Dear Emma,
Today you are 21 months old and yes, this really will be the last time I specify your age in months. From now on, it’ll be “almost 2” or “just turned 2” or “2 and a half” and on and on until you are 18 and heading off to college. Whew. But for now, you are 21 months!
Speaking of college, I’m currently worried that you may be leaving us for higher education at record age because you constantly surprise me with how much you know and understand. During a thankfully short-lived bout of picky eating a few weeks ago, I discovered that you are officially old enough to be bribed. You refused to eat a single bite of fish (which you usually love) or anything else on your plate.
I got an applesauce pouch (a favorite) out of the cabinet so that you’d at least have SOMETHING to eat, but before giving it to you I decided on a whim to see what would happen if I tried to reason with you. “If you eat one bite of fish, then you can have some Go Go Squeez.” Lo and behold, you immediately picked up a piece of fish and popped it in your mouth! So true to my word, I gave you applesauce.
I could fill this whole letter just listing things you can say and do. In the last month, your verbal skills have exploded and you seem to pick up a new word or two every single day. You came home from daycare the other week saying “oh gosh” which is just a hilarious thing for a toddler to say. And you’ve even started to throw in an occasional two word sentence — “more bread” was one of the first, and “light off” is a favorite phrase. You repeat things after us, and can say some of your friends’ names. Even words that you’ve been able to say for a while are evolving — while “fish” used to sound like “bih” (which makes little sense, but we knew what you meant), it’s now turned into “bish.” I think we can all agree that’s one step closer to the actual word, right?
Reading “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” — a current fave!
You can even ask for things you want now, which doesn’t seem all that earth-shattering until you realize that for the past 21 months of your life, your dad and I have usually just been taking our best guess at your desires. So to be able to ask if you want more food, or if you want water after you’ve finished your milk, and have you say “yes” (pronounced “yesh”) or “no?” It’s kind of amazing. You request certain books at bedtime, and the enthusiastic “more?” that I hear at the end of a reading means we now read the same book two or three times before I finally turn out the light. Sometimes you even tell us that you pooped — I guess potty training is officially on the horizon, but since daycare won’t start working on that with you until you move up to the next room in August, we’re not in any rush.
Laughing with your buddy Keagan
Some days, you give me plenty of new items to add to my “reasons why my kid is crying” list. This past Sunday, for example, we had been hanging out in the front yard watching Dad plant a few new bushes in our flower bed. You were having a grand old time and were not pleased, to put it mildly, when I told you it was time to go back inside. As soon as we got in the door, you threw yourself on the tile floor and wailed for a couple minutes. However, your moaning and groaning came to a quick stop as soon as I suggested that you help me put laundry into the washing machine. Yes, you are still small enough that you are incredibly distractible.
You always wake up happy and ready to start the day, which makes me forget (almost) that I haven’t been able to truly sleep in for exactly 21 months now. You smile and giggle freely, and you make me laugh just as much — or maybe more. The other day at dinner, Dad spontaneously told you to “make a mad face” and you did! You pulled out a mad, frowny face so perfect that we are still laughing about it days later.
Dad and I had a particularly terrible, awful, no good, very bad week recently. It was hard but luckily for us, there was a silver lining — YOU. Emma, you kept us grounded and made us smile. You helped us remember that the most important thing is our family, and that we will always be able to get through tough times if we stick together. You are a brilliant shining star, the brightest light in our lives, and we love you so very, very much.
Love,
Mama
