Thirteen

Tadpole,

Last week you turned thirteen months old. As always, I have no idea where the past month went. It seems that our lives and your development occur at warp speed. I hate that it is going by so fast and have to remind myself daily to savor it.

Over the past several weeks, you have become more independent and a bit more free-willed than I desire (although I'm so glad that you are that way just the same). You're into everything all the time. You love to take the books off of my shelves, take all of the food out of the kitchen cabinets, and seek adventure just about anywhere you ought not to be. Daddy and I want you to explore your world though so we let you do this while patiently explaining to you why we must put things away, etc. You simply giggle in reply.

A few weeks ago we celebrated your birthday. Twice. There are simply too many people who love you and wanted to share your first birthday with you to fit everyone into our house. Therefore, we had two ice cream socials in your honor. You LOVED them. Not only did everyone come to see you, you got presents too! I even bought you balloons. Our family was too generous. You received a number of books, a lot of clothes, a few trains, a couple of assorted toys, and even a motorcycle that you can ride.

Daddy and I love playing with you each day. We spend a lot of time reading together, playing trains and splashing in the water. We also allow you to play independently a bit too, as we think it is important that you do so on occasion. You love to stack your blocks and play trains the most. Last week, I bought you a Little People town at a garage sale. You play with it for hours at a time. You do an amazing dance to the song that it plays, too.

It has been a lot warmer here than normal over that past few weeks. Because of this, I bought you a pool to play in on the deck. You adore it. You love to line all of your duckies in a row and splash them around. In fact, sometimes you even climb into the pool before we have the opportunity to put you in your bathing suit. Silly boy!

Because the weather has been so nice, we've spent a lot of time walking around the neighborhood and playing at parks. You like to socialize with people along the way. Lately, you've carried a Ht Wheels '67 Mustang with you too, which you like to show to people. Daddy and I have to be careful when we take you anywhere though, as you like to throw things out of your stroller, which sometimes we don't notice. We've lost several pairs of socks in this manner.

At school, you're learning about animals. You even took in a picture of our kitty to share with the class. You're pretty great at telling us the noises that a cat, dog, duck, and monkey say. You're fascinated by a number of additional animals as well. You're also really into cars too. You love to tell us the noises that various vehicles make and are especially captivated by motorcycles. You seem to have adjusted to your new class quite well. We're told that you adore circle time and are usually one of the first to it. Ms. S. tells us that you clap and giggle throughout it. You nap like a champ there too (the same cannot be said for home).

You continue to love to sing. Your favorite song to listen to right now is likely "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands". The 'Rain Drops and Lemon Drops' is a big favorite though too. Your taste in books seems to be changing a bit. You're not as excited about Feathers for Lunch as you once were, but always adore Brown Bear, Brown Bear. . Your palette is becoming increasingly refined. You have no interest in cooked vegetables, thank you very much. You're okay with most fruit and meat, but would prefer crackers of some sort over everything else. You drink almost two gallons of milk each week by yourself.

While you are an absolute joy, you're exhausting as well. You're fiercely stubborn, high energy, and incredibly playful. When you're up, you would like us all to be up with you. When you want to play, you'd like to do so throughout the ENTIRE house. Sometimes you get frustrated. Last week, you hit twice and were introduced to the timeout chair. Luckily, you've learned to blow kisses too. Thus, the goodness always outweighs those few bumpy moments.

You're a challenge, my little one, but the BEST there is. Daddy and I continue to be honored to be your parents. This is has been the best 13 months of our lives. We're excited to continue this adventure.

Love,
Mama