14 months, your parents have experienced some new challenges. How and when to incorporate discipline. How to go from 2 naps to 1. Finding enough positive activities to keep you entertained and educated throughout the weeks. What to do when your child is very sick. We are a team though, we will always be a team. And we will always learn, and change and try to be the best parents we can to you. We love you, so much.
14 months have passed already. We have enjoyed each one for different reasons and look forward to what comes in the next. You are a joy, and we are so very thankful for YOU.
Thank you Rachel for your wonderful suggestion of pigtails! I thought that because they are close enough for her little hands to reach easily that she would yank them right out. Instead she has found some fascination in twirling them around her fingers - and they remain in tact! Not to mention, they look much cuter than the Pebbles (from the Flintstones) look that we had been inadvertently been getting previously. Thanks for the suggestion! We'll see if they last through her nap...she has been known to eat the ponytail holders. :)
...for decorating the house, lighting the tree, making cookies, drinking hot chocolate and coffee, sipping a good glass of wine, listening to Christmas music, shopping, wrapping gifts, taking pictures and writing letters
Think she sees me?
All clear! Here I go!
