Dear Adlee, 12 Months

January 11, 2014

Dearest Adlee,

One year ago today, we brought you home from the hospital. You were the cutest newborn I’ve ever seen in your ballerina sleeper, pink hat, and pink blanket. When we got home, Daddy set you on the floor so our doggies could meet you.

Now, you are using the drawers of my desk as a ladder. You are busy, and you want to explore everything. You are funny. You laugh often. You laugh when I act silly. You laugh when Daddy comes home from work. Sometimes you make yourself laugh as you “talk.”

You talk much more than you used to. You babble or sing, and sometimes, you say real words. Around Thanksgiving, you started saying “dah” to refer to dogs. You say, “Mama,” “Dad,” and “Beebee (baby)” when you see yourself in the mirror.

You are very smart, and you learn quickly how to do things by watching Mommy and Daddy. You learn things we teach you. Sometimes, you do the motions to “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Pat-a-cake.” You learned to give your stuffed animals and dolls hugs and kisses. It’s SO CUTE! I started singing “Head and Shoulders” to you, and you quickly learned where your toes are. It’s so cute when you grab them.

Sometimes, you surprise me with what you know. For example, one day you got a hold of some of your wipes, and you began wiping down your toys and some of the furniture. You also hold my cell phone up to your ear and talk. Another behavior I think you learned from us is you yell at the dogs when they eat your food. Your favorite thing to play with is a pen. You like to make writing motions. We give you click-pens so we can click them off.

Carrying a pen around is a little dangerous for someone who has just learned to walk, but it’s not the only dangerous activity you do. You stand in your highchair to eat. You also go up and down the stairs. You come down the stairs backwards and much more quickly than Mommy and Daddy like you to.

Your eleventh month was a big one. During the holidays, you got two teeth (December 7 and December 26) and learned to walk. On November 18, I thought you were going to start walking. You took six or seven steps twice that day, but then, you stopped walking. You started to walk again during the second week of December. It was on December 12 when Grandma Lyman was visiting that you really started walking a lot. Now, you rarely crawl. You stand up without holding on to anything or even putting your hands on the floor to push yourself up.

 You have some strong opinions on what you do and do not like. You like to climb. I call you Monkey quite often. You like pens. You like music. You sing to yourself often, and you dance when you hear music. You like frozen peas, pears, cheese, ham, and applesauce. You do not like sitting still. You do not like cow’s milk. You do not like your crib (you sleep with Mommy and Daddy at night).

You are more toddler and less baby everyday. It makes me happy and breaks my heart to see you grow and change. I love you, Sweet Girl.

Mommy