14 Months

Eeek!  It is nearly Halloween, which means it is nearly the 31st, which means I missed the 14 month mark by nearly a week!  Sorry, Mali!  :)

You, my dear child, are no longer a baby.  You are all toddler, and you want to be all grown-up.  A few weeks ago, you started throwing a fit when we tried to put you in your booster seat at dinner time.  Eventually, I gave in to your crying and let you eat on my lap, and then I let you walk around and eat from your tray without actually sitting.  After a few days of this not-so-great arrangement, I finally figured out that perhaps you just wanted to sit at the table with the rest of us.  Lightbulb!  We found a booster chair that sits you right at the table.  And you love it.  You make a mess, you dump your plate of food onto the table, you toss your spoon and fork on the floor, you grab the food off of our plates and try to touch the hot pots on the table.  And you are so proud.  It is working wonderfully.  What a big girl.
You also make many animal noises. You can neigh, moo, meow, woof, baa, cluck, and quack.  Your vocabulary is always expanding, including milk, backpack, Sofia (which is now definitely a Seesee), apple, banana, sit, please, baby, uh-uh (complete with with head shake) and so much more.
You love to read stories, and are quite picky about which book you want to read.  If it isn't right, you will throw the book and go pick another one.  Your favorites have flaps to lift, babies to look at, or animals to imitate.  "Book!"  is a common cry around this house, and you'll often push your sister off a lap to get your very own story time.  You will also pull her hair, pinch her face or hit her.  To be fair, she takes your books or takes your spot on Mama's lap, too.  Other times, though, you two are the sweetest to each other.  You give each other kisses and hugs, wrestle together on the floor, play babies, puzzles, books, animals and dollhouse together.  You have tea parties with your dolls and roll the ball to each other on the floor.  You love your sister above all else.
You are also adjusting to having Mama be at work.  I started a long-term subbing position this month, and while you are enjoying your extra time with Daddy, you miss Mama terribly.  You are waking up a lot at night, perhaps to have extra rocking and nursing time with me.  It could also be related to the molar that just popped through the upper right side, or the cold you have been fighting.  Either way, I'm still tired.
You are a very funny fourteen month old darling.  We love you so much, sweet girl.
Love,
Mama