17 Month Newsletter

Dear Rory,

Summers have always gone by quickly, but this year August snuck up on me out of no where. I'd swear that I just wrote your last newsletter a week ago - where DOES the time go?

But as fast as the days have been speeding by, you are unfortunately still stuck in this mind-numbing phase of "ALL DADDY, ALL THE TIME." Everything is "Dada this" and "Dada that", and when he's home, you cling to him like a little monkey on a tree. He can't be out of your sight for even a minute or all hell breaks loose. And heaven forbid that your father should try and hug or kiss me! You get ridiculously jeolous and squeal like a little pig. It's like you're shouting "He's MY DADA! HANDS OFF, LADY!" I must say, child, this is getting REALLY OLD. Everyone keeps telling me that this is just a phase so GET ON WITH IT ALREADY! Just once I'd like you to call for ME when you first wake up in the morning, and it would be nice if you'd show just a teensy bit of interest when I leave for work, especially since I have usually just spent an hour consoling you over the fact that your Dada has left for the day. So, just in case I haven't made myself clear before, ANYTIME you want to move out of this phase would be just fine by me.

But amazingly, even though it may seem like almost every word out of your mouth is Dada, I am starting to hear a lot of new words creep into your vocabulary this month. I'm sure this isn't a complete list, but here are some of the latest:

- Pool
- Cheese
- Pita (Pronounced "PEE TAA")
- Boys (unfortunately used in reference to what we are cleaning when we are changing your diaper!Oops!)
- Off (Pronounced "AWWWFFFFF" and used most often when you want out of something, like a stroller, car seat, etc.)
- Papa and Nana
- Slide (pronounced "IDE")
- I Do (pronounced "EYE DEEEWWWWW, which is your way of saying YES and my personal favorite!)

This month has also seen you get excited about reading, and although I've read you "Knuffle Bunny" approximately 5 million times, I'm still overjoyed that you'll finally sit still long enough for a story. And it's pretty damn cute when you wake us up by carrying your book into our room and saying "PEEEEZ". Luckily, your obsession with the Teletubbies has died down considerably (THANK GOD!), but you've now found Barney, that ridiculous purple dinasour, and I'm beginning to think that maybe the Tubbies weren't ALL that bad. When you get older, you'll understand how painful it is to sit through an episode featuring child actors who are exaggerating every word they say. It is THE WORST ACTING EVER. Truly. But because your eyes light up when you watch it and you dance when they sing songs, I'll sit through it. I'll even Tivo it. Just for you.

Now, I couldn't report on this month's activities without mentioning the whole sleep issue. In my last blog entry, we were doing the bedtime routine and it was going amazingly well... for a while. Apparently the world has become just too interesting of a place for you to close your eyes and miss a minute of it. So while we are still sticking to the rountine, it's certainly not working like it did. Most nights it takes at least a half an hour to get you down to sleep, and then you don't stay asleep all night. You don't make things easy on us, kid. It's a good thing that you're DAMN cute.



But as much as you may drive me crazy, Rory, you still manage to do something every day that makes me melt into a pool of mommy-jello. Like when you come over and play with my hair. Or the way you love to hold my hand in the car. Or how you've FINALLY started to give me little hugs and you always pat me on the back while you're doing it like you're saying, "It's okay, Mommy. It's okay." And you're right, Ro, it IS okay. It's better than okay.

It's WONDERFUL.

Love,
Mama