20 months

Dear R,

You are a new child now that you are in your new day care. You started just three weeks ago, and already you are busy demonstrating at home all the things you are learning at school every day. It's really quite amazing. There was a week of adjustment, but once the adjustment period was over, you were thrilled to go in, and you often walk around saying the names of the other children in your class.

You've mastered your animal sounds, and now we're working on numbers. You recognize the signs for all the numbers from 1-10, even if they're still very hard for you to do because your fingers aren't coordinated enough yet.

Whenever we sign "I love you" to you, you hold your hand up in various poses, trying (but failing) to get the sign right. But it's still utterly adorable to see you saying it back to us.

You have really gotten into songs, especially songs that have hand movements. You love to have us read you "The Wheels on the Bus" and you do all the hand movements-- "round and round," "swish swish," "move on back," "beep beep," "wah, wah," "shh, shh." You also love to sing "Ring Around the Rosy," which you often call "ringa ringa." Your favorite line in that song is "ashes ashes" and you will sing it randomly. You love to make us play Ring Around the Rosy with you, but you never want to fall down at the end! We always have to pull you down with us, or you just run around. Sometimes, you do sit down very delicately. But usually we just tug you down with us.

Your favorite goodnight song is still "Bye-O," and you sometimes sing it to your dolls, or to the banana you're eating for breakfast, or to a piece of cloth, or a tissue, or anything, really.

Bye-O!
Love,
Mama