15 Months

Dear R,

(With apologies for being late...) Your fifteenth month started off chaotically but stretched into your first extended period of stability since mid-July. With a cross-country move, two visits to Grammie and Grampie's, starting day care, and a brand-new house that seems to change every day as we continue to unpack boxes, there's been a lot going on. But you've responded tremendously!

After the first few changes, you handled it all like a champ. But then things started to go a little wacky. When you started day care, you were pretty upset. It took you about a week and a half to completely settle down at the center, and now you're excited to go there every morning. Almost too excited, if you ask me!

We've watched you grow by leaps and bounds this month. You seem to be taller, although we don't have any measurements to prove this, and you're really starting imaginative play with your toys. Your dolls are your favorite-- you love to pick them up, hug them, wipe their noses, feed them water from your sippy cup, and give them pieces of your own (real) food. You also love to cook with Daddy in the kitchen. It's the cutest thing ever. You open all the kitchen cabinets, pull out pots and pans, and bang away at them. We have some bowls and soft food just for you to use and you love to cook strange combinations of foods for us.

In addition to the fun playful side, however, your temper-tantrumy side is coming out too. You get upset if we take something you can't have away from you, or prevent you from going somewhere you shouldn't. If you can't figure something out quickly enough, you scream for help or get very angry. We can already tell you have Mom's temperament, rather than Dad's. That's too bad. Mama doesn't have an inch of patience for things that exasperate her, while Daddy's patience is practically endless.

You're still learning signs, but you're also babbling and pronouncing more and more words yourself. You've discovered "Bye Bye!" this month and love to say it whenever one of us (usually Daddy) walks out of the room. You still don't say it on cue to strangers because you're so focused on staring at them and figuring out what they're doing, but it is so cute to hear you, once they've disappeared, shoot out with a "bye bye!" You also say it every time Daddy closes his computer, because that's what we use to web-cam with the family, and you say it whenever Daddy finishes talking on the phone and says goodbye.

And that's how I'll end this letter. "Bye Bye!"

Love,
Mama