
I can’t believe it. My baby girl is 18 months old today.
That tiny, red-faced, bendy little breach baby who backed her way into the world one hot August afternoon is now a happy, snuggly, sweet girl with tons of enthusiasm and a growing vocabulary. Where has the time gone? Am I going to blink and then be sending her off to college? I can hardly bear the thought.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Adele and what I want to help her remember about her life right now. I’m a scrapbooker, after all, so I think in these terms all the time. I’ve dedicated a lot of pages in her scrapbook to telling her how I feel about her, and that’s certainly important, but as she marks one-and-a-half years of life, I also want her to remember some of the details of her day-to-day.
A list of such memorable details might go like this:
You love “kit-tees.” Love, love, love them. Every since we visited Grandma and Papa Lorow at Christmastime and you met Jewel, their family cat, you’ve been crazed! Every once and awhile a neighborhood cat makes it way into our yard, and you can hardly contain your excitment. Morning, noon, and night, we peak out the window and hope to spy “kit-tees.”
You are smart as a whip! Your teachers at daycare regularly tell me how smart you are — it warms this proud mama’s heart. You are learning so many words and amazing us every day. You are especially good at remembering and saying people’s names. You also know animal sounds, and you can identify many animals by sight.
Our evening routine after we get home is for you and daddy to play together while I make dinner. You come in the house saying “da-da ball.” You want daddy to carry you while he kicks a ball around the house. Sometimes mommy joins in and that usually makes you laugh. Then we eat dinner together. You are a terrific You also love your milk. We clean up a little and you play for a few minutes more before we head upstairs to get you ready for bed. Once zipped into to your footy-jammies, we settle in to read a few books. Some favorites are “Big Red Barn,” “Goodnight Moon,” “Are You My Mother?”, “Who Lives Here,” and a lift-the-flap book featuring Elmo and the Sesame Street gang. By 7 p.m. you are ready for bed, sometimes even pointing to the light and helping to shut the door. You might cry or whine for a minute or two when we put you in your crib, but for the most part you are very grown-up about going to bed by yourself. You like having a sippy cup of water in your crib too. We had started giving you one during a time when you had a bad cough, and you enjoyed being having it so much that we’ve continued to leave it there for you.
During the week, we all need to be up and going by 6:30. You are often awake when we go in to get you, sometimes playing quietly in your crib and sometimes jabbering away. We do have to wake you up occassionally, and you are still so sweet and so excited to see us. We change your diaper, get you dressed for the day, and head downstairs for breakfast. By 7:30, we’re out the door and ready for our day.
You are doing really well as a Pooh Bear at daycare. You have some good friends in your class, including “Gon-ka” (Anika), “Al,” (Alex), and Miss Sue. They tell me that you sing and dance during circle time, are especially interested in art projects, and always help when it’s time to clean up. Picking you up from daycare is my favorite part of the day. You squeal and jump around as soon as you see me, often waving goodbye to your friends before we even get your coat on. On the way home, you eat a snack and often we listen and sing along with children’s music.
Music is important to you. We “sing” certain songs together, including “The Wheels on the Bus,” (you like to swish-swish like the wipers, cry like the baby, and hush-hush like the mommy), “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” and a special, crocodile version of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” You also know many Wiggles songs, thanks to a DVD we have called “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.” You especially like to dance with your mommy.
People love being around you, Adele, because you’re always so happy to see them! You’re not afraid to be held by people you don’t know very well. You get especially delighted to see Miss “Nan-nee” (Sandy), “Roof” (Ruth), “Co-Col” (Colin), and Ben.
Your very favorite food seems to be baked oatmeal with blueberries, and I make it for you almost every weekend. You also like “go-gurt” (yogurt), pizza, bagels, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Jello, tomatoes, and all kinds of snacks like animal and goldfish “crakah” (crackers).
What a gift these past 18 months have been with my sweet girl. What a joy to see her grow in her confidence and abilities. What a blessing to hear her call me “mama” and to see her face light up when she sees me. I can honestly say that not a single day goes by that I don’t stop and thank the Lord for the blessing that is Adele.
Happy year-and-a-half birthday, sweet, sweet girl!