Hello my little man! Happy 16 months to you!
Boy, this has been a great month for the two of us. You have become so much more of a little person, and I am just enjoying you more and more every second. Now you tell me when you are hungry, when you want milk, and when you are just thinking about Elmo for the 456th time on any given day.
I thought the Elmo thing would be phase, but it doesn't seem to be. A fabulous coworker of mine gave me a Chicken Elmo (he does the Chicken Dance, folks) and it almost blew your mind. You insisted on walking around the house with that awkward, squawking contraption for the better half of the evening, letting Elmo's head butt against your chin every time he started dancing.
Your big thing this month is that you have joined the toddler class at school, and you are the youngest addition to the crew. They wrote up a transition report for you before you made the switch, and you passed all the requirements with flying colors. Your teachers were also very cute, saying you love group time, are an excellent helper (always first to start cleaning), are kind to your friends (always giving hugs and kisses) and are not a picky eater (hrm...). They also mentioned how much you love to dance.
The Hokie Pokie, sorta from odessa on Vimeo.
Your move to the toddler room is is so very bittersweet, because I am happy to see you growing and learning new skills, but I also want to just keep you as my little dude forever. By the time you leave the toddler classroom, you'll be talking and potty trained and capable of doing some crazy things -- it's amazing how fast time is flying.
Another amazing thing is how much I can recognize now that you really did need to move up. I didn't realize how bored you were in Wobblers, but it's clear to me now how your brain was ready to take on the toddler challenges. Ever since you moved up, you run into the classroom in the mornings, just waving a quick "Ba-bye" to me as you start in on your next project. This morning, you hopped out of my arms and ran to your friends for group time. When I came to pick you up, you were tinkering on the fake kitchen set, holding a conversation with another kid. I can just see you are a busy, busy bee, and that you are curious and independent and ready to take on new things. Your new teachers say you have had a super easy transition and that you are enthusiastic and always ready for new activities.
Along the lines of new activities, we've also been getting out and doing a lot over the last few weeks. It isn't always easy, trying to meet people and stay alert at work and stay on top of the bills and keep some food in the cupboards. I am honestly very tired. But, it's the good kind of tired -- the satisfied "We did something today!" feeling as opposed to feeling wiped out and exhausted.
Your vocabulary has stretched out a bit - I am going to list the words because it will be interesting to know how this changes in the months to come:
milk, no, bye-bye, night-night, hi, bonjour, au revoir, cracker, water, bird, wouf-wouf (what you call dogs) and meow (what you call cats), light, leash, lamp, moon, Elmo, Ernie, Mama, shoes, hat, book, loup (French for wolf), ball, attends (French for wait), go, more, help, sssss (what you call snakes), yuck
Ok, those are them, off the top of my head. We'll see next month if I can add new ones, until it gets to the point where there's no use in keeping up with it.
This month should be exciting. We leave in less than a week to go to France, to see your papa and your Aunties Kathy, Rebecca, Solange and so on. I am so excited to see my friends, to just enjoy myself for a few days amongst people I know and love so much. Of course, I am thrilled to show you off to them, too, because they stood by me in the early days and made my transition to motherhood as smooth as possible given the circumstances. You and I can visit some of my old stomping grounds, though we will probably stay away from that Irish bar on the Seine. Not your scene, my friend.
After our trip, we will get home in time for elections, and let's hope things don't go down a drastic, terrible path come November. I want a bright future for you.
I love you so much Babycakes, it's honestly sort of absurd. But, I just do. Thanks for making every day amazing.
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