Love Letter to a 15 month Old

Dear BabyP,

You turned 15 months old. You are a master at walking backwards and saying good-bye. It is really funny to see you walk backwards because you don't really look behind you, you just kind of look out of the corner of your eye and smile really big.

I don't have to tell you that you are my joy. Most of the time you are a squealing sweet little boy who is an absolute joy to be around. You love to laugh and are quick to figure things out. Your temper continues to be an issue, but you seem to have it more in check these days. I have made some adjustments to how I respond to your fits, and they seem to be paying off. Instead of paying attention to them, I just leave you alone and walk away. Amazingly, this simple trick seems to be working wonders. Other tricks up my sleeve are to be sure that you never are hungry or tired.

You are good at following directions. It is pretty amazing, that this little blob that was simply rolling around the floor a couple of months ago can now go and get his favorite dog. You can also tell me when you want a snack by either lunging violently towards the snack and saying "THAT" or pointing to the closet with all the snacks in it.

I think my favorite thing about the age you are now is that you can communicate a little. You can point to your cup or to some food. You get really excited near dinner time and walking wildly towards your chair when you think you are about to get your dinner. You also pull my pants legs and stick your arms way up in the air when you want to be cuddled.

I think you are the best cuddler. You throw your two skinny arms around my neck and say "hmmmmm" while squeezing with all your might. The best thing about your cuddles, is that lots of people partake of them: grandma, grandpa, sister and the people at the dayschool. It always makes whoever is the recipient feel like they won the lottery.

I took you to the doctor's office for your 15 month check up. The doctor was impressed with all the words you say. (She was also impressed with how sweet and cute you are.) I was certain you were going to be a late talker, but that doesn't seem to be the case. You say momma, daddy, daisy, bye bye, hey and puppy with regularity. You also say thank you, ball, and sister. If someone didn't know you were saying them, they wouldn't be able to tell. You are trying to say grandma and papa and lots of other words that we just haven't been able to understand yet.

The nurse measured you at 33 inches (90%) and 23 and a half pounds (50%). I think you are more like 33.5 inches. I don't think the nurse measured right. You are very light, but I think most of that had to do with you being ill the last week. You didn't really eat any substantial food for 3 days.

The thing that has really come out this month is your sense of humor. You love to make me laugh. Your laugh is infectious, so if you are laughing pretty much everyone else in the room is laughing too. I have noticed you doing things on purpose for a laugh. I read a card the other day which made me giggle. You took the card from me, opened it, and forced a laugh. I giggled. You then opened the card again, laughed, and looked at me. You must have done that three times before you found something shiny to toddle towards.

You are a dear sweet boy. We are lucky parents. My hope for you next month is that you keep the streak you were on and Not Get Sick. This last little bout of whatever was awful. You deserve to be well for a while.

I love you,
Your mum