My How You've Grown

Today La Luz is 16 months old and here I am, 16 months later, wishing I could make time stop, just for a little while, because I can't imagine that it gets any better than this. I will save the expose for when she turns two. If I really can't make it that long I will do it at 18 months but I will hit a few high points for posterity. So, here are the things that your dad and I and everyone else in your life find interesting:

You know and say alot of words, tons in fact, it sort of freaks us out.
You can basically repeat and remember any word that you are told including hummus, sashimi, and grapefruit. It might seem like all we do is talk about food and, don't get me wrong, it is a very important part of our lives, but there are other things. A few that come to mind are pumpkin, castle, and dishwasher. We are all sort of hoping that the reason for the great vocabulary is a gargantuan brain, which explains the huge cranium and the open soft spot.

You play independently and are actually very entertaining. Your favorite things tend to revolve around doing chores, which dissapoints your dad but thrills me. You sort, stack, and segregate everything from cheerios to tupperware. You bathe your bath toys and you change the imaginary diaper of every doll and animal in the house at least once a day. You also feed everyone imaginary food. Today we all enjoyed macaroni and applesauce followed by milk bottles thanks to your skills. You are so considerate.

You love to demonstrate running, hopping, and jumping and your new favorite trick is a variation of the old classic dive bomb. You basically just throw yourself on the ground and declare to whoever happens to be around that you fell, no kidding. You think it is funny. It scares me.

You understand when something is funny and are usually right about it. If something makes you laugh you will announce that it is funny. You also understand sadness and hurting, which kind of breaks my heart a little.

By far the most wonderful thing about you these days is that you will often sit still for a hug and, on occasion, will even offer them. You are a great hugger. You have a way of burying your head right underneath my chin and grabbing the sides of my head with your chubby hands. Tonight we set a record in the life of La Luz, we had a Vaicius family hug and I thought for a second your dad and I squeezed you to death because, for the first time ever (and trust me, we've tried this alot), you did not protest. We felt like the luckiest people in the world.