Friday, January 13, 2012

Nine Months: Happy Birthday, Lina!



Lina turned 9 months on December 21st....this is my letter to her that I never got around to posting during the whirlwind of the last few weeks.

To My Big Girl,
Someone once called your Grandmother a “force of nature.”  The description suits you.  When you set a goal, it is difficult to dissuade you from that goal.  You let us know what is on your mind, whether you are express your happiness at nursing by humming the entire time or express your frustration at encountering an obstacle while pushing a kitchen chair across our apartment.
When Daddy leaves in the morning, you let us know how sad you are by standing at the door, crying and patting the glass. When he returns in the evening, you blind him with your smile. You usually call him “Dada” but last week you mimicked him perfectly and called him “Daddy” when he greeted you. Your word for water is “ahhh” (the sound someone makes on a hot summer day after drinking a refreshing drink). You say “ahhh” after every sip of water. We laugh every time; it still hasn’t gotten old.
You get very, very excited every time you see a playground – it doesn’t even have to be the playground by our house. You get very upset with Mommy, if we don’t stop and play. You can easily spend a ½ hour sitting in the swing and are determined to walk up the slide the wrong way.
We’ve been trying to teach you sign language; the only sign you use is one you’ve come up with for music. You dance and clap to your Music Together CD at least 4 or 5 times a day. You are a total ham at music class where you frequently walk into the middle of the circle and practice your bhangra (hands in the air going from foot to foot). You hate having to put the musical instruments back at the end of the song.
Like both your parents, you enjoy trying a variety of foods. You want to sample anything that Mommy eats and have tried recently: broccoli and three cheese soup, butternut and apple soup, roasted bell peppers, an egg sandwich, Spanish rice, stewed tomatoes and Icelandic yogurt.
You wave your arms around frantically and giggle when being chased around the house. You especially love Dada to chase you; you love to keep him on his feet. When you are not visiting Dada and Dadi, you often pretend to call them on your “phone.” Sometimes your phone is actual toy phone - sometimes it is an old remote control or even a block. I’ve watched you use both a piece of paper as a phone and your maraca, but not at the same time. It makes me very happy to see you developing such a rich imagination.
You think it’s hysterical to offer someone a cracker or a toy and then to take it back right before the other person grabs it. We are working on learning to share but I know that‘s a skill that takes a long time to learn. You love to have someone sit next to you while you turn the pages of the scrapbook Ra-Ra made for you. Photo albums are one of your favorite things in the world right now.
Thank you for helping me when I take off your shoes - it’s a big help having you take off your own socks. I can’t wait to see what you will help me with next. Thanks for being my helper and my greatest teacher.

Know you are very, very loved,
Mommy

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