16 Months

And it is now January, a full week after you officially turned 16 months. Sorry, baby girl.

Amalia,
You are now 16 months and in full toddler mode.  You are constantly on the go, wanting to do everything by yourself and do everything your sister does.  You enjoyed your second Thanksgiving surrounded by lots of family, giving everyone hugs and kisses and delighting them with your giggles.  You love groups of people, which always astounds me because Sofia has always been so shy in big groups.  Not you, however.  You gain your confidence quickly, and usually allow people to hug you and talk to you and enjoy your silly self.
You got to experience snow again, this time as a toddler rather than a baby.  You're not so sure about that cold white stuff that comes from the sky.  The first time you saw it snowing, you looked up at the sky, thought about it a minute, and then declared "Milk."  Walking in snow isn't the easiest, especially for a tippy toddler wearing big boots, and you are often tipped over trying to stand back up, which gets snow in your wrists (baby mittens are tricky to get to stay on).  For now, you've decided to forgo walking in the snow altogether, and will try to insist that somebody carry you.  We're working on it.  You seem to have daddy's warm blood, and prefer to be in a warm room next to a fire with hot chocolate rather than skating out in the cold.  We took you ice skating this month in Minneapolis with Tio Gerardo, and while you enjoyed being pushed around on the all-too-awesome ice sled thing, once your fingers got a bit nippy, you really wanted to be back in the warm house.  Daddy obliged (twist his arm, why don't you) and you were happy as pie drinking chocolate milk and eating a warm chocolate chip cookie.  Which, by the way, is your favorite word to say, "Chocolate."  You request chocolate milk in the morning, and have discovered where and when there might be chocolates present (which was often recently due to Christmas and Advent calendars) and will ask so politely for "Chocolate.  Please?"  You even learned to differentiate M&Ms and now ask for them by name.
One of the best things about you right now is your words. You are so darn verbal and your voice so sweet and perfect.  The words keep bubbling out of you, with new ones almost daily.  It's amazing to watch you learn about language, and such fun to realize that you are telling us what you need.  You know so many animal sounds, and will point to the animals in a book and make their sound, and for many of them, say their name as well.  You say "Nope" as your standard answer to anything and can request to nurse by saying the proper name.  You used to say "Nuh", but now it has a definite R and S sound, making it an unmistakable "Nurse."
You have thoroughly enjoyed Christmas preparations, and gotten yourself involved in everything, much to your sister's dismay.  Sofia likes to have things a certain way, you and are often intent on destroying whatever sense of order she has imposed.  You grabbed our cinnamon rolls before they were ready to go in the oven, leaving finger-shaped holes in them.  You ate handfuls of gingerbread dough, and spilled the red hots and M&Ms all over the floor.  You grab ornaments off the tree ("pretty!") and absolutely love having the family sing "The 12 Days of Christmas".  In harmony.  I didn't much care for that carol before this year, but now I can picture your smile and joy at hearing it.  There is a page in the book we have that has two dogs and a woman stringing popcorn for their tree.  You will find that page and stare at it for a long time ("Puppies!"  "Popcorn!")
You are a stinker.  You like to run away from me when I'm changing your diaper, and love to be chased and tickled.  You like to take whatever toy your sister has and make off with it.  You are a love. You give the best hugs and kisses, and love to be cuddled.  You say "hi" and "ciao" and "bye-bye" and "night-night" and "bear."  You love to wrestle your sister on the floor and don't want to left out of anything.
You are so special, little lady.  I love you to the moon and back.
Love,
Mama