Month Sixteen

Dear Abe,

Happy New Year!

Yes, this way late. Sorry Abe. Of course you know, a lot has happened. I don't think I can remember it all. (So, I think this is going to be a pretty lame recap, but I feel I have to put at least something before you turn 17 months. Blah, blah, blah. Blame it all on the new DVR, my mind is mush. Throw me a bone.)

Just to get it out of the way, let's go through the notable new words -- guitar (tar), Ozzie (thank God you stopped calling him Abba), Jeff (your favorite purple Wiggle), snack (nack), Cookie (as in the Blue monster), LouLou (Grandma LouLou), party (Wiggly Party), toot toot (as in Toot Toot CHugga Chugga Big Red Car).

And now, off to holidays. We can start with Thanksgiving ... I was so excited for you to be able to eat real food this time. I thought you would love the turkey and mashed potatoes, but you really just wanted cranberry sauce and some nibbles on red peppers. Whatever. Your eating has gotten really much better, and I at times you have been known to eat four fruit cups in a row and a whole can of green beans. I am very proud of you for that.

Christmas was a crazy time. Grandma Jillsy and Rob came over for a weekend and we went to the Children's Museum and opened presents. You really only loved playing with the choo choos at the museum, and I think we scarred you for life when we took you on the carousel. You clenched my hand for dear life on that thing, and didn't smile one time. But, you didn't cry, just secretly plotted our deaths in your head.

You got all sorts of things for Christmas. I like to categorize it in two ways -- Elmo Christmas and Wiggles Christmas. Santa brought you a giant Elmo chair and when you opened it you said, "Elmo!" in a way that was like seeing a long lost friend after many years.

At Grandma Pat's you received everything the Wiggles have to offer -- tshirt, cup, guitar, coloring book. As soon as you saw the cup with the big read car and the Wiggles on the lid you didn't let go. You carried that thing for three days straight. Some parents would be weirded out, but I understand. I once held a strong affinity for Miss Piggy. It's cool dude.

You also got a Wiggles cd, and man you love that thing. You dance your little heart out. You love to dance. You also learned how to change songs on the cd player, and insist on listening to only the first five seconds of every song. Your father and I know all the words now.

My favorite time of the day is putting you to bed. Last night I was rocking you to sleep and your eyes were getting very heavy. You were holding your sippy cup to your lips and sleepily drinking and I looked down and started to laugh. You looked at me and then started to laugh too. It was like we were long lost best friends sharing an inside joke. My heart almost exploded.

We also got a family portrait taken. It is something I would probably never done if it wasn't for your Aunt Danielle organizing one for a Christmas present. When we finally got to see it, I was so amazed that everyone was smiling and there were no signs of snot anywhere! I look at it every day and feel so proud to be a part of such a beautiful family. To me, that picture is worth millions. It is my greatest accomplishment.

Love,
Mama