A look back over the past year…

January:

“Daddy! Are you?!” for Daddy, where are you?

Falling over and catches herself. Says “good catch!” to herself.

All rabbits are “Peter rabbits!” and so are bats, evidently.

“The Leyba’s coconut water!” evidently means the Leyba’s are drinking coconut water

David took a sip of cider and Miss Leyba said “Good job, Dad!”

To dog: “BACK! STAY BACK!” (with hand up for ‘stop’) then she walks over to pat him and he’s thrilled. ON HER OWN TERMS, right?!

Shouting, “Surprise!” and throwing her arms up above her head. Then adding, “It’s fun!”

February:

Rocking her baby doll, saying “Shh shh shh! Time to sleep! Close your eyes!” Repeated over and over again. Sounds very familiar…

She drops something and asks us “Are you okay?” even if we are halfway across room. “Be careful!”

“One moment. I’m working!”

Takes a sip of water, shouts, “Yum, yum, yum!” It isn’t that delicious.

Quickly memorizing, singing, and adapting the songs from Mamma Mia? “Honey, honey, how I wonder!” (instead of ‘how I want you!’)

March:

What do you want for dinner? “Food! Um… Ice cream cone!”

Informed me that she wants to go to Costco tonight. “Just a quick trip, Mom!”

Our two year old performs “So Long, Farewell” from Sound of Music each night before she heads up the stairs to bed. Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night!

April:

Any type of leafy green is called “salad.” Wilted and cooked vegetables included.

A little voice from the living room: “Care, Care, come here!” (Yes, David frequently calls me Care.)

May:

(On using a clear cup) “No, thank you! I need a purple cup.” (David found a purple one) “That’s fine.”

First words out of her mouth this morning while she was still asleep: “No!!!! Penguins!!!!!” Absolutely no idea.

Do you want some avocado? “No, thank you, Dad, I’m reading.”

June:

What does a fire truck say? “Fire, please!”

Reading “Are You My Mother” with David and now referring to him as her “Daddy Mother.”

July:

“Let’s go in the car! C-R-A!” Soooo close with that spelling…

“Oh no! Oh me, oh my!” Direct quote.

“I want to wear my new bra to [get] ice cream. Wait, it’s too big.” That would be because it belongs to mom.

Toddler has been using tweezers to remove pretend splinters in her feet. “I feel better! I don’t have to walk on my tip toes anymore!” Phew!

My daughter to the big kids at the playground, “I’m almost three years old… I turn three in a month.” Yeah, more like six months! :)

August:

Calling a yard stick a “garden stick”… hey, we call the garden “the yard” all the time too!

My daughter’s imaginary friend? Winnie-the-Pooh, of course! Evidently he fits in the palm of her hand. “He’ll get bigger! He’s growing.”

“My tummy led me home! I’m not Pooh-bear! I’m [Miss Leyba]!”

September:

“Do you like honey? Good. Me too.” (She’s eating honey on toast. Our compromise when she asked for a smackerel of honey.)

“I can’t fly. I don’t have wings. I will grow some!”

“Don’t go to work, silly David. Stay home with us!”

David says, “This is hard work.” Daughter replies, “Do you want Mama to do it?”

Toddler says, “I want a cookie!” I suggest a banana instead. She replies,”Um, okay.” Can’t believe my ears. This will never happen again.

David says, “Please be careful with my (@BrandonSandrson) book.” Toddler’s response? “Okay, I’ll try not to pull out any pages.”

October:

“Namaste, Daddy! Namaste, Mommy! Namaste, Lucy!” Someone loves her yoga class.

Nonstop chatter about our Colorado Trip. Investigating her winter clothing situation, “Do you think Uncle Lee will like this hat?”

Breakfast request, “potatoes and eggs AND pizza!!”

Evidently knows what M-O-V-I-E spells. My bad.

My daughter just announced that she wants a “Moon Penguin” tattoo. Luckily, “It’s okay if it washes off!” Phew!

Toddler did not go for dinner. I guess zucchini pizza (“I love it!”) sounds way different than it tastes (“Hmm. I’m going to play!)…

November:

About her doll: “Her middle name is Emily, but her full name is Lucy.” The Little Bear phase continues.

Emphatically, “He’s my Daddy. He belongs to ME!”

Surprised to find my daughter completely dressed herself this morning. Today’s outfit? Leopard print pants! My girl has style.

December:

Playing freeze dance: “Mama, freeze it! Freeze it!” So much for a surprise break in the music.

Singing a heartfelt song about a rutabaga.

At the gas station: “When I grow up, I am going to get gas every night!” She LOVES watching the meters showing how much gas we’re buying.

January:

“Daddy is crazy ’cause he goes to yoga in the dark. It’s so early!”

“Mommy, you are my sweetheart!”

We’ve had a great year.

To my sweet, smart, fun, beautiful daughter,

You are two and a half years old today!

After weeks of talking about your birthday, we get to pretend it’s your birthday today! You’ve already asked for ice cream and presents. Sorry, kid! I’ll sing to you and give you lots of kisses instead.

Happy Half-Birthday to you!
Happy Half-Birthday to you!
Happy Half-Birthday, Miss Leyba!
Happy Half-Birthday to you!

And many more!

Happy Half-Birthday, sweetie!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Miss Leyba,

You are growing by leaps and bounds every day. We understand almost everything that you say now and you are learning new words every day (the other day you started saying “pirate,” as in that delicious snack Pirate’s Booty not Arrr!).

You are so happy. Hysterical gigglying is a regular sound over here in our house.

At the same time, you do have your (daily) hysterical fits… usually when we need to come in from outside (regardless of whether we’ve been outside for an hour or four) or when it’s nap time (and you’d rather sing songs or name body parts in bed). We know this is normal behavior and try to just ride the wave and give you comfort when you’re done. We hear you, sweetie, we do. We just can’t do everything your way all the time. (SHOCKER!)

95% of the time you are smiley and happy. Mama is so thankful for this. Singing and dancing together is an every day activity. Your favorite song is “Sing!” though you love your Maracas Music Together cd (plus Raffi and Sharon, Lois and Bram music too). You frequently say “more!” when you want us to repeat a song (or “all done!” when the stereo has already jumped to the next song and you want to go back). Occasionally you say “again,” which we’ve been trying to encourage. You sing along with these cds and like to harmonize with us. We have so much fun together.

You are so loving and constantly give us kisses and hugs. You love to cuddle and hold hands… especially with your friends! Hand-holding and hugs during play time and kisses goodbye are playdate staples. (Sometimes your friends reciprocate and sometimes they just aren’t game; you are so kind and patient and loving regardless of their response.)

We are very social together: going to weekly playdates at the park, mama and baby yoga classes several times a week, and making regular playdates with your girl friends (especially Sadie and Matri, your special buds).

You love pretend play, especially when it involves reading aloud to us from your books or talking to friends on the phone (or calculator or computer mouse or shoe). We have several (non-functional) cell phones that are especially for you and you like to carry them around and bring on outings.

You think driving the car is simply divine.

Watering the garden is a regular activity that you adore. Occasionally you let me hold the hose with you. Most of the time I have to direct you about which plant needs more water (or less! You are so enthusiastic!). More often than not you “faux water” the garden with the hose turned off…. (more pretend play!)

You pretend to be a train (“Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a CHOO CHOO!” with hand motions!), like giving high fives, and playing patty-cake. You walk up and down the stairs on your own. You dress yourself every day. You love to keep me company in the kitchen while I cook and helping out (tearing greens, cutting cheese with a butter knife, pulling off the stems of cherry tomatoes or grapes).

You enjoy visiting with our neighbors, patting dogs and cats (“pat pat!”), and picking blackberries from the bushes on the street. We take walks up and down the street, sometimes with your tricycle, sometimes with your push cart, sometimes with an item you have latched on to (yesterday: sunscreen container). We like to blow dandelions or watch ants or open seed pods. You know where grapes grow wild by the street and insist we stop and pick some when we walk by.

When you want to go outside, you find and put on your shoes, pick out a hat, start putting on sunscreen and wait for me by the door. Sometimes you get impatient with me and come over to grab my hand; you then lead me to the door and say “Mama! Open door!” Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We are so glad that you love being outside so much. You are our nature girl.

I could go on and on with stories about you… but I’ve written a lot and you are going to wake up from your nap any minute now (you’ve slept for over 2 hours already!).

I love you, peanut, so very much. You and Daddy are the loves of my life.

Love,
Mama

To celebrate your new teeth, we decided to treat you to a new non-mashed food: (organic, gluten-free, all natural) rice krispie cereal!

Talk about a big hit. You loved it!

Not only is cereal now all over your high chair and the dinning room floor (we have even found occasional krispies in bed!), but the cereal keeps ending up in odd places on you:

David took these shots.

Too funny.

Dear Miss Leyba,

You are ten months old and still don’t have any teeth. We can’t believe it either. You now have four in place and just about ready to break through, but we are not holding our breath. We’ve been waiting for them to pop for months.

This month you have been perfecting your skill set: turning pages (now completely on your own), cruising the furniture and moving towards walking by yourself, and TALKING! We thought you talked a lot before… well, now you talk even more!

Your latest talking shenanigan is screaming “mom, mom, mom!” over and over when you want me or when you want me to do something for you. Like when I took away that piece of paper you were eating and you wanted it back. Or when I dare to put the laundry up or unload the dishwasher or, heaven forbid, go to the bathroom without you. “Mom, mom, mom, mom” you shriek and crawl after me clearly shouting, “Wait for me!”

You want to be next to me all the time and are endlessly curious about what I am working on. Honey, I really don’t think I am that interesting… but I am glad you think I am and want to spend all your time with me. I feel the same way about you. Even when you are asleep: I can still stare at you for hours while you sleep. It just doesn’t get old. You are adorable in everything that you do.

Despite wanting to be near me at all times, you still love playing independently. I love this because it means we can both work on projects that interest us.

Unless my project interests you too, in which case you want to help me!

Here you are unpacking the laundry basket:

And coming over to visit me while I am taking photos:

You are also getting very good at yoga and are an expert at the following poses:

• Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog)
• Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog)
• Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (Extended Hand-To-Big-Toe Pose lying down)
• Virasana (Hero Pose)
• Upavistha Konasana (Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend)
• Matsyasana (Fish Pose)

We are so proud.

You continue to perfect your pincher grasp and like feeding yourself bits of sweet potato, red potato, rice, spaghetti squash, and banana. You like to teeth/suck on slices of apple and carrot. You frequently share whatever you are eating with us — holding out your spoon or treat to us so we can eat too. We love how generous you are. Thank you for sharing, sweetheart!

You are getting very good at using the mouse and love to type on the keyboard. Here is a message from you:

9 njhb nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
p 7 bn bnn nmb,nmk h bv KMNJKHYJGHET
DDDDDDDDDDDDD3 BLOK
M MZNM Zjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj%%%5555 NB BV VZ BVGBFFgggggggggggggggf

Keep growing! Keep exploring! Keep having fun!

We love you.

Love,
Mama

Dear sweetie,

What a month it has been. We’ve had our ups and downs these last few weeks. We’ve met new friends and been very social. On the flip side, the whole family got sick and you had your first cold, which turned into croup. You were very sick, but are feeling so much better now and we’re tremendously relieved. You are now back to your happy, healthy self and we’re exciting to jump into month ten.

You are nine months old. Amazing.

For the most part, we would call this past month a Mama-only month. You wanted me to hold you, to change your diaper, to read to you, to play with you. And no one else would do. You even felt agitated/distressed when I wasn’t in your  field of vision. Subsequently you were by my side for most of the month. You even sleep cuddled up next to me — we both lay on our sides facing each other with our tummies touching. While I may have complained occasionally to Daddy that I never got a moment to myself this month, I’ve actually really loved it. It feels so good to be loved.

When you got sick this changed, however, and suddenly Daddy was the ultimate comforter. I am so glad you feel this way… I do too! Wow, do we both love him.

Looking back, we will talk about the verbal leaps you made when you were eight months old. While I’ve tried to coax you to call me mama, you seem reserved to calling me mom. Sometimes you’ll call my name and then crawl over to me. In distress, when someone else is holding you, you’ll reach out your arms towards me and call for me. My personal favorite is when we’re sitting next to each other, playing, and you put your hand on my arm and look up at me and say, “Mom.” It makes me smile every time.

You also say “hi,” “bye” and occasionally we hear a “no.” (For instance, one time when I tried to transfer you from my arms to your dad’s, you evidently felt very strongly that you wanted to stay with me, so you grasped on to me tighter and shouted “no!”). You frequently greet David at the door when he comes home from work with a “Daddy!” or “hi, Daddy!” In the mornings when you first wake up, you’ll roll over and look at him and say “Daddy!” You love to say “bye bye” (though it sounds more like bah bah), but only when we are using the speakerphone on my cell phone. The last few days we’ve caught you mimicking us and saying “ove you” (Love you!) — oh, dear heart, we love you so!

This month you had another growth spurt and are getting so long! When you’re in your car seat, you can now turn your head to see me driving. I like catching you smiling up at me.

At the beginning of the month you figured out how to wave and clap. Oh, you love to clap! You clap to the beat when we’re listening to music. You clap when you are proud of yourself (for standing, for turning pages, for climbing over things). You are adorable. Clap, clap, clap! The waving is less frequent, but you still do it often.

I looked it up and, at eight months old, you have reached every developmental milestone children typically reach by the time they are one year old… except for walking and, my goodness, you are on your way! You cruise the furniture all over the house. You stand unsupported more frequently. You keep trying to stand up without anything for support. You love “walking” around the house while holding on to our fingers.

You amaze us every day. We love you so.

Love,
Mama

Dear sweetie,

This month you have been on the go, go, go!

You crawl fast everywhere! I may occasionally want you to crawl over by me or follow me around while I do chores around the house; but no, you have your own agenda. You have places to explore and things to do. You are an independent woman and your dad and I love it.

Last month was about learning how to crawl; this month you have been working on climbing and cruising the furniture, and practicing sitting down from standing (which you have nailed, by the way). You love climbing up, over, and down things (yoga bolsters, our futon, people!).

This month you’ve also enjoyed picking up, and eating, teeny tiny things.  I am constantly pulling stuff out of your mouth. Sorry, sweetie! I think we’re all looking forward to the end of the “into-the-mouth” phase.

For your father and I the highlight of the month was your saying “dada” and “daddy” and “mama” and “mommy!” For the most part you only say my name when you really need me (right now!), but you’re slowly starting to say it more frequently (you say dada all the time now!). My heart melts every time.

You give us kisses. They are open mouthed and very wet and absolutely adorable. (You’ve been doing this for a while now but I think I’ve forgotten to mention it earlier.)

We’ve been practicing sign language and you now make signs for “milk” and occasionally “daddy” (especially before you learned how to say it!). I’ve also caught you signing “more.”

You bring your hands together to clap, though you haven’t yet figured out how to make the clapping noise. I bet you’ll figure that out soon. You adore it when we clap for you and make music together.

You love knocking down towers of blocks.

You get such a kick out of this remix of Feist’s 1 2 3 4 on Sesame Street. Dad and I now sing it to you all the time. At home. In the car. Out on walks. Anytime you need a little bit of a pick me up. It makes you smile and giggle. You also kick your feet wildly when we watch the video.

This month we started taking outings every day. Our activity schedule is as follows: mama baby yoga, baby story time at the library, and walks down to the park (sand, swings, and slides, oh my!) where we play with your 11 month old friend whom you idolize.

We also go for walks down to the neighborhood bookstore. You are very social, smiling at everyone, and folks who meet you always remark on how adorable and precocious you are.

You are such a beautiful baby — inside and out!

We love you!

Love,

Mama