One for a few more hours...

Tomorrow I will be TWO!!

23 months!

Dear Punk,

You are 23 months old. In one month, we will be celebrating your second birthday. That is amazing. What a difference 12 months makes when it's between 1 and 2!

You speak in complete sentences and are incorporating more mature speech such as articles. You are asking questions. Your favorite is still to give orders, though! ;)

You really REALLY wish you could jump but you are just not coordinated enough to do that. You squat down and shoot up and... nothing happens. It's adorable! You are getting better at going up and down stairs, though motor skills are not your forte. You must be too busy learning all of your colors and numbers and letters and shapes! This month you started identifying "rectangle," "oval," and "octagon." Where do you learn these things?

You have finally, FINALLY, started sleeping through the night on a semi-regular basis. Thank you for that. I feel like I'm almost out of the haze of sleep depravation and can start functioning at work. I feel almost rested! You wake up in the morning singing songs and sitting in the crib with a big smile. It's really nice.

You are always so happy and full of joy. Everyone remarks on your big, wide smile. You are always full of glee. I love being around you. You are infectious.

Soon we will be celebrating another turn around the sun for you. I can't believe it! You are such a big, beautiful girl!

Love,
Mama

22 months!

My dear Punk,

You are 22 months old. In just two months, you will be two years old. How can that be? It doesn't seem like that is even remotely possible. Yet at the same time, I can hardly remember the tiny newborn bundle I brought home from the hospital, or the little imp at last year's first birthday party. You are growing into quite a kid.

You have so much personality and zest for life. You tend to experience everything at 100%. It's either all great or all terrible. You are either shouting with excitement or shouting in frustration. You have never been one to throw temper tantrums, but lately you have been overwhelmed with your desires to get your way... even if that changes from one minute to the next!

You continue to be obsessed with television and will talk about probably every character on every show. Lately you have wanted to take about Wonder Pets and Max and Ruby, even though you are not interested in either of these shows. You continue to enjoy Super Why, Curious George, and Blue's Clues. You still insist on a Curious George book every night before bed, although your obsession has moved on to Curious George Goes to the Ice Cream Shop.

Your language continues to grow in leaps and bounds, and now you frequently speak in full sentences (subject-verb-object). You have added some cute phrases and questions into your vocabulary, such as, "Guess what, Mama?" and "Where going?" You understand everything and try to get in the middle of everything going on around you. You want to be wherever we are and do whatever we do. Today you decided you were making 'cat food.' You are such a trip.

We have started saying prayers together every night and when it's time to go to bed, you insist, "Prayers! Prayers, Mama!" but always remind me, "'I Love You' first!" (We always sing the Barney 'I Love You' song before bed.) It is one of my favorite times of day.

Being your mama is all I have ever wanted in my life. Thank you.

Love,
Mama

21 months!

Dear Punkin Pie,

You are 21 months old. In three months, you will be TWO! That is so unbelievable to me! Two years ago, I was enjoying my pregnancy with you and starting to develop a nice, round belly while you grew big and strong inside of me. And now you are growing big and strong right before my eyes! You are really enjoying learning about your world and exploring everything you can, which really means getting into things.

The weather has gotten warmer, so we have been able to spend a lot of time outside, which is a blessing. You enjoy having the freedom to run and play, and you like picking up sticks, acorns, and rocks along the way. You like to "help" with the yard work and ask for your turn with the rake. You were not walking last spring and summer, so we are having a good time toddling around the outdoors.



Last month you had your first trip to the Holyoke Children's Museum with me and Uncle Rick. You called him "Uncle Ick" and had a fantastic time running around and playing with all of the toys. Uncle Rick and Aunt Gretchen love you so much and wish they lived closer and could spend more time with you. They are glad for every moment they can get!



You had a play date with Nolan, who is the son of some of Mama and Mommy's friends. He is a few months older than you and the two of you had a lot of fun on your little slide. Mama found that slide on the side of the road last summer and dragged it home even though you couldn't walk yet. You are really getting a lot of use out of it this spring and I'm sure you will continue to love it in the coming months. We hope to get you a play set this year as well.



You are getting so big and look much more like a little girl than a baby. You think you are running and you yell "fast! fast!" but really you are just walking a little more quickly. You are starting to walk down stairs if someone is holding your hand, but we still have a long way to go. You are coloring circles and can identify every letter of the alphabet and some numbers. You sing so many songs, and know almost all the words to the Super Why theme. You are nearly 3' tall and probably weigh about 28 pounds. And you are still rear-facing in your car seat, as long as we can get away with it.



As always, I love being your Mama.

Love,
Mama

20 months!

Punkin Pie,

You are 20 months old. You are rounding the corner to 2. I can hardly believe it! You have moved into what I call the "Parts" phase of childhood. All of your favorite toys involve a lot of parts! Some of the things you are interested in include: Mr. Potato Head, a toy train set, a box of crayons, and play food. Here is proof:





We have been spending a lot of time with your great-grandparents in Rhode Island. Great-Grandpa has end-stage pancreatic cancer and we are trying to log in lots of quality time and photographic memories. I know you will probably not remember the good times you are having with him, so let me remind you that you are really enjoying playing Potato Heads with him and showing him all of your toys.



I am impressed daily with your verbal skills. You have added so many words to your vocabulary that it seems like you can say everything! You put two and three words into little sentences and have become really good at getting your point across. K, your child care provider, is always remarking on your verbal abilities. She cares very much for you and you like her an awful lot.

You have a big obsession with Super Why, probably because it feeds into your obsession with the alphabet. You love the foam letters and numbers in the bath tub, and the Leap Frog letters on the refrigerator. You can identify so many letters by name now, as well as colors and shapes. You are turning into such a big girl!

I love watching you learn and grow.

Love,
Mama

19 months!

Punk,

You are 19 months old and growing smarter by the day. I am amazed at everything you are learning and figuring out these days.

You count to 10. You can sing your ABCs, and are starting to recognize some of the letters. You can identify several colors, though will initially say that everything is "red." You can also identify blue, green, orange, purple, black, and white. You can complete a shape sorter, build your stacking boxes, build a 6-cube tower, name a gazillion animals and their sounds, and tell us what you want whenever you want it. You enjoy coloring and being read to.

You are obsessed with Mr. Potato Head. The first thing you ask for in the morning is, "TEE HEAD!" You love to talk about his parts: eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, feet, shoes, hands, moustache. Yes, moustache. You pull out the potato heads and ask me to get the container of parts. "PARTS! PARTS, MAMA! PARTS, PLEASE!" I even enjoyed the day you stepped on one of the parts and howled, "Ow! Parts." in the saddest little voice ever. Mr. Potato Head is your very best friend, and when he is not around you will often sing the song I made up for you: I love you, Potato Head. Very very very much.

You prefer to use a spoon and fork than your fingers, and can now drink from a regular cup. Sort of. You sit at the "big kids" table at child care (instead of a high chair) and K is ready to move you into a cot on the floor instead of a crib. When did you get so old and independent? The other day you walked up about three steps before crawling up. I was shocked and had no idea you could do this!

During your 18th month, we finally convinced you to get rid of the swaddle at night time, but we were still rocking you. It was getting more and more difficult to rock you to sleep and you were getting SO wound up. So we started asking you if you wanted to go into your crib, and you said, "Yes!" Now we hug for about 3 minutes in the rocking chair, and then I lay you in the crib and say, "Night night." You say, "Bye-bye, Mama," and put yourself to sleep. Who are you and what have you done to my baby?

You have stopped referring to all of the cats as "Tat!" and now refer to each cat by name. You frequently put two (and sometimes three!) words together and make little sentences. You have a current love for one of your Big Bird books and I have to read it to you at least 5 times per day. You have developed a love for certain television shows, mostly "Curious George," "Super Why," and "Sid the Science Kid" on PBS, and you have actually started saying "PBS," which makes me cringe just a little bit. But hey, as long as your language is developing, I'd say you are a-okay.

You still have a definite Mama preference and I know it makes Mommy a little sad, but I'm sure a day will come where only Mommy will do. Until then, I'm pleased and proud to be your Number One Snuggler. Thank you for another amazing and fun-filled month!

Love always,
Mama
(and Potato Head)

18 months!

Dear Punkin Pie:

You are now halfway to your second birthday. Already? Already! It is amazing how quickly time flies when you are truly having fun. Raising you and being your Mama is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, and I only hope I can do everything for you that I have in my head and my imagination.

You are becoming so independent and free-spirited and it lights up my world. Some of me has a hard time seeing the "baby" parts of you go away, but I know that you are enjoying asserting your independence and showing off your new skills. You are trying so hard to eschew some of your babyhood, wanting to refuse the high chair and the sippy cup, but perhaps for sanity's sake we can hold on to those a little while longer. ;)

Your vocabulary continues to grow in leaps and bounds and you are starting to learn the concept of possession. You eagerly point out which shoes belong to which person, and insist that Mama have a drink if you have a drink. You still love to boss me around, and many of your new words are verbs which you bellow with some sense of importance: READ! PLAY! COLOR! So far we have not been witness to any real fall-down-drag-out tantrums. I am very thankful for that.

You continue to light up everyone's life, and your child care provider is also very taken with you. She continuously gushes about how many words she knows and how many new skills she is picking up. I know that she loves you very much and I feel good leaving you in such capable hands. People stop us all the time to tell me how beautiful you are or how smart you are or how well-behaved you are. I am so proud of the polite, helpful little girl you are becoming!

The more steps you take away from your baby self, the more I want another baby in our lives so that I can see the two of you interact and grow up together. It is just a pipe dream, but that doesn't make it go away! I think you would be an amazing big sister and you would enjoy teaching another baby everything you've learned.

I enjoy watching you grow every day, and treasure every moment we are able to spend together. Thank you for letting me be your mama.

All my love.