Dear Anna,
Today you are seventeen months old. Another month before you are officially one and a half! You’ve gained one of your top molars to bring your total number of teeth to nine, and you’re just on the verge of outgrowing a lot of your 12-18 month clothes.
What else is new this month? You have a lot of new words and a lot of new signs. Your favorite words to say are “belly”, “Molly”, “star” and “‘nack!” (you use this one a lot to get snacks). Other fun new words are “plate”, “fork” and “Nee-Nee”, your best friend Nikki. I think we’ve been out shopping with Nikki and her mom just a little too often, because pretty much whenever we get in the car to go anywhere, you start asking for “Nee-Nee”!
You’ve learned how to climb up on the chairs and couches, and I swear you’re going to give me a head full of gray hair by Christmas. Because once you climb up on those chairs and couches, you stand and walk around on them without a care in the world.
When you’re not playing Danger-baby, you have a lot of fun playing with your baby doll. You really, really love babies – dolls, pictures of babies, babies you see in the mall – you’re obsessed with babies! You’re also still obsessed with books. First thing in the morning, before Daddy leaves for work, he walks into your room to say goodbye, and you ask him for a book. That occupies you long enough for me to get dressed and start getting your sister ready for school. And once your sister gets on the bus, you get your daily episode (or two, if I’m under-caffeinated) of Signing Time.
You are exhausting to parent lately, with your constant need to climb and explore. Luckily, you still go to sleep really easily and sleep all night. You’ve chosen a couple of loveys finally – a pink plush “my first doll” and a small baby Minnie Mouse. Oh, and “Billy”, your small taggie square. (I think maybe “Billy” is a combination of “blanket” and “pillow”?) Now I just have to somehow manage to get myself to bed at a reasonable hour so I’ll be able to keep up with your danger baby antics!
Love, Mommy