Month eleven letter

Dear Maddy,

Here is the obligatory opening paragraph at how fast time is passing. Well? It's only sped up! I am in shock how time is slipping away from me. Between work and you and house cleaning and everything... But we're doing everything we can to enjoy every second with you.

You are now 11 months old. And now wearing 18-24 month clothes. I just had to retire so many of your old clothes... I am a little in shock at this last growth spurt. You were my baby one day and now you are such a big girl. You are walking along furniture so well and standing by yourself, both by letting go of the furniture and also in the centre of the room. But really only when you are distracted by other things, mostly what is in your hands. I think that will be the major motivation for you to walk - you'll want to hold on to something and move along. Now you just crawl with one hand on the ground and the other hand holding something, so your elbow is on the ground. Awkward, yes, and you abandon what is in your hands. Soon abandoning whatever it is you have will not be an option. And then you will, in your great stubbornness, walk.

Your personality is coming through more and more. You are such a strong willed little girl but only when it is something you truly want. The rest of the time, the most of the time, you are such a go-with-the-flow Madds. You are so quick to smile and laugh! Peek-a-boo, ba-donk-a-donk, nibbles on your belly and arms... FITS of laughter. And already you are a scientist. You experiment with the different noises that things make, moving things... It's glorious to watch you interact with your world and try to figure it all out. You are also very motivated by music. You will listen and songs, your favorites are commercials and Dr Who theme song. Oh! And the Brady Bunch theme song. You always stop to watch that one. And the commercial with the laughing babies. Well, most commercials, really. Just like mama used to love.

You are starting to talk. You will mimic us and try to say words. We have figured out cheese - said chssss. You always say "Dgia". All the time. We have no clue what that one means. We have tried to figure it out but nothing is coming to us. See ya? GI Joe? Maybe one day it'll click for us. And today you said 2 words. When you do something positive we cheer and clap and say good girl! Today we were at the mall and you were having some water through a straw. The first sip was a shock and you weren't expecting it, some water was spilled. The second one you knew what to expect and when you took a small sip, I said good girl and took the glass away. Well, you clapped your hands, like I do when we're cheering you on, and said "goo guur". Good girl. Just like mama says... Like mama says... Like mama...

Today I stared at you for what felt like forever. You were standing and playing and walking along the tables covered in your teeth marks. And it shook me to the core, again... the enormity and importance of what we did, that we created life, brought (more) tears to my eyes. No matter what you do, what you become, what you achieve - we will love you always. We changed the world to bring you here and the world that we inhabit is better because of it. It is perfect with you here.

I love you, my Nunu. Happy 11 months.

--mommy