Dear Carolyn,
What an amazing month it’s been! You’re definitely turning into quite the little toddler. You have 5.5 teeth (that 6th tooth has been about to pop for three weeks now!) and are solidly into 18 month clothes, although there are a few 12 month things that still fit you.
I’m very happy we chose to teach you to sign, since all you say at this point is “mama” (when you want something and I’m not getting it fast enough), “dada” (when you want to charm daddy) and “uh-oh” (when you throw your cup off the high chair tray…on purpose). Not that there’s anything wrong with only having three words – you’d just be a much more frustrated little toddler if you didn’t sign! You know 70 signs now, adding “sad”, “grumpy”, “frog”, “swim”, “fruit”, “vegetable”, “boy”, “girl”, “mommy”, “pig”, “orange” (the fruit), “car”, “work”, “home”, “wind”, “rain”, “silly” and “tree” since last month. It’s so cute when I tell you that Daddy’s home and you sign “daddy home”! You’re also getting really good at animal noises, saying “mmm” for cows, “baa” for sheep, and “meh!” for cats. To the dogs’ dismay, you think they just pant, and refuse to entertain the notion that they might say “arf”, “woof” or “ruff”.
I’ve noticed that your imagination has started going wild this month. You give your dollies, bears, and mommy “tea” out of your tea set, and you even go as far as giving your lovey doll the extra binky that’s always in your crib. It’s very, very sweet. You also love to talk on your toy phones. When you have your toy cell phone in the car (thanks to Uncle Dan) you sit back there with it up to your head saying “ah-ah? ahhh. ah-ah-ah.” Is that what we sound like to you when we talk on the phone? Another super-favorite toy is the Lego Duplos set that your Aunt Jeannie gave you for Christmas – the one you’re not “supposed” to use until you’re 2. Well, you can’t quite put them together, but you sure can take them apart – and you love to take them apart, especially after Mommy builds something fantastic. In fact, there are never two Legos stuck together anywhere when you’re through with them.
You’re big into doing things yourself. At dinner the other night you actually used a fork to stab food and got it to your mouth all by yourself! You’re also protesting having your food cut into little bits. Your Grandma keeps telling the story about how she remembers being really little and wanting the whole waffle, rather than the little bites she was being fed. So I try to be sensitive to your need to have the whole whatever and if it’s something that isn’t dangerous I’ll give it to you whole…or at least in bigger pieces. You still eat anything we put in front of you, usually in copious amounts, but I’m expecting the picky toddler phase to start any day now…
Sleep is a challenge sometimes. You don’t protest going to bed all that much, but you do sit up there and babble to your doll, read your book and play with your aquarium sometimes for as long as an hour. I guess you need time to yourself just as much as we do, and the only time you really get to yourself is when you’re in your crib. It’s only a problem when I hear “uh-oh” over the monitor a couple of times. That usually means you’ve thrown both binkies and your dolly out of the crib out of boredom, and since you won’t go to sleep without those things I have to come to their rescue.
Just remember, you may be 15 months old and fast becoming a little independent, headstrong child, but you’ll always be my baby!
Love, Mommy
This is why people have children in the first place, right? To do the household chores?
When you’re eating out with your toddler who is used to hard plastic straw cups, it might be a good thing to keep a paper cup out of grabbing reach – even if it’s just water and has one of those nifty plastic lids. Paper cups crush very easily, and toddlers have surprisingly strong grips. I’m just saying. Because if you don’t you may find yourself buying pajamas at the nearest kids store so that the toddler in question, who is now completely soaked, doesn’t freeze to death in the bitter winter weather. (This warning doesn’t apply to you if you’re one of those super-organized moms who actually carry a change of clothes everywhere.)