Dear little lady,
We have had such a fun time together this month! I've just been thrilled to finally feel back to normal, so we have been super busy doing new things. I can tell that you were ready to get out of the house and you have really enjoyed getting out. And I really want to soak up the next several months with just me and you! I know we'll never get this time back and it's making me kind of emotional :o).
1. It's been so exciting to see you really start describing things to us lately. You tell us that ice cream is COLD, you look PRETTY, your oatmeal is HOT and things you try to carry are HEAVY. I think this little skill comes from all the books we've been reading about opposites. I'm always amazed when you seem to pick these things up so quickly!
2. Em's really got her groove on this month!!! You love to dance, but it really looks more like a stomp at this point. Daddy has been giving us a hard time because he thinks I taught you to dance a little dorky. What can I say? It never was my gift (but not really his either). So...bless your heart, you come by it honest. But dance on, little one :o).
3. I'm loving how you've started singing little parts of our songs...usuallly only a word or two, but I know you are learning! And I know God is so happy to hear your sweet little voice singing to Him!
4. Really, could you be any sweeter!?!? I really don't think it's possible! I know I've mentioned it before, but you have been SO sweet to mommy during the past few months. Even when I'm just not feeling very well, you always know how to put a smile on my face...you offer kisses and hugs and just let me cuddle you when I need it! Now that I am feeling back to normal, you are just really helping me enjoy this time alone with just you! Thank you, precious girl!
5. You finally realized the difference between milk and juice (water, really) this month! I really think we've always called them by different names, but you've always just called all liquids, "juice". I love how you say it too...M'lilk. Too cute! Oh, and you happen to LOVE the chocolate variety, thanks to your fun daddy!
6. One thing that TOTALLY cracks us up is how hyper you get when you are tired!!! You turn into a WILD woman! You get super silly and just laugh hysterically, lose a ton of coordination and just get wild :o). It's almost fun to keep you up past your prime to see such a performance, but we try not to too often...just seems cruel!
7. As always, you are our Chatty Cathy! Some of my favorite phrases you say this month are, "Emmy do it" (when you don't want my help) "mommy do it" (when you do need my help), and "bless you daddy" (when we sneeze).
8. You are quite the little Miss Manners this month and we LOVE it! We often pray that you will be a polite little girl and hearing you use such kind words is like music to our ears! You've started saying "please and thank-you" a lot more intependently and you love to tell us "bless you" :o).
9. I've been so amazed at your memory this month! Every morning we talk about what we are going to do for the day...kind of make our plan. I've always asked you throughout the day if you remember what we are doing next, but this month you really remembered! As we were headed out the door one morning I asked where we were going and you remembered we were going to the library! So smart :o). You also started remembering things about daddy and I...things like you play golf with daddy, so you ask to "play golf daddy" or that mommy loves coke, so when we pull into Sonic you say, "mommy coke" :o).
10. You seem to be getting a little more coordinated this month! You're getting faster at "running" and love trying to jump. We are so proud of you!
11. One of your favorite activities this month has been pushing around your grocery cart! So cute. You get it out when mommy is doing the dishes and try to load up the dishwasher with all your goodies :o). And we have to keep an eye on what you've got in there...we've found flip flops, our silverware, our clothes and picture frames in there recently!
12. You've been really interested in acting "grown up" this month. You are ALWAYS getting into mommy's make up, my shoes, my clothes. I notice that you love to watch "big kids" and other grown-ups too. You try so hard to mimic what we do. There have certainly been some humbling moments for me because of this. As I glanced in the backseat one day and found you pretending to put on make-up just like I do, God gently reminded me how VERY important my actions and words are in training you up. It brings me to my knees!
13. This month you tried your first snowcone and LOVED it (of course). I have a feeling we'll be doing that quite a bit in the months to come with this heat :o).
14. Well, you've perfected using a spoon and fork! This is totally one of my favorite things you've learned because I was secretly growing weary of feeding you every single bite of food. Now, I still get to help you with runny stuff like applesause, but you are great at scooping up your oatmeal, yogurt, chicken salad, etc. and still LOVE using your fork on all the other stuff. This little skill REALLY makes you seem so big as we all sit and dinner and feed ourselves :o).
15. Okay, bad mommy and daddy alert...we realized the first thing we wish we hadn't taught you...the word, "yeah". In fact, I didn't even realize how much I must say this word until my little parrott (AKA you) started repeating it ALL THE TIME! I never realized how tacky this word was until I heard it coming from your sweet little 19-month-old mouth! Now, we are despereately trying to retrain you to say, "yes". Hope it works!
16. This month, I had one of the first real opportunities to see you interact with another baby. I was really excited to see how you would handle it and you did beautifully! You were kind, tried to share and were a lot more gentle than I expected. Of course, you ignored the poor little guy a lot too, but you were just busy :o). I pray so much that you will be blessed by your new little sibling and that they will be blessed by you!
