Dear Avery,
Excuse your mama for her rusty writing hands. You are growing so quickly and profoundly that I just finally had to sit down and write a bit about the wonder that is you. This month has been the month of language. In the past few weeks you have grown into a little creature that can talk. You say "ya" or "no"to most questions. Sometimes I think you are simply saying "ya" without understanding but then other times I think you know far more than I can begin to imagine. Just today I said one and then you said, "two." The other day you were slumped low in your high chair, jazz music happened to be piping away in the background, and I said "well, aren't you a cool cat." Without skipping a beat you said, "Meeow."
You are at the point where you try to say just about any word, more often than not you can sound it out pretty well. You are so excited, I can tell, to be in the world of talking people. And, no matter how slick you seem with it all - I know at times you are throwing in a few extra "ya's" to hide the fact that you are still just seventeen months old.
Before I forget, and thus the record is lost to all eternity, here are the words you can say: "mama, dada, zz, gook (for book), kitty cat, dog, ball, moon, ba ba (bottle), shoe, shirt, apple, bowl, fish, bird, squirrel, car, choo choo (train), papa, nigh nigh, baby, hat, helmet, bike, na na (banana), cheese, tree, hi, bye, kiss, cracker, and, a handful of others. A few days ago you started saying "hi zz", much to the delight of your brother.
You and your brother, by the way, have a loving and often funny relationship. You adore him. You want to push trains on a track, just like him, and you bring him his shoes and bike helmet whenever you can. He adores you equally but often has a funny way of showing it. On one hand, he does not want you touching anything that he feels belong to him. He yells at you and often grabs things from your hands, trains and cars. On the other hand, he wants to be just like you. If you ask for a ba ba, so does he. If I put you in footless pajamas, he wants the same. He will often imitate you and do exactly as you do - dragging a basket around, etc.
More often than not the two of you will be stacking blocks, pushing trains, or just reading books together on Zealand's bed.
Besides your brother, you love your baby doll, your thumb, your family, climbing, walking, being chased, digging around in kitchen drawers, climbing on the fireplace, climbing on the couch, the toilet, bath, trains, cars, most animals, eating cheese, drinking milk, slides, swings, and being held.
You are also extremely headstrong. You throw your little body into everything you want and resist mightily if we are trying to redirect you. You also seem to have a thing for the dangerous. You love to walk quickly toward the busy streets, put your fingers in open sockets, and walk along the tall benches in our backyard.
There is so much more I could say. But, at the end of the day you are just the sweetest little thing - freely giving kisses and hugs. Already you have all of our hearts wrapped around your tiny fingers. Oh, did I mention, in six months you went from being in the 40% for height to the 75%? You sprung up like a weed after you turned one.
You are growing so fast. So eager are you to be a little person. You throw yourself headfirst into everything with giggles and soft and loving heart to boot. We are all so lucky to have you in our lives.
We love you baby waves.
-Mama
