Fourteen Months

Dear Madeline,

Yesterday was your official fourteen-month birthday. Somebody recently asked me why parents continue to count months after a baby turns one instead of simply stating the year. She had just finished listening to me and another person comparing the ages of our children. I tried to explain that there's a huge difference between a twelve-month old and a sixteen-month old developmentally, so I think that's why parents continue to use months as markers of their one-year-old's life.

Madeline also makes very important
phone calls from Mumma's phone.

At twelve months you weren't walking yet. You couldn't take your shirt off yourself. You couldn't say "Mumma.". Now at fourteen months you can do all of those things. In fact, you run circles around this joint.

You've been a complete Mumma's girl recently. You call for me all the time. You stick close to me, you cuddle with me, you turn to me when you need comforting. Sometimes I feel bad for Dada when you push him away and run to me instead, but I know it's fleeting. In a few weeks you'll be back to loving Dada most. Then someday you'll be a teenager, and I'll bear the brunt of most of your adolescent loathing. I'm going to enjoy being your favorite person for as long as it lasts.

You like to climb on everything in sight. "Up! Up!" We bought an ottoman, and the first thing you did when you saw it was climb up one side and slide off the other. The stairs need to be monitored closely so you won't try to climb them without us with you. You were playing on the porch while I unloaded the dishwasher two weeks ago. When I peeked around the corner at you, you were standing on the seat of the rocking chair. You don't play on the porch unsupervised any more.

You've started eating better again after a period of pickiness. We were surprised to find that you like tacos. You still love apples as an afternoon snack. You also love fish sticks and cheese and blubbery bagels. You don't like meat most of the time. You prefer pasta, fruit and veggies.

"Talk to me."  

Words are coming rapidly these days. It seems that you try and repeat everything you hear. You've said your first phrase, "All done!" You've added turtle, banana,(more like nana) nose, and bum to your daily vocabulary.

You are also able to point to various body parts like your eyes, nose, mouth and ears when prompted. The day you discovered that you have a belly button may have been the happiest of your life. We often catch you lifting your shirt to gaze at your navel in wonder.

Meanwhile, you're becoming very strong willed and short tempered. You are easily frustrated when you don't get your way. You got in trouble at school today for being mean to the other babies. I don't know exactly what you did, but I imagine you got mad when they were playing with a toy you wanted, or were in your way. Your teachers had to keep reminding you to be gentle, and we're doing our best to make sure you behave at home as well. It's not easy teaching a baby right from wrong, but you'll get it eventually.

You're so sweet, and so eager to please that I don't think you're destined to be a bully. You just don't understand yet. In the meantime, try not to smack the other babies, please. Not because you feel bad for them, because I know you're not capable of empathy yet, but because your Mumma told you so.

We love you, our brown-eyed beauty.

Love,

Mumma