First Steps!

Dear Eleanor,
I am considering today your first day of being a true "toddler". Today you have been attempting to walk quite a bit. You're getting pretty good at it as the day goes on! It started out this morning with some very short little walks and just a little bit ago you walked more than 10 feet from daddy to me. You're also just doing it on your own today which is different from previous days. In the past couple of weeks i've been setting you up on your feet in the hopes that you would take a few steps, today you've taken off from your little chair to walk towards me while carrying a book. It is the cutest thing! You've also tried once or twice to stand-up by yourself in the middle of the living room without holding onto anything. So far you can't really do it, but it is fun to see you try. It's funny, I never really realized that that is a skill you have to learn in order to be able to walk independently. There won't always be something for you to hold onto when you fall. Just as I have been sitting here typing this to you in our kitchen you have appeared twice in the doorway from the living room with a big smile on your face, arms out for balance, walking toward me. It makes me so happy and proud to see you growing up. It also of course makes me a little sad that my little baby is actually walking.

Before you were born I was trying to think of a "theme" for your bedroom. I wanted to use pink & brown as the colors and one day I was thinking about it and boom - there it was: Monkeys. I love monkeys, they're cute & they're brown, that's perfect! So that's what I went with for the "theme". It's funny that we've been noticing more and more that you love to climb! You will climb on anything that you can. You've recently started climbing on top of your Pampers box - the one you use for walking. You'll climb on top of it and just sit on it smiling. You've also pushed it over to the couch a couple of times and climbed from the box onto the couch. Now that's good problem solving. You also like to climb on the step that daddy built for Bitsy to get into the bed. You climb up, turn around, sit down & dangle your feet before climbing down to do it all over again. I'm sure given the opportunity you would climb from the step right up into our bed and soon enough you'll be trying to climb in or out of your own bed too. What a monkey!!

Another cute thing you've recently started doing is bringing books to daddy or I to have us read to you, which I love. There's nothing I would rather do than have you cuddle on my lap so I can read "Good Night Moon" or "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to you again. It is so much fun. This morning we went to a special storytime put on by the library at Walker Elder Suites for the residents. We sing songs, read stories & play instruments during these storytimes and you LOVE it. You were so animated this morning, waving to the residents, clapping your hands during the songs and shaking your little rattles during the music. I can not express to you how much I enjoy every minute I am able to spend with you. I love being your mommy and I love being able to be home with you so much to see you grow and change. It is going to be such a fun summer for you, lots of new experiences and lots of quality time for me to spend with you!

All my love,
Mommy

g.