13-14 months.

Dear Leila,
I'm starting to realize how much you've changed over the past two months, you've seemed to turn from a baby to a kid overnight. Your little body seems a bit more elongated, and there is less baby chub. But your cheeks and thighs are still as nom-able as ever, you have the cutest bum, and your belly sticks out proudly. Your face is changing as well and you're hair is getting longer, but mostly in the back. Putting your hair in pigtails is the only thing I can do to hide the outrageous party that's going on in the back of your head. You sure can pull off rockin' the mullet.

BUSINESS IN THE FRONT, PARTY IN THE BACK. Taken right after bath time.

Here are a few little things about you at this age that I never want to forget.

-You are very curious and love to stare at people you don't know. But once you warm up to them you can be very sweet and give smooches when you're in the mood or feel that you have the time (you're a very busy girl).

-Like I said, you're very busy. If you're not yelling to get out of our arms, your high chair, or car seat after a couple minutes we may think something is wrong with you. You always want to be moving and are constantly cruising around the house crossing things off your to do list  (unrolling toilet paper rolls, dumping everything out of cupboards and bookshelves and throwing them behind you, turning on and off buttons from the entertainment center - you have a very rigorous schedule).

-Once you pull the tupperware out of the cupboard, you love to push it around and slide it across the kitchen floor...your version of skating.

-You've learned a new word. You love to point and say "dat" (what's that?). You say "boo" like it's "hi", every time you see me or someone else you say, "boo". It's cracks me up. You still love to jabber "dada dada" and you also say "Mmmmmammmma", especially when you're tired or sad.

-Your favorite foods this month are:
Velveeta Mac n' Cheese
turkey slices
grapes
string cheese
bananas
homemade banana bread
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
jello
applesauce
yogurt
fresh corn

Breakfast is always the same, 7-9 ounces of milk, 6oz of yogurt or oatmeal, fresh fruit, and maybe some dry cereal. Lunch consists of some of the items above, and for dinner you always eat whatever we're having.

Sometimes you don't even want to eat your favorite foods. Babycenter says that kids start to get picky and want to eat less around this age and it's normal and I shouldn't try to force feed you. It's true, you've become a very picky eater and definitely know what you like and don't like. Sometimes I'll put an assortment of things on your tray, and you'll only pick what you like, or feel like eating, and throw the rest on the floor (vegetables mostly). You can just tell me you don't like it, no need to waste food and throw it, child. I feel like I'm running out of ideas of what to feed you. I hope you'll come around to loving veggies. Their sooo good.

-Whenever we visit Grandma's we can't keep you away from those stairs. You can go up and down on your own (just mastered going down last weekend). Once you make it to the top, down you go again...and up again. it's very tiring and I could definitively live in a home without stairs.

-You're down to one nap a day, and for the past few weeks you've only been napping for 1 1/2 hours! That's not nearly enough time for me to get anything done. Please don't grow out of nap time soon, I NEED that "me" time. "Me" time usually includes getting office work done, cleaning house, and/or showering.

-Now that Fall has arrived, bedtime is back to 8pm. In the summer it was anytime between 8:30-10:30pm, we just kept so busy it was hard to get home at a decent time. You usually wake up between 7:30-8:30am. This saying still applies: early to bed, late to rise. I sometimes forget that.

-You respond immediately with the following set of questions:
how old are you? you hold up your left pointer finger
who's so big? you lift both hands high above your head
where's your nose? you point to your nose or mouth with your left hand
can you blow kisses? you put your whole hand to your mouth
can you wave? you wave bye bye...if I ask you to wave to someone, you usually wave after they've left the room
can you clap? eagerly clap your little hands together
can you fold your arms? when we're ready to say prayer she knows how to folds her arms, but only wants to do it about half the time.

-We crack up when you throw your hands in the air and slam your little body on the bed or floor.

-Not walking yet...but you will be soon. You can walk with us while we hold one hand and you walk along the walls and furniture all the time. I'm mostly excited about you walking so your knees and the tops of your feet stop getting black.

-Your favorite things to play with are:
tupperware
coasters
building blocks (we stack them up and you like to knock them down).

-You've started giving me your first real hugs. You throw your warm, little arms around my neck and hold tightly. Makes me so happy.

I could go on and on, but basically you make us proud and really happy everyday. Daddy and I love you Leilita. Stay happy and sweet forever.

Love,

Mom