16 Month Old!

Dear Evie,
   You are 16 months old today! Time is going by quickly. You keep us so busy all the time. We think you are rather spirited. Evie you weigh about 23 pounds and are still wearing 12-18 month old clothes. You are a really good sleeper. Most nights, you sleep 12-13 hours and take a three hour afternoon nap. All of your climbing, investigating, organizing and outdoor fun tire you out. Daddy put together your new crib since your old one was not up to the job of keeping our wild thing safe and sound anymore. You thought it was so fabulous to have two cribs in your room and dove right into your new crib ready to test it out. Apparently, it met your expectations because you slept until 8:30 this morning. Daddy put you down for your nap and he spread a blanket on top of your sweet little body. Two hours later, that blanket is still on top of you - traveling wore you out! You have such good hearing that when we come up the stairs to get you from your nap, you are already standing up with a big grin just for us.


   You love to be outside and would play outside all day if you could. Your little finger points outside and you bring me your shoes so we can go outside. Sometimes you even bring me my shoes. Some of your favorite things to do are swing, go up and down the stairs, ride your giraffe and check out flowers. You are much better at staying in your own yard now. It's really hard to get you inside most of the time and it often involves tears.


      We have noticed how smart you are getting! It's amazing to see you putting together so many things. Your little finger points up when you hear an airplane and you always say bye-bye when you hear a car beep it's horn. You go to the fridge when you are hungry and have realized the jellybeans live in the green basket in our pantry. Phones are fair game and you can often be found with one of our phones on your ear. Sometimes you even call people by accident. Your baby is your favorite toy and you carry her around a lot. I love to see you give her a bottle and this morning you tried giving her a pacifier. You have such a gentle spirit.


    You are a much better eater this month and have tried lots of new foods. A great deal of  your food still finds it's way to the floor and mommy spends lots of time cleaning up the kitchen. Some of your favorite foods are mandarin oranges, dips of any type, bagels, muffins and spaghetti. You are back to eating veggies which makes me so happy!


    Traveling is a lot of work but you are a really good traveler! We just got back from Gastonia and you did really well on the airplane. I think you realize that airports are not the place for monkey business because you hold your Raffi extra tight and check out your surroundings without even making a peep. You received lots of compliments on your excellent behavior and mommy loved holding you on the plane. We had the whole row to our self on the way back and you were not interested in your own seat because you'd rather be with me. I'll remind you of this when you are about 15 and prefer to have nothing to do with me. You slept really well all week and only woke up once. Pretty good considering everything we did all week. You have a lot of miles on you already baby girl.


  You had  your very first sleep-over with your friend James. Guess where you slept . . . in the bathroom. Some people think this is funny but it worked for you. Aunt Lindsay just told me that James spent the night in the kitchen at his grandparents house last night. You and James had so much fun but I am pretty sure that James was relieved when you left. Mommy is so disappointed that she did not get any pictures of you with James. My photography took a backseat while I tried to prevent you from destroying other peoples houses. You still manage to do a good deal of destruction as you sling your yogurt on the wall and sprinkle pretzels on the couch.


Evie, you are a really good friend and love to interact with your friends. You still keep a close eye on me to make sure that I am not leaving. We left you with a babysitter for the first time and you did not even notice since you were sleeping. Mommy and Daddy will try that again soon. Maybe we will let the babysitter put you to bed the next time.


  You survived your first flood sleeping through the terrible storms that came through Nashville. We were so lucky compared to so many people. My advice is to have a sump pump installed in your crawlspace and maybe you will never have to worry about flooding. It was a fluke but the rains are still falling which is causing more damage to our already severely impacted city.


     Mommy and Daddy need a break sometimes since you work so hard to keep us on our toes. You are really testing limits and sometimes do things you are not supposed to do while looking at us to see how we will react. It's hard to be consistent all of the time but that is what works best for you. You understand most of what we say now and it's so fun to see you try to figure everything out.  You are like me either really happy or really sad. There's no in between for you and you show remorse when reprimanded most of the time. You can always make us laugh. There's nothing better than hearing the magical sound of your giggles.

Look how much you have changed in the past year!

   Evie, we love you more and more every day and feel so blessed to have you as our daughter. Our love for you is nothing compared to our Father's love for you and for us. It's amazing that being your parent has taught us so much about life. We thank God every time we think of you! You are so special to us and have brought immeasurable joy to our lives. Happy 16 months! I'll try to get you a jellybean or two to help you celebrate. Love, Mommy and Daddy