April 30, 2016
Dear Kate,
This past year has gone by so
quickly and so many things have happened and changed over the past twelve
months that it’s hard for me to unjumble all these memories and tell you about
the amazing girl you’re becoming. It’s unfortunate, really, how memory works. It
tangles itself up and changes what had been and mixes it with the now. But what
is most important - now, then, and forever - is that I love you so, so much.
You light up every room. Your smile and your crinkled nose when you laugh is pure
delight, and your open-mouthed, slobbery kisses make my heart swell with love.
The past year has held many milestones for you. You can
walk, run, jump and spin. You sit in a booster chair to eat. You still sleep in
your crib (yea!) but can climb up onto your changing table all by yourself. You finally have all of your baby teeth (I was
a littler worried for a while there!), you wear size 24-month clothes and size
6 shoes, and your hair is so long we have to put it into “piggies” to keep it
out of your face (and food!).
Currently, one of your most endearing (and frequently
frustrating) traits is your desire to do things you love over and over and
over. You love being held upside down and lifted up in the air. You love it
when we hold you and then pretend to drop you and when we let you sit on our
legs and bounce them like you’re riding a pony. If I dare to stop to catch my
breath, you shriek, “Moi!” (more) or “Gen! Gen!” (again, again).
Your speech is really pretty impressive, though, especially
since Sarah is your main tutor. She’s forever breaking words apart for you, demanding,
“Kate, say ‘kin-der-gar-ten’.” You never tell her no, even when you probably
should! A couple of the words you
mispronounce but I refuse to correct are “wa-ga” for water and “Aye-yah” for
Sarah. You also call Veronica “Ron-ka,” which is super adorable. You started talking right around 18 months and you
haven’t stopped since!
You wake up happy every morning, but you are NOT a morning
person. You, my dear, are a good sleeper. You fall asleep easily (we’ll see if that
changes when I take your pacifiers away this summer!), and you sleep soundly
most nights. In the morning, however, you are content to just lay in your crib
and slowly prepare to meet the day. It takes us about 15 minutes from the time
we open your door to the time you are dressed and downstairs. Most mornings,
you greet me with, “My paci?” That’s my cue to pick them up off the floor from
wherever you may have flung them during the night and hand them to you. You
then stick one in your mouth and palm another until you decide it’s time to get
out of bed. You talk around the paci,
though, to run through the list of family members (“Daddy? Aye-yah? Pickle?”)
until you know where each of us is and what we’re doing. Sometimes you just
say, “Eh-body?” and then I know you want to know where everybody is.
You have so much love for your family. You will randomly ask
about “Gam-mie” and PaPa, and you are so excited to talk to them on the phone
right now. You also love your cousin, Teddy, and are so sweet to him! You ask
about him a lot, and I know I need to do a better job of helping you spend more
time with him. I think my favorite
relationship to watch, though, is the incredible bond you have with your
sister. You love each other fiercely and it shows! You play and snuggle and
read together. You turn to her when you need help and she protects you like a
mama bear. It is my fervent wish that you never lose the relationship you have
with Sarah!
Right now you are really into My Little Pony (which you call
“My Pony”), but that’s mostly because Sarah is into it, too. You get excited whenever you see Mickey or
Minnie Mouse, and I think Mickey is the first non-family member you identified
correctly! You also enjoy Elmo and Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, but you
call Cookie Monster just “monster”, which you insist on saying it in this
hilarious, deep, growling voice. You also love baby dolls and playing with your
Little People family and their car. You’ve just started to hand me one of them
and say, “Here, Mom,” to get me to play with you – but only if Sarah is busy.
You also love to crawl around on all fours and pretend to be a puppy, barking
like mad!
You love to wear your pink princess boots and can spot a
school bus from a million miles away. You love swinging and the park, you dance
by running in small circles or tilting your head from side to side whenever you
hear music. You love to take tubbies and to brush your teeth. You also love
playing with balls – the bigger, the better! You eat like a champ and can
easily put away an entire hot dog or slice of pizza. Anything that’s more than
room temperature is “hot” and you insist that we blow on it for you.
You have been singing to yourself more and more recently,
and your current favorite song is “Hap Bir-day.” You sing it once through, then
you give me names and make me sing “Happy birthday, dear (insert name here)”
over and over until you run out of people to sing about. You love to play with Reece
and Alex from school, and you love going for walks with the neighborhood kids.
If you’ve done something naughty, you will put yourself in
time out and always say “sorry” with a kiss. And
you want to do everything yourself. “I do it!,” you yell. I love your
independence. Keep that and nurture it. Never be dependent on another person
for your happiness. For anything.
I could go on and on about all the things I have learned to
love about you this year, but I’ll end by just saying that I am so thankful and
blessed to be your mama. I can’t wait to enjoy this next year of adventures
with you my sweet Kater-tot!
I love you for always and ever!
Love,
Mommy
