19 Months

19 months St. Joseph, Michigan May 26, 2008

Dearest Magnolia,
Yesterday you turned 19 months old. How can I stop you from growing so fast? The things you have learned this month are jumping with both feet and climbing. You are climbing everything: stairs, chairs, ladders, slides, tables, you name it! You have gotten really good at climbing at the playground just to be able to go down the slide. We've been playing outside a lot which you love. You say "side?" and run and get your shoes. When we come home from running errands I can't just bring you in the house so I let you stay and play in the garage while I watch you from the kitchen. It's always a struggle to get you back in the house. You've been so active I feel like I'm constantly feeding you just to keep you at your current weight. You still love salty foods and like your mommy, you LOVE doughnuts. You do not like bland foods, you want flavor and spice! You just learned to slurp your soup when I recently gave you some tortilla soup and that made me laugh! You now say mommy and daddy rather than mama and dada. You will say anything you hear and continue to be a little mimic. Your daddy and I counted at least 30 words in your vocabulary. You are also saying phrases like: All gone, I don't know, I know, & do you? Every time I cut an avocado in half you do the sign for alligator. Recently your daddy and I were listening to Splendid Table on NPR and the trivia question was: What's another name for an Alligator Pear? The answer: avocado! You knew that answer all along! Today we were looking at bugs and I showed you a caterpillar. You kept doing the sign for alligator and I couldn't figure out why until I realized caterpillar and alligator sound alike. I love to see the world through your eyes, it's much more interesting. You are so easy, we can take you just about anywhere. You adapt so easily to any situation which continues to astonish me. You are very curious and very busy. You do test me trying to figure out your boundaries but when I say "no," you listen. You sang your first song the other night. We were playing and suddenly you started singing and swaying. When you stopped I asked for you to sing another song and you did! It was the sweetest thing. You really love cats, especially Nani's cats. Every time they ran away you cried and wanted to find them. We also saw a mommy mallard and her newly hatched ducklings in our neighbor's yard. You really wanted to get near the mommy duck who was not happy we were peering into her nest. You have recognized the letter "o" for a while but now you know "m." You also recognize numbers and when you see them you count, usually out of order and always skipping 7 & 8. Books continue to be your favorite things. You love Go, Dog, Go! and you can say it too! You also really love We're Going on a Bear Hunt & Goodnight Moon. I love watching you grow and learn. You continue to amaze me all of the time. You are the light of our lives and we love you so very much. Happy 19 months. xoxo mommy & daddy