Olivia at 15 Months

Dear Livey,

You turned 15 months old last week, and I have to admit that this is the first time ever that I am late in writing this to you. I haven't had time, and this will be the only letter that is short, but sweet, to you.


It's certainly been a month of change for you. You are growing more and more into yourself and developing your personality. You have been a lot less grumpy, and more happy as you've become quite the speed crawler. I swear, if there were baby crawling races, you would win by a mile - especially if we put your bun-bun at the finish line! You're moving towards being upright walking, and I will have more to report on that next month. I've also never heard you laugh as much as you have in the past month. You are full of giggles and laughter, and believe me, there is much to smile about around our house.


With the happy times, we've also come across some challenges. You know how to be bad, which is not to say it isn't funny (because it most certainly is), but disciplining you at such a young age has been hard. So what are you doing that is so bad? You pull your sisters hair - constantly. You hit. Everyone. I don't know how and where you learned these things at such an early age, but it is challenging for us to control. The funny thing is that at daycare they taught you to say "no, no, no" while shaking a finger in the air. So we did that for awhile, but it was so cute that you would continue to do the bad things after imitating us. We've been pulling you away from the situation when you antagonize your sister, or when you hit, and say a stern "no", which immediately makes you cry. You get over it in a minute, so I know it is going to be ok.


You're forming more and more words, a lot that are very hard to understand, but it is easy to tell that you are learning what things mean. You often jibber jabber, a lot more so when your sister is not around, and sometimes you sing a song with no real words. There's this thing you do that I want to remember forever, because it gets to my heart in the biggest way possible. You often chant "mama" over and over to me, and then you poke me, pointing out that I am your mama. I love that. I love it so much that I say "Olivia" back to you and poke you in your tummy or side and you break out into hysterical laughter. There is no sweeter sound in the world.


I went away this last month for work. Your father said that in the evening you would sit by the front window and look out and say "mama". You'd say it as a question, like "when is mama coming home? Is she coming home?" He said you seemed confused. And when I did come home and greeted you at daycare I had never seen a smile so big, and a crawl so fast, and a pull up to me as you hugged me and wanted to be in my arms. I had missed you so much...You're growing so fast, and each day you grow up a little more before my eyes.

Your curls are getting curlier. Your smile is getting bigger. Your mind is getting smarter. You're becoming a little person, a little girl...and one that I can't wait to see every morning when I wake up because I want to spend time with you and see what new thing you might do.

I love you,
Mama