Fourteen Months!

Hi Rabbit,

I told myself that once you turned one, I'd stop writing you these monthly letters. We'd been through so much together; what with growing you in my tummy for nine months plus the whole year you'd been on the outside. For some reason I thought that in that time of writing to you I'd imparted all the lessons I had and told you all I had to say. Hardly! My little baby, you continue to not only consume my thoughts but also my days. Until that's no longer the case, I don't see any alternative but to continue writing to you monthly. Why did I think that a yearly letter world be sufficient after your 12 month birthday? You still grow and change so quickly and to neglect documenting that would be a shame. So, we'll forever have a missing Month 13, but I'll do my best to recap two months into one.

Shortly after you turned a year old, monkey, you had your first real sickness. I'd been pretty proud of keeping you ailment-free for your first year, but after a couple of days of extreme irritability, a runny nose, and eventually some throwing up, I knew something was really going on. I took you to a walk-in clinic, and after a quick look it was determined that you had a full-blown ear infection. I felt so horribly; obviously you'd been dealing with this for a few days prior and acting all tough and stoic. We went through your first round of antibiotics and you handled it all like a trooper. It was so scary to have you feeling badly, my baby. I can see, however, that when it comes to illnesses you're tough and strong, but you let me do my part in taking care of you.

In your thirteenth month you continue to be long and thin. After your 12 month vaccinations, which obviously hurt you a lot, but again you were quite tough and recovered very quickly, the doctor said that you were getting taller but not gaining much in the way of weight. You're a pretty good eater, but gravitate heavily towards fruits and veggies. Your doctor recomended that you move onto higher-fat things, so cheese and full-fat yogurts have been staples for you these days. You're becoming more adventuresome with your eating also; lately loving chili with lots of beans, stews, turkey, soups, and anything that you can hold yourself. Your pincer grip is outstanding and you're even getting curious about spoon feeding yourself!

The holiday season as a one year old was very exciting, baby Bowen! We decorated the house, and you loved being held up to inspect each shiny pretty thing on the mantle. We got our first real tree set up one night, and when you did your crawl-run out of the bedroom that next morning, the wideness with which you opened your eyes was priceless! You were absolutely riveted with the tree, and were even allowed to play with a few ornaments. Once you learned about the deliciousness of candy canes, however, it had to be fenced off. You got your picture taken with Santa not once, but three times this year! One time was with the whole family, including your brother Sandwiches, and the other two times were just for you. I have to say, you're not the biggest fan of sitting on Santa's lap! You were very keen on looking and smiling at him from afar, but once the time came to actually sit with him and be photographed, you just wouldn't have it! At least we've got some hilarious pictures to laugh at for years to come! You also got to ride on the Christmas Train in Stanley Park this year, as well as watch the Santa Parade! What a fun Christmas season, little baby! We spent Christmas eve with your grandparents and family, and you absolutely loved the feast before you. Not only that, but you finished it all off with a nanaimo bar. The next morning you woke up to your plethora of presents, and stocking. It was so wonderful to have our little family of four together. We helped you a bit with the opening, since you'd be so keen on looking at one gift and didn't want to move onto the next. We also rang the new year in together as a family, going to bed at the extremely moderate hour of eleven! When the clock stuck twelve, I woke up both you and your dad and we all shared a hug. It was the best new years because we were all together.

Another not-so-happy thing that happened in your 13th month was an overnight stay in the hospital. Since you've been getting so mobile and curious, I've really had to step up my enforcement of the "no standing on the change table!" rule. However, one morning you slid past me and had a bit of a fall from the change table onto the floor. I somewhat broke your fall, and after a lot of crying you seemed to be okay. We went about our day, but later on that evening you started vomiting everything you ate. I knew that there was something very wrong, so off we went to the emergency room. You continued throwing up as we were being admitted, and after some observation the doctors concluded that it probably wasn't a head injury, but rather just a common stomach flu. They did, however, want to keep us overnight to make sure everything was okay. We went up to a room on the floor where we were born, and I have to say that your mom was more frightened and upset than ever. Seeing you throwing up time and time again in a hospital bed was an awful sight that I soon won't forget. Not long after we settled in our room, I started throwing up too! This was a happy occurrence, as it confirmed that you didn't have an injury related to the fall, but instead merely a flu. We spent 24 hours together in that hospital bed and as horrible as it all was, we survived! It's scary when you're sick, monkey, and the return of your happy, normal self a few days later was so welcomed.

It's been quite an eventful couple of months, my baby! Lately your absolute favourite activity is climbing things. You're obsessed with climbing onto the kitchen table, no matter how many obstacles I put in your way. You also like pointing things out to me, like bananas or your dog, Wichies. This semester you're returning to Music Together, where you've become quite independent. You actually love to sit on the other side of the circle as me and groove along to the music! We're also enrolled in a tumbling class, which with your keenness on climbing is right up your alley! Today, on your fourteen month birthday we went on an interview for the daycare at the West Vancouver Community Centre. Usually it takes a few visits for toddlers to warm up to being left in a new environment, but you just jumped right in. You got right down to business, checking out all the other kids and the plethora of toys for you to explore. I actually left for half an hour, which is sort of unheard of for the first visit, and you were absolutely fine! The teacher said you were a very self-confident and secure young lady. Amazing, baby! It was bittersweet how you absolutely fine without mommy, but on the other hand I'm so incredibly proud of you. You're an amazing baby and turning into an even more incredible toddler.

Your favourite activities this month are: dancing along to music, climbing everything you possibly can, hugging Sandwiches, screeching, cruising along furniture, and doing a hilarious fast-crawl thing, which gets you around the house in an incredibly quick stompy way. You've grown another four teeth, brining your grand total up to ten. You love baths and throwing all your toys out of the tub. You smile and laugh often, and you're truly an amazing little thing. You continue to be the joy of my days, little baby, and I'm so lucky to get to spend my time with you.

Happy fourteen months, Bowen Naomi!

I love you forever,

-Your mom