Dear Baby,
I swore that after you turned a year, I wasn’t going to count your age in months, because it has always seemed like a silly over-specific practice to me, but here I am – You just change so much month to month that it would be unfair to give you a less precise age.
Communication is exploding for you. Not only are you eager to repeat any word you hear us say (today, you said “LAME” after you heard your dad say it – we are having to be every more vigilant about the words we use), but last week you heard me mumbling numbers under my breath. I was trying to figure out the time in Bangkok and I was quietly counting, “seven, eight, nine…” I paused to refigure my calculations.
You leaned forward, put your face in my face and said very clearly, “Ten?”
And ironically, you are even more into the sign language that we taught you so that you communicate before you could talk. For instance, when I read you sign language book to you, you mimic every single sign I show you – and sometimes you babble in sign language too – making silly gestures with your hands to pretend “talk.”
The boyness in you is starting to assert itself more strongly. I don’t remember Bella ever being so cut up and bruised, but you seem to have a nonstop violent relationship with the floor and corners of things. Nowadays when I ask Chad what he wants to do on the weekend, he says, “Whatever it takes to exhaust the little guy.” This usually means small adventures to the beach, or to the local Santa Ana Zoo (I’m sticking to the San Diego one from now on though), or up in a hot air balloon at the Great Park.
I am delighted to have an excuse to plan more outdoor events though. I have somehow managed to plan at least one camping trip every month for the last several months, through to the end of the year. You ADORE camping. And the six other people who slept in the tent with us in Joshua Tree know its true. You woke up each morning with a huge grin on your face and hugs and kisses for all your friends.
I love you Baby!
Love,
Mama
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVuJU8qG0XQ]
