rudderless

Fourteen Months

Dear Roo!

Happy fourteen month birthday! Last week I took a video of some of your first words and you’ve been learning like crazy ever since. This morning you rolled onto me and said, plain as day- “Hello!” You sing Sophie’s name all day long and will look in the mirror at yourself and say, “MY-eeee.” Accurate in a weird, wonderful way. My other favorites are “Shuuuu,” “Sit Down!,” your tickling sound, and “Catty-Catty,” which comes out very much the same.

We get up in the morning together, before your dad and Sophie. We come down and make some coffee and then I put on one of our signing videos. Just in the past week you’ve mastered almost all of the signs and will sign and say words at the same time. “Tank-uuuu” is now accompanied by the sign. Today we “talked” about trees and birds. Your favorite new sign is “Go,” which is like rolling your hands forward. You use it to mean “Bus” as well, as it’s the motion Chris does for “The Wheels on the Bus.” Speaking of which, the library is now as much for you as it is for Sophie. You’re working diligently on mastering the motions to “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” and “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” There are few things more precious than tiny you and your enthusiastic clapping at the end of every song. I remember being so floored when Sophie started to learn those very songs. So proud to have her in my lap. And suddenly you’re that one. More than our tag-along, you’re a participant.

That’s what this month has been about. You’re becoming a playmate, a conversationalist. You give as much as you take now. John says, “Suddenly there’s so much behind every expression.” Synapses are being made every day and your world is exploding by leaps and bounds. As quickly as you can scale the couch, you are becoming an expressive, humorous little beast with your own agenda. Just two months ago I never had you out of my sight. Now you will play and explore on your own for long stretches of time. You color along with Sophie. You eat voraciously. You follow directions when I ask you to put things away, or to show things to people. You aim to please. And please you do.

If I could bottle the fourteenth month and sell a bit of it in concentrated form, I’d be a millionaire. The accelerated learning, the joy at having mastered important things like walking and climbing. The insatiable curiosity. A new love of books. Fearlessness. Love. New-found independence. The very best in a human being. Not yet exposed to the angst and worries that come with being three or four, or thirty. This is great stuff, Rosy. You are great stuff. I love you more every day, if that’s possible.

To the moon and back,
mama