eLLE - 20 months

Dear Luciya,

Oh, hi!

I think you got scared of the dark tonight, for the first time. Your "baby," who has been sleeping in a little wooden cradle in your room and who you've begun placing on my lap, with her blankie, so that I can read her a story, was in Eryn's room, where you had left her earlier today. I was so impressed that you understood me when I said, "You left the baby in Sister's room, on the chair. Can you go get her?" You walked down the dark hallway, opened the door to her bedroom, which was also dark, and came running out of the room with Baby. I sat in the living room clapping, so proud of you for understanding what I said, when you burst into tears and came running toward me. I think walking into the pitch dark room was disorienting, and you got scared! Poor baby. We turned on all the lights ("yites") and I think you felt better after that.

"Yites" is a new word in your rapidly expanding vocabulary. Each day it seems you've learned another word, and you use it in just the right context. You've also begun to put together two-word "sentences," which include "baby book" (as in, Mommy sit in the chair and read a book to Baby, please), and "mo pees" (more please). "Please" kills me. I have been working with you on using "please," and getting you to understand that if you use it you'll get what you want, but now you'll stand at my feet and look up at me, pleading and lightly clapping your hands and say "pees?" You want me to pick you up, and since you know that please will work, I have to. You little trickster. My back is killing me lately!

Here are some words you know enough to use just about every day: hi, dada, mama, bye-bye, no, please, more, up, book, baby, dog, Mimi ("Mila"), purse, banana, fruit, apple, milk, snack, nuknuk, help, Tutu, shoes, hand, bubbles, ball, socks, shirt, pants, eye, eat. You also have funny words for things: "nini" means "gloves" (naturally), "bulilup" is "zipper" and if you say "a-a-a-a" you want to hand me something.

Oh, the "bulilup." You are obsessed with zippers. You must zip and unzip and zip and unzip, whether you're the one wearing the zipper or not. And even though the fleece footy jammies we put you in every night have a little snap-top over the zipper, eight mornings out of ten we find you in your crib with your jammies completely undone. Your Tutu and I got to enjoy round two of "Take-Off-My-Poopy-Diaper-And-Smear-Its-Contents-On-Every-Conceivable-Surface," and on two other occasions you've been bare-butted with just a wet diaper laying there. So, we've begun using packing tape on your diaper at night, since we can think of no other solution at this time (anything? Anyone?). I certainly hope this obsession passes soon.

"Hi" has got to be your most-used word of all. You and I get to the mall early to set up for Stroller Strides classes and you greet every passing mall walker (who knew there were so many mall walkers?) with a "hi!" You say it over and over, not skipping anyone. I have to admit, I think it's charming and adorable. I'd say most of the walkers do, too, though the Crotcheties certainly exist. You continue to be a better and better stroller-sitter, and you know the routine of cool-down at the end of the hour, and that as soon as we clap you're FREE! You start clapping before we do.

This month you saw your first video, a Baby Einstein from Aunty Danielle, which you watched in your Dada's truck on the drive back down from the mountains. While I certainly have mixed feeling about this (read: mostly negative feelings), you've shown that Dada's truck is the only place you have any interest in watching a screen, and Dada said you were excellent on the ride down, and intrigued by the singing puppets and animal footage, so if a half hour video in Dada's truck every once in a while is going to happen, I resign myself. We made it 20 months without screen time. Not too bad.

We leave in a few days to celebrate the holidays with your Grams and Grandpa Peter and Grandpa Dave and cousins and sister and Aunty and Uncle in Southern  California. We have a lot of flying ahead of us, a lot of flying out of cold and snowy weather (it's been coooold!), so I am praying that everything goes smoothly! We're so excited to spend some time with your dada's family, and then we're headed to Napa Valley for a few days to see Tutu and Uncle Adam and Aunty Danielle. What fun! And, I might say, what a nice way to ring in 2009, which is going to be the BEST. YEAR. EVERRRRRRRRR.

I love you, Luciya!

Love, 

Mama