October 2013

Dear Sage at 18 months

by elizabeth

Dear Sage 18 months,

I don’t know how it is possible to fall in love with someone more and more each month. You are getting to be so much fun and so very active. Now I have officially lost count of all your words. You are talking like crazy and are starting to string together sentences most of which I cannot understand. It’s so precious seeing you talk to your stuffed animals and to yourself while you play. I wish I knew what you were saying.

Here are some highlights of your 18^th month

When you say “No thank you,” you say “no, no, no” in the same rhythm of “no thank you”
You have started saying “mine” but not in a possessive way. You are still pretty great at sharing things and seem to be experimenting more with the concept of “mine” than to use it to keep someone else away from your stuff.
While you are great at sharing things, you don’t like it when a friend takes something from you or tries to stop you from doing something when you are deep in play. If this happens you definitely get mad.
You love your truck book and when we were at a hotel in San Diego you actually said, “My truck book.”
You are trying really hard to jump. All the mechanics are in place except the part where you leave the ground. It is so funny to watch.
You like to tell Mommy to stop talking. You have come up to me, put your hand over my mouth, and said, “no mama.” It makes me laugh for so many different reasons.
You LOVE milk which you call “neh.” We are working on creating some boundaries around the breastfeeding because if it were up to you, you would still have the “all you can drink” service you had when you were a newborn.
You are tough. Sometimes you fall over and laugh at yourself. It makes me so happy to see that you can brush yourself off and keep going with a smile on your face. But when you are tired or hungry you are much more fragile and seem to let everything bring you to tears.
You LOVE to climb and jump. The higher the better. One really strong trait of yours is your ability to climb. You are brave and coordinated. We are going to hang a rope ladder in our living room for you to climb on because you have now started climbing the barstools and ending up on top of the kitchen island! If presented with the choice to look at a book, color, or do something that would keep you quiet and still, you will always pick the activity of action. We were at a friend’s house a few weekends ago and you were moving all her big toys from one room to the next while she was sitting quietly and playing. It made me laugh to see that you made the choice to use your whole body preferred to push and pull than to stay quiet and still.
Speaking of the climbing and jumping, you like to jump off the edge of the bathtub like it’s the edge of the pool. Fortunately Dada is there to make sure you are safe and I am constantly reminding you that you can ONLY do this when Mama and Dada are there.
Anther funny climbing story is that I found you naked on top of the piano/keyboard sitting right on the speaker. It was after your bath and you made it up there in the time it took me to hang a towel and pick up your clothes off the bathroom floor.
You continue to LOVE your bike rides with Daddy. When he is home you go out on a ride with him every day. You two have been exploring all the parks in a 10 mile radius of our home. You are the park warriors!
We love it when you throw your arms around our necks and give us big hugs. If we are lucky you will also give us a big kiss too : )
While you are brave and adventurous, you are also really sweet and thoughtful. The other day when I came to pick you up from the Wee Tartans you were helping take care of the real babies. You were bringing them toys and patting them on the tummy. It brought tears to my eyes! You also think of Mama and Dada when you are eating things or playing with something special. You like to offer us a chance to enjoy what you are enjoying.
The most exciting thing about this month is that you started telling us when you have to go potty. Sometimes you want to actually go in the potty and and other times when I offer the potty, you say “no” and want to go in your diaper. I have been reading a lot about this lately and have decided to let you take the lead. So if you want to use the potty we do, if you don’t we don’t. I have faith that it will all work itself out. You won’t be wearing diapers in Kindergarten : )

The end of your 18^th month was also Halloween. You were a little duck. We went to Uncle Danny and Aunt Katie’s house and it was hilarious and adorable watching you walk up to people’s doors to trick-or-treat. You worked on your “thank yous” and marched around the neighborhood. When we got back to Danny and Katie’s house you helped give out candy, which I think you enjoyed more than collecting it.

We are just having the time of our life with you. We are both madly in love with you and even the hard days just end in a sigh and a chuckle. I am so blessed to have so much time with you and am honored to have you as the reason I work so hard every day to be the best Mommy I can be.

We love you Sagey.

Hanging out with Aunt Helen and Granny. You loved playing in the waterfall in Aunt Helen’s backyard!

The beautiful waterfall in Aunt Helen’s back yard

You are a very healthy eater! You love so many fruits and veggies. It makes me happy to prepare you such colorful and nutritious food.

This was a big day. A cement mixer was on our corner so we went to watch it. It’s the same mixer from your Big Truck Book.

Here you are with Dada steering the bike. At least you think you are steering the bike. You push Dada’s hands off and want to do it yourself. This was during our bike ride to San Diego. You were such a super traveler during this ride!