I can sum the girl up in one word: AMAZING
She lights up a room. She is funny & sweet & more beautiful than ever. She's got a little devil in angel blue eyes. It drives me insane but gosh does it make me proud. Shes really starting to show her independance and it's bittersweet.
She is a fabulous communicator for having limited speech. I may not be a fan of her delivery methods but I rarely wonder what she needs/wants. We are making huge language strides & she seems to add a new word every day. Of course I like to think her advanced and well she is We did not do any sign language with her, some days I wish we had and some I don't care either way. I worried for a bit right around when she turned a year because she was not talking as much as other kids her age.
In the last month she has really picked up the pace and added a solid list of clear words to her vocab. We can bust out some vicious animal sounds too. You do not want to mess with that buzzing bee, even if it soulds less like a 'zzzzzz' and more like 'shhhhhh' and please do not confuse it with the snake 'ssssss'. Goodness she can make me laugh.
We climb, we love to climb. The steps, the couch, the shelves, the crib. Climb Climb climb. She loves to flip & will get in the downward dog position to let you know shes ready. She loves rolling & jumping on the couch. Hanging & swinging on the bars at the gym are an all time favorite.
We love to sing & recently learned ring around the rosie, not a fan of falling down but she's all over the ring. Our favorites songs right now are 3 Monkeys Swinging from a Tree, The Ants Go Marching, always Itsy Bitsy, Patty Cake & BaBa Black sheep.
Recently I had a discussion with some mommy friends about what we'll do differently the next time. Outside of breast feeding, there was nothing. As someone who always second guesses herself & wonders if we did it right, I was damn proud. I might take some more time for myself. Be less afraid to ask for help & try to drop the "i can do it all" mentality. Not because I can't, because I can, but because it is really necessary for me to have something for me. As for parenting though, no. I feel like we made good decisions for our family. Riley has thrived & grown and we couldn't ask for better.
Its crazy to me that over 15 months into this new life we've got going I'm still amazed. I'm amazed at every new thing she learns. I'm amazed at what she does to me every time I see her smiling face. The way she lights up when she sees me after school. I melt. Into a big giant pile of mush. I'm amazed at what she teaches me. At how much she consumes my every thought & decision (you know like not in a crazy mom way but a perfectly normal mom way....right). There is not a single thing that I would change.
You're a proud mama! I love it. She's going to be a great big sister!
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