Let's see...
You are talking up a storm, little one. You love to repeat anything we say, be it Spanish or English or made-up-Daddy. You understand Spanish completely, though I think your English has pretty much caught up by now. You seem to prefer the shorter English words for most things (I've noticed that far more English words are uni-syllabic! (ex. dog, cat, horse vs. perro, gato, caballo) You grasp that both sets of words mean the same thing; when prompted "di 'por favor,'" you say "please" for example. You delight Daddy with the way you say "okay." (sounds like "haaaah- kay") It's your catch-all phrase for "yes," "please," and "I'm excited!" You've lately taken to saying "no?" to most questions, and as a hopeful response to highchair-time or bedtime. You know a good many animals and get quite excited when you see them, shouting "hoss! hoss!" at every Louisville Derby statue and "kitty!" every time a neighborhood cat pokes its nose out of doors. You're good with names and recognize friends & neighbors warmly. My biggest surprise came when you started making simple sentences "Is cowd!" (followed by a shiver and a pointing to your coat) or "Gace (Grace; a friend) ky-ing" (Grace is crying).
Many of your old favorites still delight you: bo-bo, books, bath, keys, and of course Mama (your all-time favorite). Even "pe-pe" (paci) has made a comeback, right about the time those 4 molars came in. You've gotten some new fascinations, though: "fwing-fwing" (swings, either at the park, on our porch, or in our living room-- now you climb in and out of the baby swing on your own), "rock-rock" (the little rocking chair I just recovered for you), "ki-ka" (stickers), "baby" (an ancient baby doll given to you by an elderly neighbor), "teef" (your tooth brush, with or without toothpaste), "eh-eh" (the letter "E" in Spanish; this is your catch-all term for drawing, as you especially like for me to write Es) and "poop?" (your newest obsession with sitting on the potty, when you feel you have to go- you seem to like a dry diaper- or when you want to brush your teeth, or when you feel things are a bit too quiet). You play quite well by yourself and have begun to be interested in wooden puzzles and a gear toy I just purchased. You have discovered the magic of DVDs in the last week or so, and understand all too well that the discs in the pretty covers equal movies you can watch. Your pretend play continues to grow, whether you are tenderly rocking your baby, making her cry and kissing her to comfort her, talking convincingly on a "phone," or cooking and blowing on your "food." You are a girly-girl to the core, loving shoes, purses, bows, hair brushes, hats, jewelry and pretty clothes. Sometimes you pick up your purse, fill it up, put on a hat and head to the door calling "bye!" So cute.
You have become more affectionate than ever, spontaneously giving me and Daddy kisses (real ones!) and hugs all day long. Babies draw out the best in you, unless, of course, YOUR Mommy is holding them. That is just not acceptable. (Neither is Daddy hugging Mama, jealous little thing.) You say "love-you," usually immediately followed by "bye-bye!" and a blown kiss. You are starting to empathize with others, and if you hear a baby crying, you stop and tell me "Baby's ky-ing. Waaah," and scrunch up your little face and try to cry too. You're getting way too good at the fake-cry thing...After a difficult spell in January in which you had your first sinus infection, first round of antibiotics, first allergic reaction to antibiotics, first double-ear infection/sinus infection, second round of antibiotics, and four molars coming in at once, your sleep pattern is FINALLY getting manageable. If you wake up, I just hold you and kiss you, and put you back in bed, sometimes with music or with a pacifier, but no nursing (yay!), and this past week I finally dropped your 10-pm dream-feed. This means that you now go from 8 pm to 5:30/6 am without eating (yay!), and I hope that soon you won't even wake up at night. You're down to one nap during the day (for quite a while we alternated one nap & two-nap days), from 1-3/3:30. You wake up at 5:30 to nurse, then we both go back to sleep until 8:30 or so. I'm okay with that... for now. :)
You are a fairly good eater; not picky, but definitely still preferring mama's milk above all others. I have to "trick" you with a little sweetener (stevia, maple syrup or unrefined sugar) in warmed cow's milk if I'm to get you to drink any of it. I have started the weaning process, though, now having dropped both your post-nap (3:30ish) snack, replacing it with a sippy of warm milk, and your dream-feed. Your new favorite food is potatoes ("papas"), and if you like any food, you declare it to be papas. You also really like uvas (raisins), man'as (apples), and na'njas (oranges).
I love you so much, cha-cha... mi preciosa. We thank God for you every day.
Love,
Mommy and Daddy
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