Dear Sadie,
I know when I'm 85 years old and you are 50, you will still be my baby. But today when I watch you run around and speak in sentences, the traces of little baby are harder to find and you are becoming your own little person. A person with opinions and mercurial emotions. One minute you might be shrieking with laughter about something, then you might get frustrated and upset and flop down on the floor crying, and then when that is passed you run to us to hug and kiss. Your hugs and kisses are so sweet it makes up for the difficult moments when you yell demands at us and the answer to every question is, "NO!" A typical conversation:
Sadie: Daddy read book! Daddy read book! Daddy read book!
Daddy: Sadie, you want to read a book?
Sadie: NO!!!
You throw your whole body into hugs with your head pressed on our shoulders and both arms wrapped around our necks which is such sweet, sincere affection. You also have started saying, "I love you Daddy! I love you Mama!" One day we were grocery shopping and I said to you, "We love Daddy so much we are going to buy him a pie." And now every time we talk about loving Daddy so much, you pipe up with "We buy pie! Daddy so much! We buy pie!"
It's true you love your daddy so much. When we are all together, you insist that Daddy is the one to read you books, or play blocks, or get you out of your highchair. It is kind of frustrating for me sometimes to hear you screech "NO! Daddy!!" when I try to play with you, but it is interesting to see you decide how something is going to happen and then make your parents act accordingly. You are lucky you have such a sweet, fun daddy who loves to play with you and read you book after book after book.
Here you are playing "fort"
And making smoothies together:
When we get home from being out in the world, you like to report to Daddy where you went and what happened. Mostly you just blurt out details like, "Nana Grandpa's!" but you have also started constructing sentences like "I take nap!" or "I feed fish!" or "I have fun!" Before bed we like to snuggle together and talk about what all we did that day. At first you just listened to me talk, but now you add in details of your own.
Here we are all dressed up to go to a tea party:
You love to sing. You know the words to many, many songs and sometimes you make up songs on your own. The other day we were out for a walk and you sang your own version of Happy Birthday:"Happy tooooo you Mama
Happy tooooo you Daddy
Happy tooooo you moon"
And the last few days you've been running around singing, "bucka-bucka-buck" over and over in a cheerful tone.
You have finally figured out how to run. It is still pretty choppy and your arms flop wildly all over the place, but you get both feet in the air at the same time. Here you are running in the alley with Daddy:
The other day your friend Charlie came over and I was tickled to see the two of you play so well together.
And here you are with your friends at a pool party:
You know all the names of the kids in your play group and although you are still shy, you are becoming more interested in playing with them. It is really difficult to get group photos of all of the kids these days, but here is a good one from a walk at Batiquitos lagoon:
Even though "NO!" is your favorite word right now, you are still a very sweet girl who loves to hug and kiss your toys and various other household inanimate objects. Here is a video of the yard chicken getting some attention from you. It is also a good example of how you communicate with cats.
Speaking of the cat, Tom Fudge continues to tolerate your sometimes aggressive affection. You grab him by the neck and bring his face to yours for a big kitty kiss. When he's had enough, he just wanders off, and so far he has never reacted badly to your handling of him.
We have taught you not to kiss Larry, however, and the other morning you woke up and shook your head at me seriously and said, "Larry no kiss. Kiss Mama."
I can't get enough of your kisses, sweet Sadie. Keep 'em coming.
Love, Mama
P.S. You slept all the way through the night for the very first time last night! Yipee!
