Thirteen Months

 

Dear Samantha,

You have been 1 for a whole month now, and you are already quite a pro at being a toddler. You are always on the go, walking and running everywhere you go. You continue to get funnier and funnier all the time. You tell jokes sometimes and it just cracks Mommy and Daddy up. One night you were in the bathtub and you were babbling on and on about something, and at the end you started laughing and laughing. I only wish I knew what the punch line was!

You are always giggling. You love it when Mommy chases you around the house. You take off running, and Mommy says "Hey, Baby, where you goin? I'm gonna get you!!!" and you laugh and laugh and try to get away. (But of course you like to stop or go slow so I can catch you and tickle you!)

You are really doing well with your talking now. Your words are getting clearer and clearer. You are getting better at emphasizing the last consonant of a word and not just the beginning. You don't just say "ca" for cat, but you say "caT!" The words you say most often are Dad, dog, cat, lunch, breakfast, snack, ball, balloon, and that. You just started saying "woof" now when you hear a dog barking. I'm always amazed at how many things you say that I can recognize (although they probably wouldn't sound like words to most other people, Daddy and I definitely know what you are trying to tell us!)

You really seem to have fun with your friends now. I wasn't sure if you were really recognizing them, or just having fun with them because they were your size. Then, the other day we took you to a birthday party where you didn't know anyone, and you suddenly got very shy and cautious about these new kids. You warmed up to them quickly, but I could definitely see that you react differently around the friends you see all the time than you do around new people. You interact with other kids so much now. You love to watch older kids do things that you don't know how to do yet. You can't quite throw a ball yet, but you have learned how to drop it so that it rolls forward a bit.

We took you on your first camping trip this month. It wasn't the most successful trip, since we ended up getting rained out and leaving early in the morning instead of staying a second night, but you sure had fun the first day before the rain came! You love being outside. You had a lot of fun helping Daddy set up the tent, and in the evening we went for a walk and found a band playing in the campground. Everyone was dancing, so you went right out in the middle of the dance floor and danced right along with everyone else! It was very entertaining for everyone.

You LOVE music now. Anytime you hear any little bit of a beat, you start bouncing. Your dance move is kind of a bouncing squat, and when you get really into it, you flap your arms up and down. If you are sitting when you hear music, you still bounce and nod your head. We really want to get you into music classes again! You love shows on TV like the Wiggles and Sesame Street. You love anything with lots of music!

Your newest skill is climbing, so we have had to teach you how to climb down going "feet first." You are pretty good at it, but we still have to watch you closely. You are such a little daredevil, with no fear at all. You are a fun kid, and I know you are going to be a handful for your whole life! We love you so very much. You keep us full of laughter!

I love you so much!

Love,
Mommy