Letter to Lizzy- Sixteen Months

Lizzy Lou-

Just a couple days ago, you got to see your future-husband/new buddy Jaxon! You guys have actually met before, but probably don't remember it. Anyway, the first night we got together, Jaxon's grandma Bev was giving him a bath. You and Jaxon were having fun talking to each other, so Bev said that you could stay in the bathroom and keep talking while the four of us relaxed and caught up--but then before she could stop you, you had thrown yourself into the tub fully clothed! You were quite proud of yourself, but you certainly gave your mama and Bev a little bit of a scare!

In general, I've noticed that our swim lessons have emboldened you in the water--last night we were sitting in the hot tub with your dad, Kaitlin, Jesse, and Jaxon, and you frequently tried to throw yourself out of my arms. You apparently wanted to swim all by yourself, and it didn't phase you at all if you went underwater...we are definitely going to have to keep a VERY close eye on you around water this summer, and I'm pretty happy that we don't have a pool to worry about at our house!

You have recently decided that you do NOT like me to put bows in your hair. You also don't like me to put it up. I'll be honest--sometimes I do anyway, because the faces that you make when I do are hilarious.

One of your favorite things to do right now is to play Ring Around the Rosey. You will play it for hours, literally. You like to sing along and can say both "Ashes" and "Down". Recently, your cousin Payton was playing with you--about 20 minutes later, Payton came up to me and said, "Aunt Mere-Mere, can I PLEASE be done playing Ring Around the Rosey with Lizzy?!" I told her that I was impressed she had kept going as long as she had! You also like to try and play it with Jaxon even though he can't walk on his own yet--I have caught you trying to pry Jaxon's little hands off of whatever he's holding on to several times so that you can Ring Around the Rosey with him!

We've been dealing a lot with your temper lately--you hit and scratch often when you're mad, and we're trying to nip that in the bud. I don't always think people believe us when we talk about what an issue the hitting, pinching, and scratching is because you're generally very sweet and smiley when we're out and about! So far, we mostly employ the time-out method, or sometimes end up just putting you in your crib for a few minutes. I'm not sure how well this method is working.

Sleep has still been a bit of an issue, probably because your dad has still been on a weird schedule where he's home for a few days and then gone for a few. Or working nights. In the meantime, I've taken to sitting down in the rocking chair and rocking you to sleep while I read a book for naps. A few people have told me that I'm starting a bad habit in doing this, but I rather enjoy the snuggles and the quiet time reading--if I just lay you down in your crib while you're awake, you scream for hours (even with me going in every 10-15 minutes) and never actually end up falling asleep. I am NOT ready to give up naps just yet, and with Justin being here and gone or sleeping all day, doing things this way saves my sanity. So for now, we'll probably keep with the rock-to-sleep for naps schedule.

You're really interested in body parts right now, and can usually identify head, nose, mouth, eyes, ears, toes, and belly button on yourself and others. You are especially interested in belly buttons, and frequently try to pull up people's shirts to see theirs!

Words you're saying this month are: Yes (very clearly), banana, woof-woof, tweet-tweet, bath, cup, mama, dada, cheese (which also apparently means Jesus), ashes, down, and no. You also frequently say "SEEEEEE!", but we haven't really figured out what that means.

I love you so much sweet girl. You are so smart, so funny, and just a joy to have in my life. I love watching you grow and learn!

Forever and For Always,

Mom