Monthly Newsletter — Month 17

Corn on the cob, originally uploaded by JenSig.

Dear Isla,

A few days ago you hit the 17-month mark, and it's a sign of how busy and chaotic we are these days that I am only just now getting around to posting about that milestone.

It's hard to believe you're almost one and a half... Just this morning I was changing your diaper and thinking to myself how big you've gotten, and how amazing that only a year or so ago you were this tiny little peanut baby who cooed and gurgled at me with the cutest little dimples.

Now, though, as one of the two older ones happened to mention (can't remember which one it was now, Owen or Edie) — it's like you're a "real" person! You talk and run and play and laugh and do things you're not supposed to and give kisses and hugs and climb stairs and oh, so many other things!

You LOVE Dora the Explorer (much like your older sister did at around your same age) and her super cute cousin, Diego. In fact, those are two of the words you now say regularly. Here is a list of the words currently in your vocabulary repertoire:

"Doh" (Dora)
GoGo (Diego
BellBell (Tinkerbell)
Mo (more)
Hi! (or "Hewo!")
Mommy
Daddy
Isla (which you pronounce Ay-ya)
Owee (Owen)
DeeDee (Edie)
Night night
Bobby (bottle)
Mimmy (your satin blankie)
Nack (snack)
Baby
Bah (bath)

Can't think of any others at the moment... but you are definitely beginning to become more vocal — and even when you aren't using actual words, you grunt and point until we finally figure out what you want.

You have also recently learned how to climb up onto both Owen's and Edie's beds, as well as the couch — I don't mind this ALL that much, since you have also figured out how to get down — but sometimes you think it's a great idea to get up there and walk around, and I'm terrified you're going to stumble and fall head over heels over the side. So now I have to know where you are at all times (not that I didn't need to know this before, but it's a little more critical at the moment).

You have also learned how to come back down Jacquie's staircase, on your bottom scooting down one step at a time, which is a great relief, although, again — sometimes you think standing up seems like a great idea, so we still have to watch you like a hawk.

And you are just so delightful and sweet, giving sweet little kisses and hugs that make me want to squeeze you to pieces.

The picture above was taken on Mother's Day, and we had given you your own little pile of corn (already remove from the cob), which you ate quickly and heartily — and then proceeded to point at Jacquie's as-yet-untouched corn cob — so she handed it to you and we watched in amazement as you at the ENTIRE COB, slowly turning it this way and that so you could make sure you got every piece of corn off of it. It certainly kept you busily entertained while the rest of us ate our dinners.

Thank you for blessing my life so much, little one — my sweet little imp.

Love, Mama

S I X

S I X, originally uploaded by JenSig.

Dear Edie...

Six years ago today you came into the world and changed our lives completely: our first daughter, Owen's first little sister, you have blessed us with your sparkling personality and exuberance for life.

You, my dear one, are the quintessential middle child, sweet and affectionate yet secretly possessing your own brand of star quality. You love to sing and dance and play and crack jokes and make the GOOFIEST faces ever — such silly faces that my friends all can't wait to see any pictures any of us might snap of you and your friends, because you nearly always have some hilarious expression on your face. I can honestly say your completely bubbling personality is not one that many people get to meet every day, and I truly hope that it stays with you throughout your life. It will take you far, THAT I can promise you.

The picture above was taken of you this very morning, before heading off to school. When I asked you to pose for a picture wearing your fabulous knitted crown (the one I made for your third birthday), the first pose you gave me was the Mona Lisa one, where you tilt your head and give me this tight-lipped half smile, with one shoulder pressed upwards towards your cheek. It's a very stilted pose, and it's one of your favorites, so it makes it difficult for me to get a truly great candid shot of you, but I managed... I told you to yell out "Stinky socks!," which you did with great gusto. I think that's the thing I just love the most about you — your total exuberance at embracing any task. You are, in a word, delightful.

The other day we were driving around, you and I, and you were back there in the seat behind me, chattering away, waving your hands out the open window and asking me random questions. At one point you said, "Mommy, is magic real?" And I knew the question was stemming from the idea of magic as presented in the Harry Potter books (by the way, we are two chapters from the end of the fourth book), so I said no, magic wasn't real, at least in the idea of a person waving a magic wand around and casting spells.

But what I didn't say — what I couldn't really explain to a very literal 6-year-old — was that magic IS real, and is all around us. There is magic in watching a little girl show me the tooth that just fell out, her eyes wide as she contemplates the tooth fairy's imminent arrival. There is magic in watching a toddler giggling as she swipes at bubbles being blown into her face. The thrill of a twirly skirt. The way the setting sun shines through a child's golden hair. The times when three siblings play together without bickering. When an older brother takes his sister by the hand with sincere and genuine affection. In the kisses given so sweetly at bedtime... all of this: MAGIC.

Thanks for making my world so very magical, sweet sweet girl. You have truly cast a spell on me.

Love, Mama