Dear Anna,
You are sixteen months old today. I waffle between thinking that sounds so young and thinking that I should probably stop thinking of you as a baby.
I’m sorry to say that I’ve totally lost track of your words and your signs. You have so many at this point that it would probably be easier to list the things you can’t sign or say! Some recent cute ones are that you can sign “sister” and that you say “nose” (well, “no-oh”) whenever you see a tissue. You also say “‘appy!” when you’re happy. You’re starting to sign colors – green, red, yellow and blue – but I don’t know that you know what they mean yet. It’s a really good thing you sign in addition to speaking, because many of your words sound exactly the same. You basically can only say the consonants “b”, “d”, “n”, and “p”, so any words that rely on any other consonants are pretty tough to figure out.
The past few days, while I’ve been so sick, you’ve watched a lot of Signing Time episodes. You’ve been obsessed for a while now, but now you’re a complete addict. Oh, well, at least it’s educational, right? Besides, your sister watched a ton of Signing Time as a baby and she’s turned out pretty well so far!
You are a little independent stinker pants now. You want to do everything yourself. Everything. You use a fork and you make a good attempt at using a spoon. You climb up on the step stool so you can reach a box of animal crackers on the counter, and you’ve figured out how to open the box and get snacks out.
You also have started having little mini baby tantrums. Let me just tell you, it’s really, really hard not to laugh when you’re laying on the kitchen floor, kicking and pounding your fists. And why, you might ask, were you having this little tantrum? Well, really, it all comes down to me being a mean mommy. A mean, mean mommy, who won’t let you climb into the dishwasher. Yes, I’m really that mean. And yes, mini baby tantrums are really that funny!
I know it’s cliche, and I know I felt the same way (and still do) with your sister, but the age you’re at right now? It’s my favorite age. Every month you’re more fun, interesting, wonderful…more you. I’m loving watching you turn into a curious, spunky, exciting little girl.
Love, Mommy