14 months...

Caro Lola Maria,

Today you are 14 months, 6 days old.
When you are old enough to read this, you'll probably tell me I'm a goober for writing all these little things down.
But I don't care.
I'm pretty sure you'll thank me at some point.
So here it goes.

You love to pull yourself up on everything.
You humor us with your "Frankenstein" walk, but still aren't too interested in taking those steps on your own quite yet.
You are the world's fastest army crawler.
You only like to use those knees when you aren't wearing a dress.

You love to empty things.
Bookshelves, drawers, bins, purses, packs of gum.
You are my little tornado.

You have a sweet tooth (well, to be more accurate, you have six of them).
You adore candy corn.
You feed your addiction by pulling yourself up on the coffee table and tipping the candy dish over.
Whenever Grandma Thaylene comes to visit, you immediately reach for her purse and say "Mmmmmm" because you know it's where the lollipops live.

Thankfully, you also adore your toothbrush.

You've determined picky eating is very "in" this season.
Instead of eating what's in front of you, you chuck it on the ground.
You stick your tongue out at me when I try to feed you.
You look at me like I'm an idiot when I attempt to make your spoon an airplane.

You are so smart, it's scary.
You know exactly how to get what you want.
You are extremely aware of everything that goes on in your little world.
You express your displeasure by saying, "Ooouuuccccchhhhhh!"
You "shhhhh" me when I chat with friends during church.
When daddy bores you with mundane questions, you tell him "No, no, no"

You've learned some interesting moves of late.
You karate chop almost everything, often while throwing in a high-pitched "Hi-yah!"
You love to give your feet kisses, which you will soon learn is pretty gross (but darling at the same time).
You blow kisses at any and all animals.
You sing to yourself constantly, mostly so you have an excuse to dance.

Your favorite pastime is saddling up your bug for some serious cat wrangling.
You still love your bottle and refuse to go to sleep without it.
You get mad when mama and babbo fail to read all your books out loud to you at the same time.

Though you love your independence, you still love to cuddle.
Amazingly, your little head still fits perfectly between my chin and my chest.
Sometimes you'll make your way to where I am and grab my hand.
You could ask for a villa on Lake Como and I'd find a way to make it yours.
Because I'm a complete sucker when it comes to those gigantic, chocolate-brown eyes.

We love you darling.
Happy 14 months, 6 days.
Thanks for keeping life adventurous.

Te amo,

Mama