Happy 17 Months Birthday!

i am cheating and changing the date on this, since i didn't get to post it on your actual 17 months birthday. don't tell anyone!

you are getting more fun and funny and spunky and able all the time. really, it seems like every part of your personality is blossoming lately.

you have discovered all kinds of funny faces that you like to make at people, all of a sudden. if this past month is any indication, you might be starting to get sillier and less shy than we thought so far.

you really work to get the attention of people near you at the grocery store, or sitting a few tables away at a restaurant.

you say a lot of words and make a lot of funny sounds. sam and daddy get you to repeat all kinds of things. i can't wait until sam starts trying to get you to say things like "butt" and "poop." it's really only a matter of time.

you get going pretty fast, and when you really want to "run," you swing your right arm back and forth. i guess that helps with the momentum.

i love watching you grow up!
love, mom

p.s. daddy says you look like bruce springsteen in this outfit, and with your hair all shaggy like this.

Uh Oh!

one thing that's really fun about this age is the way you're learning to communicate better and better.

often i'll hear you over the monitor from your room saying "Uh oh! Uh oh! Uh oh!" the first time you did this, i wondered if you were just talking, but then i realized you had probably dropped your pacifier through the bars. i went in to check, and that's what had happened. it's pretty neat that you can say things now, and we know more about what is going on inside your mind or what you want or need.

your dad and sam love to get you to repeat things they say. your favorites are "uh oh," of course, and also "appies!" (i think this is from "apples," one of the first words you started saying a long time ago, from one of your book, but now you say it all the time. i guess you just like how that sounds.), and also "dogs!" and "woof woof!" and "eyes" (while you poke your own eye or someone else's)

sometimes we'll say things to you without trying to get you to repeat it, but you say it anyway. tonight you said "six" (we were playing chutes and ladders at dinner, and sam kept saying six, because it was the number he rolled.)... and the other day in target, i kept telling you to sit down on your bottom, so you said, "sit!" (unfortunately you didn't actually sit. you just smiled and said "sit!")

you also like to shake or nod your head in response to questions. usually it's totally arbitrary which one you'll do. you went through a phase for a few days of only ever nodding "yes" to everything your daddy said to you or asked you, except for the questions, "do you want to go to mommy now?" or "can i put you down now?", which were firm No! shakes. you sure love your daddy.

you are a smart and sweet and silly girl.

love, mom

this makes me smile :)

i love it that you and your brother are starting to have so much fun together.

happy april!

wow! this is your first blog post for this month, and we're already towards the middle. mom has been slacking. anyway..

since you've become so much more mobile, it seems like you and sam are playing much better together. maybe it's because you can keep up with him. or also because he sees you as more of a kid now, and less of a little baby. all i know is that when i peek into your room or his room, and you're on the floor playing with legos or curled up in a chair reading books together, it makes me all happy and sentimental. my little babies! growing up together. it's very sweet.

another thing the time that's been passing has brought is a little bit of a climate change. the grass is growing, the rain is falling, the rivers are rising, and it's a little bit warmer. we have been planting some flowers. your daisy should be popping up any day now.

i love you!
love, mom