Saturday, September 3, 2011

Seventeen Months

Dear Sylvia,

Yesterday I looked at you and said to myself, for the hundredth time since you were born, "Wow, there's no way she gets any better than this."  I guess that's the perk of being the oldest or only child.  We have no idea what's around the corner, so every time you do something new, it's just the most amazing thing EVER to us!  I realized yesterday that you are so much easier to take care of than you were a few months ago.  You can walk, you can go up and down the steps without any help, you can climb onto a chair or the couch all by yourself and you can slip down to the floor when you're done.  Also, you're starting to chill out on the whole "I have to put everything in my mouth right now" thing, thank goodness.  It's like I can finally SIT DOWN and watch you play.  It's amazing!

We've been staying with Grammy and Grandpa while we're in between houses, so they get to watch you grow just like we do!  They are always amazed at how much you understand, in English and in French!  You can point to all of your body parts and you can make a few animal noises, but the other day you really surprised me.  You were on the back deck drinking a juice box and I said, "Okay, Sylvia!  Let's put it in the garbage can!" And you walked right to the door, I opened it, you ran into the kitchen, opened the cabinet under the sink, and tossed the box in the trash!  HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT???  I'm positive I've never tried to teach you "garbage can."  You just knew.  Because you're a genius.

You have become very playful, Nugget, especially since you've been spending your days with Eva and Claire.  You like to run and jump and climb on and over everything you see.  You like to stop what you're doing, look at one of us, and grin with all of your teeth showing, nose scrunched, head tilted back.  You love to wear Grammy's necklaces and bracelets.  Today I came home to find you in your tutu, and you ran up to me and TWIRLED around!  That's new.  I don't know where you picked that up, but I'm going to go ahead and blame Eva for that one.  You love hanging out with those girls during the day.  Sometimes you get frustrated and bite them, but I think (I HOPE) that's a short-lived phase.

So every once in a while I decide that I love you at whatever particular age you happen to be in.  I can't possibly imagine any better age than that, but you always get better, month my month and day by day.  I was looking back at some of my old posts and I can't get over how grown up you look these days.  You're losing your chubby baby-fat cheeks, your hair is getting longer and thicker (pigtails are right around the corner!!), and your arms and legs just keep growing and growing!  You're turning into a kid and I adore watching it happen.

Here you are watching the bulldozers on Grammy's street and looking like such a big girl!


We love you forever and ever.  Thanks for being you.

Love,
Mama

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