Dear Lilah,
You are three quarters of the way through your second year of life! Pretty hard to believe. These past few months have brought some fun changes.
You are talking all the time now. Even using complete sentences! This is spurred on by your brother who often says, "Lilah, can you say...?" It's been fun to watch his excitement when you say a word for the first time. It has also been nice for me that you're so good at communicating because we haven't had to deal with the frustration that can come with a struggle to communicate. There are times when I can't seem to figure out what you're trying to say, but you are patiently persistent and I can usually figure it out eventually. For a while, your typical affirmative response was "yeah", but recently I started saying, "yes?" when you said, 'yeah," and now you're usual affirmative response is "yessssssss." It's pretty cute. You're also into nodding. Very emphatically. Sometimes along with a yes, sometimes all by itself. I love it! You can't say l's yet, so you pronounce your name "yiya."
Another thing you've begun to do recently is sing. You love singing. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star was the first song you learned, but you've extended your repertoire to about six or seven songs. The latest favorite has been the Alphabet Song. You can pretty much sing the alphabet on your own now. You can also count to ten mostly on your own, although you tend to start a few numbers in and stop at nine for some reason. I was just looking back at a post that I wrote about your brother when he was about your age, and there were a lot of similarities. He was also a chatterbox and knew a few of the songs that are now your favorites. One of your favorite places to sing? On the potty. You have begun to use it somewhat regularly in the past couple of months. I bought you some underwear the other day and am thinking about taking the leap soon!
You are still as sweet as ever, but you aren't afraid to make your opinions known. Usually by yelling or crying, but also with the occasional swat. We are working on that. You can definitely be dramatic, collapsing on your back on the floor in tears when something doesn't go your way.
You pick up A LOT from your brother. Some things are fun, like the faces you make or the funny things you say sometimes. Other things are habits I'd really rather you wouldn't imitate. But among the good and the bad that surface in your relationship with your brother, the moments when you are of one accord, playing sweetly together are the best ever. The other day I was remarking to Dada that you and Caleb were playing nicely together for the longest amount of time you had ever had. Usually, it doesn't take long at all before one of you does something that makes the other very upset. But you are pretty forgiving. And you love your brother. When you wake up in the morning, "Bubba??" is one of the first things you say. If he's up, you'll run to find him and say, "Bubba!!" It melts my heart.
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We are seeing more and more of your fun personality shining through these days. You love to accessorize, and come up with some pretty hilarious
You are so much fun, my sunshine. I can't believe you will be two years old at the next Lilah update!! I'm doing my best to enjoy every day I get to spend with you. I am so thankful for you!
Love always,
Mama
