Letter to Greta: 13 Months

Dearest Grets,

What a little joy you are. You’re walking now, full steam ahead—you started just a couple of days after your birthday, spent a few days taking a few tentative steps here and there, and then just settled into the world of walking without looking back. You have a bow-legged, determined stride, and you can’t quite keep up with yourself—you’re impatient to be done with the unsteadiness of a new walker. You’re ready to run. You try to run. You cannot yet run. You take so many spills every day it’s sometimes difficult to watch.

You’re not talking yet, but you’re making yourself heard. You gesture and screech for what you want; you express your displeasure clearly when Lucia takes something from you or keeps you from something you’re after. You’ve thrown bona fide tantrums when we take you out of the bathtub—you love bathtime. You’re coming into your own.

You love reading. You have favorite books and don’t hesitate to toddler over with one of them, press it into our hands, and plop into our laps. You like blocks—you can stack one or two, but mostly you like knocking them down and scattering them around. If Lucia is building something, your purpose in life is to knock it over. “NO, GRETS. NO, GRETS,” Lucia hollars, shielding her masterpieces. Then you scream in frustration.

You have a funny, wrinkled-nose giggle where you kind of huff through your teeth; you smile with your whole face; you squeal and scream when you’re especially excited. It is impossible to look at you without wanting to scoop you up. But you’re busy these days. You don’t always want to stop for a snuggle.

You gave up breastfeeding without missing a beat, and putting you down for naps and bedtime is (knock wood) ridiculously easy. Naptime: pacifier, song, bed. Bedtime: pacifier, a few books, song, bed. You’re sleeping through the night much more often than before. And when/if you do wake up during the night, usually you go right back to sleep if we give you your pacifier. But without nursing to fall back on, when you wake up at 5:30 (or 5…), you’re up for good. This is not ideal. But we’re getting there.

You continue to be an amazing eater. You eat almost everything, in large quantities. At your one-year checkup, you were 19 lbs 13 ozs, 25th percentile; and 30 inches long, 75th percentile. Long and lean.

You’ve had your bibi for a while now—but this month it’s solidified as your security blanket. You have it with you almost all the time, and you even wrap it around your neck and wear it on your head like Lucia does.

Favorite books: Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin, I Am a Bunny, Pat the Bunny, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Karen Katz flap books, Fall Colors, Clifford’s First Day of School, Barnyard Dance

Favorite toys/activities: blocks, dollhouse dolls, stacking cups, pushing the shopping cart, putting things in bags/buckets, handing things to people