22 Months

Dear Madeline,

Tonight you gave Mumma three new gray hairs during dinner.  You are one headstrong little baby.

You're in a phase where you won't even try anything new to eat.  And if we so much as leave the dreaded food on the table in front of you, you scream "Nooo!" while trying to toss it away.  Basically?  You've been eating a lot of hot dogs, pasta, and cheese recently.

When I picked you up from daycare one day last week, you were in the middle of lunch.  You were eating chicken, brown rice, and veggies.  I wouldn't be able to get you to eat that at home unless I pried your mouth open with some salad tongs.  What gives?!  Don't like the cooking?

In the past few weeks, you language skills have really been blossoming.  You talk constantly!   This sometimes adds to the gray-hair factor since about 90 percent of the time you are uttering one of the following phrases: "No like it!" "It's mine!"  or "I want it!"

On the other hand, it's nice to be able to have conversations with you.  We can ask you about your day at school, and you do your best to fill us in.  Today you told us you painted on the wall and that you want to go to gymnastics tomorrow.

Every night we listen to you babble to the toys in your crib as you fall asleep.  Sometimes it sounds like you're reading them a story, which always begins, "One day, babble..."  Right now, I can hear you lecturing some poor stuffed animal, "No, no.  Don't do dat!"  Other times we can make out lyrics to "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star" or "A, You're Adorable."

Sometimes you'll strike up a conversation with one of us about something that happened a week or more ago.  For example, you told me today that a friend of yours was, "Gonna take it away!  It's mine!  It's mine!  He take it!"  We haven't seen this boy in over a week, but the last time you saw him the two of you were, in fact, fighting over a toy.  Apparently, you're still worried he's going to come to our house and play with all your things.  It lead to a one-sided conversation about the concept of sharing.

Ownership is a huge issue with you.  You declare that everything is yours.  My car is yours.  The garden is yours.  The glass of milk is yours.  "Dat's mine!  Dat's mine!"  is a constant refrain.

Luckily, you seem to understand the concept of other people owning things too.  If you go after my cup of coffee, I can tell you, "No, Madeline, that's Mumma's coffee," and you'll nod and stop reaching for it.  "Mumma's coffee," you'll repeat.

While we were down in New York, you spotted some beach toys we were saving for later.  You pointed at them and declared, "Dat's mine!"

We said, "No, those are Nana's."

You repeated, "Nana's toys," paused for a moment as you eyed them carefully then added, "I hold it..." as if you were offering to do Nana a favor by holding her toys.

Meanwhile, you continue to be a lovey-dovey little girl.  You like to come sit right up against me in the mornings while you watch your cartoons.  In the afternoons, you'll suddenly exclaim, "My Mumma!  I need my Mumma!" before running over to snuggle.  When I put you in your crib for bed you roll over on your tummy and demand, "Rub my back, Mumma!"  so I rub your back gently for a few minutes before heading downstairs.

You get sad when Eric drops you off at daycare in the mornings now that you're used to being around us most of the week.  You cry for your Dada as he tries to slip out the door, and I'm glad that Eric's the one to shoulder that burden.

I can't believe that we'll be celebrating your second birthday soon, Maddie Bear.  You're such a little princess.

Love,
Mumma

P.S.  I'm sorry this a few days late, but since we're on summer vacation, I've sorta lost track of dates.  Oops.