20 Months

Dear Elle,
Yesterday you turned 20 months old. Today is Saturday and it's also Grandpa's birthday and we are going to meet everyone out for dinner tonight. This morning after a long walk in the stroller (where we met a beautiful Great Dane named Savannah who licked your face and made you laugh) we made him a big green card with stickers and you colored all over it. We just had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apples and then I rocked you for a bit and you went right down for your nap. You were very tired.

This month your language has grown so much! Everyday you say something that I didn't know you knew about. The other day you were sitting on the couch watching Bubble Guppies and Dora rolled off and you said, "Oh God, no!" and then jumped down to get her. You like to add a little element of drama to keep things interesting. You know all of your animal sounds and yesterday you started saying, "Ribbit!" when you see frogs and it's adorable. You can also count to 10 and know all your colors and letters and shapes. We went to Grandma's on Friday to make Christmas cookies and you had your first gingerbread and you were very happy about that. Since then you have said gingerbread at least a hundred times, and even when Grandma was spelling it to me, you knew what she was saying. "Gingerbread?" you asked with your eyebrows raised and your little hands out.

You now think Grandma's name is "Gamma House".  So that's what you call her no matter where we are. She did finger-painting with you last week and when she squeezed the paint on the paper she started saying, "ooooooh oooh" and now that is how you think finger-painting is done, by swirling your fingers all in the paint saying "oooooh ooooh" the entire time. And when you want to talk about Grandma you call her "Ooooh Gamma House". Like that's her name.

Last night we went to an Elf Party at Auntie Julie's sisters house and you wore your red and white striped feety pajamas and you ate more gingerbread and Julie gave you cotton candy which you didn't know what to do with so you threw it on the ground. I think maybe you thought it was a cotton ball. (When you are older you will know how silly that was because cotton candy is like fluffy delicious gold.) When we got home it was past your bedtime and I went to get you out of the car and I was trying to carry you and a lot of bags and I told you to "Hang onto Mommy" and you said, "I gotcha!" which you clearly don't know what that means because you weren't holding on at all. I couldn't believe you said that, because I had never heard you say that before and it was such a grown up thing to say.

You can also make sentences and ask questions and have conversations. You like to get right to the point.  The other day you were pointed to your toes saying, "this little piggy" and then I asked you what the little piggy did and you said, "wee home."

Next week is Christmas and it's going to be so much fun. Mommy and Daddy bought you a little wooden cradle for your babies that Mommy is going to paint white and make bedding for.  We got you an easel to paint on and a little Elmo and some books and clothes. We went to see Santa at Stew Leonard's last week and you were fine to watch him from the line but once we got up close you were so screaming mad that you would not sit on his lap, you kicked and screamed. Good thing Santa does not hold grudges.

Love,
Mommy

New House

Dear Elle,
This is where our new house will be!

Love, Mama

18 and 19 Months

Dear Elle,
You have a favorite letter and it's "w". (You say it like, "double-vuf") You say it all the time and you laugh and laugh, and howl and shriek and stomp your feet and run around like that letter is doing stand up comedy and you already downed the two drink minimum. You have a video you like to watch over and over called "The Letter Factory" and the letter "W" is dressed up like a rapper with gold chains and some turntables and he has a little song that he sings about the letter "W" (..."when I play it over here the room it starts to shake, it's the sound that you make...wha wha wha wha wha whaaa W") When he's about to come on you scream for him and laugh and laugh. "Double-vuf! Double-vuf!" You find so much joy in the tiniest things and I am learning so much from you.

You are obsessed with Dora. We might have to have an intervention. The theme song is the first thing you ask me to sing for you in the morning and you can't go anywhere with out BOTH Doras. Mommy got you a Dora and then Grandma got you a Baby Dora to keep at her house, but nooooooo, you weren't having it. That Baby Dora was coming home with you, so help you God. Both Doras go everywhere with us, in the shopping cart at Shop Rite, buckled in the carseat under each of your arms, to the Doctors to get their ears checked and heart listened to, in the bathroom to brush all of our teeth. You also brush the teeth of the backpack on Dora's back, which is silly because backpacks don't have teeth. But you don't care, you will brush his little gummy smile anyway. It's so amazing to me that you are already preparing to be a Mommy yourself, you tuck in 'the Doras' on the couch to watch some Dora and you kiss them on their foreheads. You are taking all the cues from me, so I better not mess this up. Sometimes you ask to take 'the Doras' into the bathtub but we have to draw the line somewhere because we all know 'the Doras' can't swim.

You might have noticed that these two months are combined into one letter and you might want to know why that is. Well. We have been very very busy and time has been going by so very fast that I haven't had much time to write. We are working hard on our new house, picking out all the stuff to go inside and they have been building the frame of the house and grading the landscape and working on a beautiful stone wall that is right out in front. We have gone there quite a bit lately and you just want to dig in the dirt and pick up rocks and I wonder if you will even remember what it was like when the house wasn't there. I think you will always know this house to be your house even though you actually have lived in two different houses already and you are only a year and a half.

You are talking up a storm and you say the funniest things. Lately you have been saying, "Aww Honey.." after you heard one of us say it and it's so cute. You sound just like a 95 year old Italian Grandmother. You also repeat pretty much anything you hear and you can say mommy's car, grandma's house, daddy's working, no no more noodles, huggin', thanks, juice and you have been saying "please" a lot more which is always sweet to hear. Right now you are playing with the iPad and switching between reading "The Cat in the Hat", doing some puzzles and working on your farm animal sounds. You just walked up to me and shoveled a handful of organic cheddar bunnies into my mouth with such force I think you touched the little punching bag in the back of my throat. I was trying to say, "no, thank you, sweetie", but when I opened my mouth you just stuffed them in my face. I have a feeling you are going to be President.

Love,
Mama

17 Months

Dear Elle,

This week you turned 17 months old. You have really grown tall and lean and have gone up a shoe size in the last few weeks. You can reach all the doorknobs now and try to close and open doors all over the house. You can also reach the kitchen drawer handles and pull yourself up to see what's on the counter. You are so fast with those little hands. The other day I put some crumbcake on a plate to share with you and we walked over to the table holding the plate and when i put it down I realized there was no crumbcake on it, but it was in your hand and I was holding an empty plate. Mom is so crazy walking around with an empty plate.

You and your dad have an awesome time together. He plays with you and you shriek and squeal and laugh so hard. He gets down on the floor and you put your blanket on his head and he flails around looking for you and you run circles around him and then jump on his back and try to ride him. Then you say "hug!" and give him a bear hug and he feels so lucky and happy that you think he's so cool. It's like the rest of the world fades out and it's just you and him in this little bubble of special dad and Elle time. Then you go right back to screaming and kicking and running and laughing. You guys play with the Dora legos all the time and you have a little Dora that sits on top of the legos and you make Dad kiss it. You push his face towards her and you watch very carefully to make sure he does it. He is seriously putty in your hands.

You are starting to recognize things out in the world and it makes me realize that you are so very smart. Yesterday we were walking into Shop-Rite very early in the morning, going to pick up some milk and some organic pears and bananas (which you say like ba-la-ba-la-la) and you looked up at the big letters on the front of the store and said, "SSSS" and I couldn't believe it. You are so smart.

You can say so many words now, new ones everyday. You say "help" when you need it and "please" when you want something and we aren't moving fast enough to get it for you. You know most of your body parts and you can point to them all when we sing if you're happy and you know it... You have some new friends from the Mom's group we joined and you like Parker the best. You say his name like you are from Boston.. "Par-car"

You are getting very good with your utensils.. as I write this you are eating mac and cheese and blueberries with your pink fork and watching Elmo's Alphabet Jungle. You tell me all the time you want to watch TV and sometimes you say "show" which means to put on Dora or Elmo for you. I give you a little rag and you clean your tray on your highchair and wipe your face.

We stared swimming class at the YMCA and you are learning to kick your legs and scoop with your hands and float on your back and climb out of the pool and jump in and blow bubbles in the water. You are a little fish, you love the water and you like to swim after the little rubber ducks they have to help you to learn.

If you're happy and you know it.. shout hooray!
We are. And we do.

Love,
Mama

16 Months

Dear Elle,
This is your new word. More. And this is how it sounds coming out of your beautiful little rose bud lips: Mower. Moooow-er. MOOOOWWWER. You say it loud and you say it proud, and it applies to everything. If you would like to eat some more raisin bread, "mower" you say. If you would like Daddy to keep throwing you up in the air so high that you have time to grab onto your toes and do a straddle split, "mower" you say. You also say, "again" but you use it for times when someone is doing something to entertain you and you want them to keep going, like reading books or singing songs. Amoung other things, new to the list of words are Uncle and Auntie, towel, bebe, ball, blue, milk (nilt), elephant and iPad. You can also identify lots of body parts when asked; head, hair, teeth, belly button, toes, ears, nose.

You are seriously obsessed with the iPad. You have more apps than mommy and daddy combined and you know exactly what each one does. You slide the pages over until you get to your page and then with your little finger on your chin and your brow furrowed you carefully consider which one you would like. You look just like Daddy when you do that. You can say "elmo" (Elm) and "Grover" (Groder) and "Dora" (Dorda) and sometimes you play with their apps but lately you are falling in love with animals. You feed the frogs by dragging bugs into their mouths, you help the monkeys get their bananas (which you can also say and it comes out like this "ba-labl-abla") you sing along with old MacDonald and you know all of the animals on the farm and most of their sounds. You have this app of a zoo scene and when you touch the animals something silly happens and when you touch the camel, he pulls his head back and spits directly into the face of a man who is just walking by, who turns red and makes a silly surprised noise. You think this is the funniest thing that ever happened. You made that camel spit in that poor man's face at least 40 times before breakfast. You laugh and laugh. You have your daddy's sense of humor.

A few weeks ago we went to visit Nana and Papa and all your cousins and your aunties in Massena. You were running the show up there, that's for sure. You showed all your cousins your Grover app and they were all gathered around smiling which was very sweet of them because they are older and therefore know that Grover is actually the monster at the end of the book. You took lots of naps on the boat on Mary's shoulder and you played in the sand and we went on morning walks and saw a little fox. You got some time with Nana and Papa and you liked to splash in the dog's water bowls and put on Papa's sneakers and walk around.

This month you got your first pet! It's a goldfish named, "Dorothy" just like Elmo's goldfish and she lives at Grandma's house. She lives in a little glass bowl with hot pink stones and a little sign that says, "no fishin'". Grandma says they can live for 17 years and that they keep growing and growing so when you leave for college Dorothy can move into the swimming pool.

You are taking a nap right now, all cuddled up in your crib. When you wake up, you can have a pear or a rice cake (your favorite) and then we are going to go to the beach nearby to gather some items from outdoors like rocks and leaves and sand for a sensory box that we are going to play with in the little pink tent we got at the craft store this morning. I am having so much fun with you, getting down to your level, looking at things like you look at them, exploring the world through your eyes. Thanks for letting me.

Love,
Mama

15 Months

Dear Elle,
Last week you turned 15 months old. We were on vacation in Newport, Rhode Island with Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Traci and Uncle Paul and you got to go to the beach and build sand castles with Daddy and go to the zoo and eat ice cream almost every day. You also went to bed late and got up very very early, when it was almost still dark out, so we are all still recovering from all the lost sleep, but we did have fun, so, i guess someday in about 20 years we will get to sleep late on a vacation with you.

Tonight in the bathtub after dinner you discovered something very magical and captivating. Your discovered your very own teeny belly button. You had some gas in the tub and you were blowing the most dainty of bubbles out of your butt and then you looked down and spotted your belly button and I think you thought it was responsible. You poked your finger in it and checked for any air leaks and everything checked out okay so you went back to splashing around and making up songs.

You also found out that your finger fits perfectly into your nose. If anyone even mentions the word nose, your finger shoots up there like a baby moth to a flame. I joke with you and tell you that ladies don't pick their noses but you just laugh hysterically and switch nostrils. Oh mommy, you so crazy.

You have lots more words and new ones come out everyday. Newly added are: ouch, ice, down, close, clock and you can sign bowl, computer, puzzle and all done. I think you named your little grey hippo, "Tim". You say long drawn out sentences that maybe one day I will figure out. It sounds like this, "cotcha cotcha cotcha tome tika tika GOYA GOYA GOYA GOYA?" and you point at something while screaming the "GOYA GOYA GOYA" part. You are very cute, but what are you trying to tell me? We work on words all the time by reading many books, mostly Dr. Suess since he's the official learn to read guy and we tell stories and sing songs all day and sometimes we watch Sesame Street when mama is super tired and needs to lie down for 15 minutes or drink a glass of wine before dinner.

You are the answer to a million prayers.

Love,
Mama

Upa.

Dear Elle,
This week you turned 14 months old. You have a new word and it's "up". When you say it, you say it a few times in a row and it kind of runs together into "upa-upa-upa" and it is seriously adorable. Grandma taught you that. You also learned some more animals sounds and you say "baa" "moo" and "whoooo". Your Dad and I took you to the Beardsley Zoo a few weeks ago and I know that you really didn't know difference between a white wolf and a goldfish but you smiled and pointed politely at different things from your little seat in your stroller. That's another new thing you do, point at everything. You extend that chubby arm and your little finger and sometimes you say, "dat" and sometimes you say, "dis". I think you want me to tell you about different things so I tell you lots of stuff about everything you want to know about. And we do a lot of talking because you want to know about everything.

Your mind has opened up into "how does it work" mode, you are a little mechanic and engineer of everything you see. You open and close things, turn switches on and off, turn dials, take things apart, put covers on things and take them off. You have a curiosity about everything. Yesterday you figured out to open my little can of breath mints by hitching your bottom teeth on the edge under the little tab and popping the top open. How did you learn this? You didn't see me do it! You are so logical and resourceful. When I put on my makeup in the morning you play around in the bathroom with me, talking your funny little baby language the whole time, opening the drawers taking all the band-aids out of the box or taking out all the Q-tips, licking them and putting them back in the box. You climb on everything, the world is your jungle gym. You try to climb over me if I'm in your way. You also learned if you push your little xylophone over to the coffee table and swing a leg up, you can get right up on the table. MIT, lookout.

You help me into and out of my flip flops several times in a row during our days at the lake house. Did I say several times? Let me rephrase. 40,000 times. If I kick off my shoes at the door when we get home, you bring them to me one at a time and put them on and take them off. And on and off and on and off and that is how this game goes. You know which ones are mine and which are daddy's and which are yours. Thank God you were born into our family because I've just been wandering around the streets like a fool, shoeless, with clean, dry Q-tips and a full tin of breath mints in my purse.

Peek-a-boo. You have been playing that for a long time and it never gets old. You laugh hysterically with your entire body. Sometimes you pull a blanket over your head and then run around the house which makes me very nervous because you ran into the bookcase once and bounced back and fell on the floor. But you were laughing the whole time. Hopefully you can still get into college.

Last week I made you an egg frittata. What is that you ask? It's a way that Mommies get to pretend they are toddler culinary geniuses by packing veggies into eggs and baking it, which has got to be only slightly harder than sticking your hand directly into a box of Fruit Loops and calling it dinner. Anyway, you were not a fan of this frittata and while you were in your high chair trying to stall until I offered you something else to eat, Uncle Paul and Auntie Traci came by for a visit. They were standing around you and talking and telling stories and while I was loading the dishwasher and my back was turned, you picked up a little bit of this "meal" and held it out for Uncle Paul to eat. DUDE! HURRY UP, BEFORE SHE SEEEEEES YOU! He ate it. Right out of your little grubby hand. Your eyes widened. You scoured your tray for other bits of this egg dish and kept shoveling in into his face, and then patting it in, shoving your whole palm across his mouth to make sure none got out. What you couldn't get in his mouth, you slid down the side of your body and tucked right up under your butt.

You had your first ever ice cream cone and i could tell by they way it was dripping down your arm and all over your chin, it was so awesome it blew your little mind.

With you, everyday is an adventure.

Love,
Mama