myMCMlife.com

I’m not specifically doing monthly updates anymore (or maybe I just skipped 13 months…I haven’t decided for sure) but I do want to continue documenting her growth and progress, for my own records if nothing else. So here we go…

Ali-girl, you are 14 months old today! I don’t think you know that tomorrow is a very special day – it’s the 1 year anniversary of when you joined our family! But I’ll talk more about that next week. I remember reading somewhere that 14 months old is the average age that kids learn to walk. You, my dear, are right on time. You started taking steps for the first time on September 4th. I was so proud! You are very brave and a little bit reckless. You take a few steps and then dive into one of us with your eyes closed and your arms out. Except, you don’t always check to make sure I’m paying attention first and sometimes the diving ends poorly for both of us, especially if you have a book in your hand that you want me to read to you. The good news is, you’re gaining confidence and taking more and more steps at a time. Very soon you’ll be walking and running all over the place.

To satisfy your adventurous toddler spirit, I took you to the park the other day. It’s was our first time at this particular playground that’s designed for 2-5 year olds so the slides and steps and everything are shorter. You’re still a long ways away from 2, of course, but you seemed to really enjoy this slide. I’d set you at the top and say, “Ready, 1-2-3!” and you’d launch on 3, just like we’ve been being doing on the side of the pool over the summer.

Speaking of following direction, yeah…we’re working on that. You understand everything we say and you often listen. I have to keep reminding myself that you’re just 14 months old and not always mature enough to obey. When you do, we celebrate! Honestly, you’ve been surprising me with how much you do listen and obey like when I ask you to hand me your sippy cup (instead of dropping it off the high chair tray) or take the chewed up paper out of your mouth and you actually do it! It’s really a test of patience and parenting skills for the adults and you’re giving us all plenty to chances to do re-dos when we mess up.

You’re still eating well and sleeping well. I feel like a broken record saying that every time. You’ll eat just about anything. Your favorites are still peaches and blueberries but we recently rediscovered kiwis. You’ll still eat green beans and broccoli. You prefer beef to chicken because it’s easier to chew (I suspect). Scrambled eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches and PB&Js have been working into the lunch time options lately. Oh, and you still LOVE cheese sticks and yogurt. You had fun making a big mess out of this bowl of speghetti at dinner the other day. I think more ended up in your bib and on your lap than in your mouth. Soon enough you’ll be using utensils!

You’ve had a ton of new words lately. My favorite is that you’ve been saying Mama much more consistently now. Finally! We’re still working on “more please” instead of pointing and whining but sometimes you’ll point at what you want and say “Mama?” Sweetest thing ever. You’ve also started saying baby and you love to point out babies everywhere you see them. You love to look at pictures of your baby cousins and friends and most often say “Ice!” for your cousin Iris. You called your cousin Eliza Ice the other day but when I corrected you, you said Eye-za. You say/whisper stars when we’re putting you to bed at night (we have a turtle night light that projects stars) and you’ve said shoe a few times. I’m very impressed with the s’s! The other day you crawled over to your high chair, pulled up to a stand, looked at Jason and said, “Hungee.” I love that! Makes me glad we were too busy to bother with baby sign language. You’ve always been good at communicating your needs. You say baba for bottle when you want a drink. You have 3 6-oz bottles of milk a day before naps and bedtime, and are doing pretty well with a sippy cup for water at meal times. You say woowoo for “woof woof” when you see a dog or any animal resembling a dog. “Meow” comes out as ee or ow, and sometimes you also say moomoo for a cow. I’m sure I’m forgetting some words and of course there are instances where you repeat words once or twice and then ever again.

Clearly, we think you are the most talented, intelligent, precious girl ever to exist on the planet. You make life so much more fun and interesting. I’m thankful that God brought you to us one year ago. You are a beautiful girl, inside and out, Alianna.