pippa at 14 months
I'm not one for monthly updates. I enjoy reading them when others do them, but can't seem to get organized enough to do them for Pippa. I don't really have her on a schedule, I have long since lost track of what foods she's tried, and I feel like her likes and dislikes change by the day.
However, I do find there are times in her development that I want to just pause and stuff it all into a time capsule so I can remember every single thing about what she was like.
We are currently in one of those phases.
Everything she does is surprising and usually delightful. I genuinely enjoy hanging out with her, as there's a bit of a give and take at this age that you don't get with an infant. (That's not to say I didn't enjoy her first year of life - it's just a different dynamic now!)
Here are some of the things I want to remember:
- the way she says "Hi. Hi. Hi. HI. HI!" until someone acknowledges her. In London, we would go on museum or church tours, and she would walk up to complete strangers, tap them on the leg, and aggressively greet them until they responded.
- for the very first time this past Monday, she saw I was getting ready to leave the house, toddled up to me, and said, "Bye!" then made kissy sounds.
- her favorite stuffed animal, Pete. She can't quite say her p's yet, so she calls him "Deet."
- the way she urgently does the baby sign for "más" (more) when she wants food. She gets a look of panic on her face, and pounds her hands together until I ask her if she's hungry. The relief in her eyes that I've understood her request is adorable.
- how she chased Pablo around the house for 10 minutes after not seeing him for 2 weeks. "Doggy! Doggy! Doggy!" she said over and over, as he tried to escape the aggressive petting. Mind you, this was at 2:30 a.m.
- that she can now say:
hi and hola
bye and adios
night-night (lays her head down and goes "shhhh.")
doggy and daddy (often we can't tell the difference in these two)
mama (finally!)
bonjour
bang-bang
agua
baby (sounds like day-dee)
hot! (whenever it's something she knows she's not supposed to have)
all done!
apple (sounds like ah-poh)
arbol (Spanish for tree...same pronunciation as apple. We have to use context clues)
auntie (this is a word used for the collective aunties, Abby or Annie, 2 specific aunties. Often shouted when the aunties were walking ahead of her stroller in London. "Auntie! Auntie! Hi. Hi! HI!")
amen (said with MUCH flourish and with folded hands "aaaaaaaaa - men")
nariz
ojo
gentle (sounds like on-toe...said while stroking my face after hitting me and laughing)
Pete (Deet)
nana
granddad/grandma/grandpa (pronunciation is SUPER sketchy on these 3)
Pablo (sounds like Ba-boh...really close to apple and arbol)
- the way she tries to sing itzy-bitzy spider- only intelligible by doing the actions that go along with it
- that she LOVES learning letters and the alphabet. Whenever someone wears a shirt with words on it she goes "a, o, i, e" - apparently she prefers vowels. I think (overeager mom alert) that she recognizes the letter o.
- that when we were getting our manicures at Gloss in Milwaukee for Molly's wedding, she saw the letters for "Gloss" on the window and ran around the entire salon shouting at the top of her voice, "O! O! O! O!"
- how hard she tries to entertain anyone and everyone. She MUST be the center of attention, and she goes through her highlight reel of tricks to make people laugh.
- how she fake laughs when she hears other people laughing
- her toothy grin, her square fat feet, her wild curly hair
- and finally, just her general joy for life. I've never met a happier kid, and I love rediscovering life's simple pleasures through her eyes.
But I'm not sure I was prepared for how fun this was going to be. No one prepared me for that.
What a pleasant surprise that has turned out to be!
Now excuse me while I go read Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb 24 more times.