14 Months

Dear Annie,

Every month I think this, but this month has DEFINITELY been my favorite with you - you have changed so much, you're practically a different kid now! You are extremely expressive, and your faces are just hilarious. We love the determined look you get when you are trying to figure something out, and the look of excitement when you see your Dad or I - you're usually pretty happy, but if you're not, you have NO fear of letting us know.

A few things you love to do this month - you've grown much more fond of reading books, and frequently bring me a book you want to read and climb right in my lap. This is probably my favorite development of this month - even if I'm sitting with my legs pulled to my chest on the floor, you'll put your hands on my legs and force them into a cross legged position so you can climb on in. I used to have to help you, but now you can get all comfy on your own! Your favorite books are all of the little books your Auntie Becca and Uncle Joe got you for Christmas (Happy Hen and Sally Sheep in particular), and of course Tails, Kisses, and Heads - you turn the pages, pull the tabs, make the tails "wag, wag, wag" - all this love for those books have nearly destroyed them so we might have to get you some backups soon!

Singing to you has been a big hit this month! Any song that has motions to it captivates you and you try to figure out how to do them yourself. You love "if you're happy and you know it" but you like to go through the motions REALLY fast - immediately going from clapping to stomping your feet, which is your favorite. Ring around the rosie is another hit, but all you like to do is "fall down" at the end. Itsy bitsy spider is my personal favorite - you touch your fingers together, love to say "dow, dow!!" and bring your arms down, swing your arms around for the sun coming out, and then you just clap. Sometimes the order isn't EXACTLY correct, but oh well!

You still love to see your friends and family, and get very excited when people come over to our house - crawling very quickly into the living room and squealing with glee. Other kids that come over are older than you, and usually take your toys but you don't seem to care at all. I see how territorial they get, and I'm not looking forward much to that stage, I have to say.

Toys are lots of fun for you - your chair is still a big hit, as well as your baby doll. You page through books, and love putting things in containers and closing them up. Taking lids on and off is a favored activity of yours, as is emptying and filling various containers and bringing them to other areas of the house. You fill up your basket with random stuff, empty it out, walk around, come back and fill up the basket again to be on your merry way. Blocks and cups are now more for stacking than banging, and you LOVE the big ball that you got at Nathan's birthday party.

This is the month that you started to actually move around for fun versus just as a means of transportation. You don't have a walking or push toy, but you have figured out how to push anything and everything around and walk with it. Your favorite is the Ikea basket from the bookshelf, but you will also push any tall box or toy. You can go up and down the stairs on your own, and while you did go up and down about 10 times one night, now you have chilled out about that but still like to climb up when we are going up there.

You can stand up on your own now, but don't do it all the time and still seem a bit scared when you do. You like to practice in your crib in the mornings when we come in because I think you feel safe there. You CAN take steps because we've seen you do it a few times, toward us and in between furniture, but you do not prefer to walk, you still like crawling. You still absolutely will not tolerate being put down standing unless you are within reach of something to hold on to, you just WILL NOT put your feet down. As your Grandpa says, you have an excellent self preservation chip, apparently!

On the communication front, you seem to have entire conversations in babble, and will sometimes mimic what we say. Again, the facial expressions that you have when you are conducting these conversations are hilarious! You say hi and bye bye, and call everyone Dada/Dad/Daddy, including me. The only time you seem to say Mama is when you're sad or whining... lovely! You seem to be waving more consistently now, and at the appropriate times. You LOVE to clap, and will clap when we tell you to or say "yay!" or when anyone else is clapping.

No new teeth sprouted in your mouth this month, but your shirts and bibs were completely soaked with drool. I'm really hoping a bunch of teeth come through soon because I'm really sick of all your cute outfits being ruined with wet fronts! I also look forward to you getting some molars so you can try out some more "crunchy" foods.

A few more stats - you still sleep from about 7pm-7am, sometimes cry out and need us maybe once a night but most often not. Naptime is still from 1-3pm. You are wearing 12month or 12-18month clothes, and you weigh approximately 20lbs but seem WAY taller than you were at 12 months. You still may eat us out of house and home with your appetite, but I don't know where you're putting it all! You drink 3-4 sippy cups of whole milk with your meals and snacks, and have recently started just DOWNING your milk which we never thought you'd do at first!

Annie, you are a funny, adorable and charming little girl. You don't necessarily fit into the ready made checklists they give you for development, but you are doing things on your time frame and we're trying to relax and let you do what you are ready to do, when you're ready to do it! Your Dad has no problems with this, but sometimes I fret and worry too much. This will be a common theme your entire life, so best get used to it, honey buns!

Love you SO much, baby girl!
Mom