A letter to our 18-month-old girl.

Caroline,

Oh little girl, you keep life interesting.  You've become a climber of furniture and stairs.  You could walk up and down a few steps all day long.  And you're now a runner, too, and always on the move.  When you really want to get going, you put your head down and throw your arms behind you.  And yes, you're fast.  While you're pretty steady, your scraped up knees demonstrate that you still take a tumble from time to time.  Thankfully that last goose egg on your forehead has finally cleared up.  Which tells me that I should sneak in some "official" 18 month pictures before the next one inevitably develops.


We just came back from vacation with you.  Your Nana and Poppa hadn't seen you since before you were walking, and they enjoyed seeing you on the go.  You were gone from home for over two weeks, but you haven't missed a beat.  Thanks for being so flexible with us.  We also spent a long weekend some friends from before your were born.  We lived in Indiana with all of these folks before any of us had little ones.  Now there are all kinds of you rug rats running around.


Morning is a favorite time of day.  We pull you into our bed for some snuggles, and you give us those huge crinkle-nose grins.  Your beloved "lovies" (two stuffed animal dogs, one pink and one blue) accompany you into our bed each time.  You make sure of that.  And then you proceed to point out your own nose, and tell us where our noses are as well.


At about 17 months, you finally started to say "Mama."  WHEW.  The word was clearly not high on your priority list, because you learned about 15 words before it.  However, I'm thankful that you finally came around.  I love hearing you call my name from another room.


You've also learned to give kisses.  Opa is confident that he taught you how, and I don't doubt it.  You're generous with them, much to our delight.  And, when requested, you'll also shell some out for your lovies and your new baby doll.  Your Nana bought that baby doll for you, after you strolled into a toy store and immediately started playing with the sample doll they had available.  You plucked that baby doll out of her crib, ran over to the selection of fake bottles, and immediately started feeding that baby.  We've never showed you how to do that.  Did you just know?  Did you remember how we used to feed you bottles?  




As you're still in the 4th percentile, you're our little pipsqueak.  Since you've been hovering around the 5th percentile since you were a month old, the pediatrician has long since stopped worrying about it.  Same with us.  You're lighter to carry around, and you fit into clothes a lot longer.  Score.


Your mood can change on a dime.  Happy-go-lucky to mean-as-a-snake.  It happens fast, and always keeps us on our toes.  Most of the time, your Mama can make everything better.  You're a bid time Mama's girl, and Mama doesn't mind that one bit.  Let's just say we've got each other wrapped around our fingers.



And then there's books.  Finally, finally, you've started to initiate reading time.  You're still not super interested in sitting in our laps for long, but you're really starting to enjoy flipping through your books at your own speed.  And often, your own direction.  You actually enjoy sitting in your crib "reading" while I get in a morning shower.  Let's just call that a win-win.


We've got a busy few months ahead of us, and I'm hoping we don't lose sight of this precious time with our ever-curious toddler.  We're humbled and grateful to God for the incredible gift of your life, and are prayerfully doing our best to raise you to know Him.


Love you, girl.

Mama