17 months

To My Sweet Genevieve,

You are ALL toddler these days, running, climbing, (almost) jumping, playing "pretend" in your kitchen, stacking blocks, riding your cupcake truck--our itty bitty baby is long gone, and though I miss being able to easily hold and carry you it's so fun to see you developing into a kid.

You have fully transitioned to one nap a day, which usually goes well and has allowed us to try new activities in the mornings and several afternoons we've visited the pool in our building which you love.  We really went swimming for the first time this summer last week and I could barely hold on to you because you wanted to try to do it by yourself.  I see many pool days ahead of us this summer--you love the water and are one of the only kids I've ever met who loves being sprayed and splashed in the face (silly girl!).

We have had fun going over to our new house during these days before we move our things there.  You and your cousins have loved running around the big empty living room and deck--I'm a little worried how you're going to take it when we fill some of the space with furniture.  We celebrated Mother's Day earlier this month and were lucky enough to have your Grammy come visit from Nebraska.  We had a terrific brunch at Bird and Bear and the next day we took Grammy on the tyke hike at Memorial Park.  Daddy even got to go with us on our hike the next week, though I think you did more riding in his arms than hiking that day.

You have been an excellent shopper this month and have been (mostly) patient with us as we've looked for furniture and appliances for our new home.  It's been a lot of fun to fill a space almost twice as big as our apartment and almost three times as big as your first home in New York (yes, that's three homes before you turn 1 1/2--I promise we'll stop moving for awhile after this one).

The biggest challenge this month has been sleep and teeth.  I've lost track of how many teeth you have now, they keep coming one right after another and you don't really like for us to try and count them.  With all of those teeth coming in you had trouble sleeping through the night again, and even more trouble getting back to sleep when you woke up--hopefully that is behind us, we were all pretty tired for a few weeks.

We're starting to understand more and more of what you're saying now and your new words include up, yes, car and cup, but your absolute favorite is "uh-oh".  You're picking up more sign language too and you can sign please and eat, but the best thing is that you use the sign for "more" to not only mean more food, but read the book again, more kisses, more playtime, more tickles and even to see a baby we were meeting for the first time "more".  You signed your first sentence/phrase when you were under the weather last week and signed more milk please--priceless!  You've added two new animal "noises" to your repetoire and will pound your chest and say "uhahuhah" for a gorilla and stick your tongue in and out for a lizard.

Strawberries are back as a favorite food, and you just had cherries for the first time and devoured them.  You weren't sure of watermelon the first few times we offered it to you, but ate several pieces on Memorial Day.  I've been surprised that two summer foods you loved last year, cantelope and corn on the cob, you have so far shown no interest in--we'll keep trying though.  Sunflower butter and banana or strawberry sandwiches are one of our go-tos for lunch right now.  You can also use a fork all by yourself now!

With the 90+ degree weather already setting in I have a feeling the next month will include a lot of time checking out the outdoor water spots and indoor play areas around Houston.  I'm also hoping that we can get back to the library more regularly for story time and yoga.

I love you, my sweet, growing girl!

Love,

Mum-mum