Dear Moe (18 Months)

There's no denying it now, sweetie, you're not a baby anymore. At 18 months old, you are most definitely a toddler. And it has been quite a month – one of the most eventful you've had in a long time.

It was an eventful month because we all went on our first big family road trip together. We rented a cottage in Wells Beach, Maine with Granny and Grandma. It was a long drive, and you handled it like a trooper. We tried to give you as many chances to get out of the car as possible, and you kept yourself amused with stuffies, cars, books and music. You were a total champ, and we were so amazed at how easy the trip was with you. You're an excellent travel companion, sweet sir.

You enjoyed Maine very much, but you didn't sleep very well there. Nobody did, really. It was five people in a small two-bedroom cottage. You and Daddy and I were sleeping in the same bedroom. You got more and more comfortable as the days went by, but by the time you found you way, it was time to go home.

It was so wonderful to share the Wells Beach experience with you, Moe. Granny and Grandpa Will took me there many summers when I was a little girl – as young as you are now! - and for some of those summers, my Granny and Grandpa were there, too. Your Daddy and I rediscovered Maine together three years ago, and we were eager to bring you there. It was everything we could have hoped for.

You love playing in the sand. For you, the beach is all about the sand. For me, it's all about the ocean. Imagine my face when I brought you to the beach for the very first time to show you the ocean, and after 9 hours of driving, all you wanted to do was play on the staircase down to the beach! I think the waves scared you a bit – they were noisy, and somewhat unpredictable. But as soon as we found you a little tidal pool to call your own, you were a happy, happy boy. Sand, water, and a couple of trucks were all you needed to play for hours. It was the first time you'd seen wet sand... and it was awesome.

We had a few power struggles that week – in the cottage and on the beach. We ended up driving 45 minutes to find a Walmart where we could buy a toilet lock. There were a number of meltdowns in the cottage over things like not touching the oven, not banging cupboard doors at 7:00 am (we were on the second floor of a two story cottage – people were sleeping below us), and OMG stop touching the TV. And on the beach, we repeatedly struggled with wearing a sunhat and the throwing of sand. (We're still working on that one when we hang out at the park. We've tried the “throw sand and we go home” rule, but you never seem to mind leaving! You're very adaptable. So now we try an in-park time-out. You may be getting it now, but it's slow going. Your hearing tends to be rather... selective.)

Overall, though, you were a gem. We went to Perkins Cove in Ogunquit and walked part of the Marginal Way. I bought a lobster roll at Perkins Cove and you tried lobster for the first time. I sure didn't get much of that lobster roll! I've never seen you eat anything like that before. You were double fisting it, working so hard to swallow fast enough to put more in your mouth, begging me for more. You would have eaten the whole thing if I had let you. (Oddly, we offered you some again when Granny bought a lobster later in the week, but you weren't interested. Maybe you'd filled your lobster quota.)

We took you to the Kittery Factory Outlet Stores, and you outdid yourself. We kept you occupied by letting you play on the coin operated ride-on toys, and keeping the stroller moving so you were always looking at new things. (Someday, you'll figure out that those ride-on toys actually DO things if you put money in them, but so far, we're good with just climbing on them.) Little man, you did well at those outlet stores. Between us and your grandmothers, you have a good haul of clothes for the fall. T-shirts, pyjamas, a pair of crocs, a lovely blue ball cap... the list goes on.

We went for walks around Wells, we watched the waves at high tide, we played on the cottage lawn, and played on the beach every day. We chased seagulls, filled dump trucks with sand, made roads, and dug holes. Some days, you didn't go any farther than 3 feet from the stairs to the beach. Other days, you would walk and run and make use of all the space available to you.

Days at the beach meant sunscreen and sand, which meant being bathed several times a day. We figured out pretty quickly that showers were the way to go – and you LOVED them. The water would run down your face and you would laugh and laugh. It made it very easy to get you cleaned up after a hour or two at the beach. And it was lots of fun (but very wet!).

We took you to the Wells Beach Lobster Pound, which I remember visiting when I was a little girl. The tanks were too high for you to see into, and we didn't want to let you out of the stroller for fear that you would put your hands into the tanks like they were a water table. But a very nice pound employee took a lobster out of the tank and put it on the floor in front of you! I don't know who was more stunned – you or the lobster. The lobster started backing up right away, and I think you would have, too, if you hadn't been in your stroller.

All in all, it was a lovely week. But you were very, very happy to be home, and your sleep improved right away (thank goodness).

We did a lot of other things this month, too! You and I met your Daddy's cousin Josee for lunch at O'Grady's, and you proved that we really can take you anywhere. You showed us that you can take Daddy's hand and walk through a store with him. You were a model in a photo shoot for my workplace annual report. You learned how to put your face in the water (both in the bath and in Uncle Ted's pool). You figured out how to stop the water from going down the bathtub drain. You still love to dance, and now use your whole body, not just your feet. You love to climb your step stool (or anything, for that matter). You can happily look at a book on your own, and put your books back on your shelf when you're done with them. You can carry your snack to your bench. You love your stuffies, particularly Leary the Otter (inherited from me) and Buster the Dog (from Jiff and Kim). You love eating watermelon. You love watching Curious George. You make a hilarious sniffy face, and a great frowny face. Your eyebrows still get compliments wherever we go.

You are fantastic. You are determined, affectionate, funny, expressive, chatty, sweet, intelligent, curious and adorable. You've been such a wonderful baby, my love, and you're the most amazing toddler. It's been so lovely watching you grow and learn and develop into your own person... and we're still just starting. We love you.

Dear Moe (17 Months)

My sweet, sweet sweetie, you are 17 months old today. That is almost a year and a half, and it’s hard to believe. We have had a lot of fun together this past month, and you’ve made some awesome leaps and bounds in your development.



You’ve started talking, and it’s fantastic. Your first word, other than “mamama” and “dadada” was “car”. You tend to say it twice, “car car”, like the song Car Car by Elizabeth Mitchell. It’s one of your favourites. You have also said “hug”, your own version of “Granny”, “Grandma” and your own name (all of which kind of sound the same), and “yeah”. You love the song Mercy by Duffy, and sing along to the chorus, chanting “yeah, yeah, yeah”. You also love to sing along to John Lithgow’s version of “I Had a Rooster” and you sing “doodley-doodley-doo”.

The day after you said your first word, I was telling Grandma what strides you had made that day. I told her you had said “car”, “hug” and “yeah”. She turned to you and asked, “You said ‘yeah’?” and you looked right back at her and said, “I said ‘yeah’.” It was your first sentence, on your second day of talking!

You are getting more and more comfortable in your own skin, little sir. You love to walk backwards (probably because it cracks us up) and you can now sit very proudly by yourself in your red egg chair. The other day you sat down and happily swivelled for about two minutes. Now that you can get in and out of it on your own, you love that chair.

We have always said that we wanted to make music an important part of your life, and we’re succeeding. You often ask for us to turn on iPod player. In fact, you are now asking for specific songs, and not just music in general. If we sing a bit of a song to you, you want to hear it on the iPod. And while you used to be quite content to hear a song once and then listen to the rest of the playlist, now you often want to hear a song again. And again. And again. (It’s a good thing Mommy actually likes the song Yeti Stomp by the Backyardigans, little man.)

You really enjoy playing with crayons. You like to draw, but you also love to line the crayons up and look at all the different colours. I’m proud to report that we’ve only had to scold you for putting a crayon in your mouth once or twice.

Cars have been your favourite toy for some time now, but we recently introduced you to your train set, and that’s been a lot of fun. You aren’t sure what to make of the magnets in the train cars (why do the cars sometimes stick together and sometimes won’t stick at all?), and you like helping me build the track almost as much as you enjoy dismantling it all. The kit we bought has over 100 pieces, but right now you only have access to a few cars and the tracks. We’ll eventually bring down the other pieces when I can be sure you won’t put the little bits in your mouth.

We had a magical Canada Day together this year. As per tradition, we spent the day at Uncle Ted’s house. You swam in the pool for about an hour in your jaunty new lifejacket. When we got you out of the pool, you enjoyed wandering around in your shark robe. You looked like a little boxer. Uncle Ted set up the slip and slide, and you very happily played with the water tub while everyone else went tearing down the slide. Your Daddy got some great photos of you.





I was one of the first to go down the slip and slide, and the slide wasn’t terribly wet yet. You were sitting on Daddy’s knee, and you watched me run, jump, and stop halfway down the slide. Everyone in the yard went, “AWWWWW” and laughed at my expense, and you, gallant little boy, burst into tears. I asked, “Why is my little boy crying?” and someone answered, “He’s sad that you’re a loser who couldn’t make it down the slip and slide.” We have great friends. No, really.



We have said goodbye to bottles forever, Moe. It only took a day or two, but you made the transition from bottle to sippy cup at bed and naptime very easily. Now the routine is easy – before nap or bed, we watch an episode of the Backyardigans while sitting on the floor cushion together, you drink your sippy of milk while you watch, and then we go upstairs and after a short cuddle, you go into your crib and go to sleep. There were a couple of nights when you cried because you weren’t getting a bottle upstairs, but I cuddled you and agreed that change can be hard, and you resigned yourself to it and went to sleep without any more fuss. I’m so proud of what a good sleeper you are. We worked really, really hard to teach you to fall asleep by yourself, and it’s paid off for us all in a big way.

Let’s talk about your ankle, my love. The back of your right ankle has been giving us trouble for months and months now, and we reached our wit’s end. There’s a crack in it surrounded by eczema. If you wear shoes, it gets worse. If you don’t wear socks all the time, you scratch it to bits. We have found you in your crib with your sock off and your fingers bloody. It’s horrible. It has meant that you can’t play at the park – you can’t wear shoes, and you can’t play in the sand without shoes with an open wound. Dr. D. prescribed some antibiotic cream, but it did nothing. We didn’t know if we should put cortisone on it because the skin was already so weak. So she sent us to Dr. L., who gave us a really strong steroid ointment for it and a regimen of specific instructions. That was Monday. It’s Wednesday today and your ankle looks better than it has in weeks. I’m very hopeful that if we keep this up, you should be healed well enough to play on the beach in Maine in August and finally wear shoes again. I was getting very concerned. I want you to enjoy the ocean as much as you can, and I’d also like you to get some wear out of those shoes we bought you before you outgrow them!



You have become very adept at using the potty. You have used it many times now with great success. (We’ve had to put a towel over the tank to hide the flusher handle, though, or else you will flush repeatedly and forget why you’re on the toilet in the first place.) You don’t seem to mind spending time on the toilet, which is fantastic. I am optimistic that when you’re able to ask to use the potty and we can toilet train you in earnest, it will go fairly well.

You are hilarious and have a great sense of humour. You make us laugh every day. You constantly amaze us with how quickly you learn new things. You know your mind and you know how to tell us what you do or don’t want. And we’re working on getting you to tell us those things in a polite way. You have learned to blow kisses and to ask nicely for “more” of something. You are sweet and loving, affectionate and kind. We had a really successful play date with your buddy Koen where you both shared well, played nicely together, and waved goodbye to each other at the end of the morning. Koen’s mom and I were both flabbergasted and delighted.



Keep being such a wonderful little boy, Moe. We love you so much it’s insane, and we’re not the only ones. Granny and Grandma are crazy about you, your aunts and uncles genuinely seem to enjoy spending time with you, and our friends and neighbours are enchanted by your smile. You are growing into such a great little person.

Dear Moe (16 Months)

Oh, my sweet love, you are 16 months old today. And you are so much fun, it’s incredible. You are a sweet, playful little boy who loves to be busy, laugh and explore.

We’ve kept very busy over the past month - we’ve tried to take you on a special outing every weekend. This has included Touch a Truck, where we spent a very rainy morning with Granny and Bambi in the parking lot at Lincoln Fields exploring different vehicles. You got to sit in an enormous tractor! But you were most interested in the Red Cross van, which wasn’t part of the exhibit, but the Red Cross workers were nice enough to let you explore the outside of the van. You liked the Red Cross symbol especially.

For the first time in 12 years, Daddy managed to get the Saturday of the Great Glebe Garage Sale off! We had a nice family outing with some of our friends, and you were super patient while we wheeled you through the crowded streets of the Glebe. We came home with a finger puppet for you (a giraffe), one for Daddy (Yoda), and a lovely Pooh Bear picture book.

Granny and I took you to OC Transpo for Doors Open Ottawa. You were very excited when we let you walk around on your own, but not impressed when you weren’t allowed to go everywhere you wanted. You got to walk around a Double Decker bus and an old vintage bus. You liked sitting in the OC Transpo mini-bus (you were very interested in the candy canes that had been in there since the Santa Claud Parade - no, we didn’t let you eat them). But it was the mulch in the landscaped areas around the parking lot that made you happiest.

Yesterday was Father’s Day - Daddy’s second. It was a lovely day by all accounts. We went to the Farmers’ Market at Lansdowne Park for the first time - what a fantastic place! I think we’ll be going there again on Sunday mornings. But wow, we’re going to have to set a budget. It was so easy to spend a lot of money - but it was a special day, so we went a little wild and got some nice treats. Everybody wanted to give you a a sample. You tried a few types of sweet bread (we bought the apple one for you), some chicken lime curry (you liked it, so we bought some), a small piece of shortbread (you looked confused) and Mommy shared an egg-free donut with you (you were all over that). Wow. No wonder you were kind of hyped up from the sugar.

Right now, it’s all about finding things you’ll eat. Some meals go better than others. You won’t touch stew anymore, which is a shame, since it was such a staple for us for a long time. You’re also not a fan of green things. Right now, we rely a lot on sandwiches, pizza, and hummus. You’ve tried a smoothie (we’ll have to do that again soon - we just need to pick up more yogurt), you like hearts of palm, you’re a fan of mushrooms, you like strawberries if they are sweet, and you enjoy oranges. If you don’t want something, you make it very clear. A lot of mealtime involves you testing our reflexes to see if we can catch the food before it gets flung on the floor. (You are especially fond of chucking your sippy cup onto the floor with such force that if it hits my foot, I howl in pain. Thanks, baby doll. I love you, too.) You are getting quite adept at feeding yourself with a spoon, but you still need a guiding hand or else things get a little crazy. You like to paint your tray with the spoon, burrow into the food dish with such exuberance that it goes everywhere, and push the food off the spoon with your fingers.

I know you need to explore to learn, so my challenge right now is finding that middle ground. I want you to be free to explore and learn and experience new things, but I also want to keep my sanity. We’re walking this new ground together. I suspect this will be a lifelong thing. I’ll keep working at it if you do, sweetie.

Playtime with you is a lot of fun. You’re now playing with Hot Wheels and you love them. They work so well on your car ramp! We try and spend time every day out in the backyard, whether you are playing with the water table, with your cars or in the kiddie pool. When you hit the park now, you’re no longer interested in the swings. It’s all about the sand. You also like the slides. And I caught you feeding your puffs to your giraffe finger puppet the other day, which was adorable and showed that you like pretend play. I’m going to try and nurture that a bit more if I can. I’d like to get you a set of play dishes – we’ve borrowed a few from the toy lending library and you’ve really enjoyed them. Perhaps it’s time to find one for you to keep at home.

You still love your books, which makes us very happy. You have a great vocabulary – you know a lot of words and can point to things when we ask you. You can identify some shapes and colours, lots of animals and vehicles, as well as everyday items. But you aren’t talking yet. I’m trying not to worry about it – you make lots of noises and like to babble away. You are good at communicating your desires. You’ll get there in time.

You are great at walking – even on grass and on sand – and you can run, too! You also like walking backwards and turning in circles, which always makes me smile. (So much of what you do makes me smile.)

You have been very Mommy-centered for the last little while. You like me to stay nearby and protest if I walk away (even if it’s just to get myself a drink of water or use the bathroom). I’m flattered, don’t get me wrong, but getting things done can be a bit challenging when you’re like this.

One Sunday a few weeks ago, you just weren’t yourself. You cried a lot, very suddenly, and just seemed very insecure all of a sudden. It turned into a very cuddly day. We took it easy and spent a good chunk of the afternoon together on the floor looking at books, watching TV, and generally being gentle with ourselves. I was sorry you weren’t feeling your best, but was wonderful to have you sit in my lap, stroke my arm with your hand, and have you rest your head on my shoulder.

We often take the porch swing cushion and put it on the living room floor with your brown blanket when it’s time to chill out a bit. That’s where we sit when we watch The Backyardigans together. Sometimes you sit quite still with me, giving the TV your full attention. Other times you like to flop around on the cushion and roll and laugh. Either way, we have a good time.

We try really hard to treat you with respect. And lately that means giving you warnings before we change activities. We’ve started telling you that you have two more minutes of something, then one more minute. It doesn’t mean you don’t cry when we move on to something else (getting out of the bath, coming in from outside, getting back into the stroller or the car), but I think you cry for a shorter period of time.

Overall, you’re buckets of fun. You love being chased, you love to be picked up and thrown around, you love to dance. You have the best chuckle in the world (although you’re losing your fantastic baby cackle, which makes me sad – we’re going to have to try and get video of that), you’re developing a great sense of humour, and you have the sweetest smile. Everybody wants to coax a smile out of you, and they feel very rewarded when they do. Your aunts and uncles are madly in love with you. When Uncle Ted and Uncle Mark heard there was a wasps’ nest under your play table, they were at our door in 15 minutes with a can of wasp poison. Aunt Janine wants to cuddle you to bits. Our friends generally seem to enjoy your company, which is wonderful because it means people come to our house to play with you! (We’re going to try and get you over to other people’s houses more – it’s been so rainy on weekends that we haven’t been able to get to Uncle Ted’s pool, but I’m going to try and make that happen for you next weekend if it works out.)

We love you so much. You make our days sunny and bright, you make us laugh and smile, and we just adore you to bits. Your grandmothers can’t get enough of you, and you charm strangers with your beautiful eyes and expressive eyebrows. Keep being such a fantastic little guy. You’re not a baby anymore – you are definitely a toddler. And it’s wonderful. We loved meeting Moe the Baby and we are really enjoying getting to know Moe the Toddler.

Dear Moe (15 Months)

What a lovely and busy month we’ve had, my darling! The weather hasn’t been fantastic, which means that there have been more than a few days that you didn’t get outside, but you’ve been kept busy with visits to playgroup and different museums.

We really hope that you’ll become a museum lover. Mainly because we think museums are a fantastic way to combine fun and learning, but also because it’s the field in which Mommy and Aunt Natalie work. We have a membership for the Science and Technology Museum, the Agriculture Museum and the Aviation and Space Museum. You hit Science and Tech on a regular basis - the five and under play area is perfect for you, and you love touring the exhibits and pressing buttons. We’ve also taken you to the Agriculture Museum more than a few times - you love seeing the animals, but the tractor exhibit is what has really captured your heart. Granny took you there and she said that when you saw the size of the tractor wheel, your eyes nearly popped out of your head. We’ve also done a lovely family outing to the Canadian Children’s Museum, but I think it will be another six months to a year before you can really enjoy that one.

We spent Mother’s Day at the Agriculture Museum, actually. Aunt Natalie has been visiting for a few weeks, so it was lovely to include her in our family outing. Both Granny and Grandma came with us, too. You enjoyed seeing the cows and got to pet a baby chicken!



One of the greatest things about taking you to the Science and Tech Museum is that now you’re walking up a storm and it’s a great place to just let you roam. You walk with great confidence, you’re getting much steadier, and you have even tried running a few times. We got you some lovely shoes for the summer from Kiddie Kobbler, thanks in part to a gift certificate from Aunt Janine and Uncle Mark. Having those light but well-fitting shoes has helped you quite a bit. You’re still not terribly sure of yourself on grass, but that will come.



You love to throw and chase your ball, you build wonderful towers with your Mega Blocks, you love playing with your cars and driving them over any surface you can find, and you LOVE playing with water. The weather has been poor this month, but we did have a couple of gorgeous hot afternoons where you were able to play on the deck. We’ve got it all set up for you with a play table for your cars, a gate, a chair for Mommy, and your water table. You loved playing in the water! I brought you to Uncle Ted’s for the afternoon yesterday and we filled the beer bucket up with water and gave you some toys and you kept yourself occupied for two hours. You were especially interested in the hose.



We all got sick this month. Daddy got it, then you got it, then I got it. Granny even got it. Grandma seemed to emerge unscathed, somehow. But it was a terrible cold, and you weathered it as best as you could. It’s very hard to see you sick, little Moe. Eating and drinking were very difficult because you couldn’t breathe through your nose, you weren’t sleeping well, and you generally felt miserable. But we’re all back to 100% now, thankfully.

You’re a big flirt. You flirt with people at the park, with people you see in stores, with guests who come to our home. It’s adorable. You smile and giggle and generally melt hearts. You also started giving me and Daddy kisses, which was awesome. You did it for a few days but haven’t done it since. I hope you pick up the habit again. You still give excellent hugs.

You love it when we sit on the floor and you can stand behind us and hide behind our backs. You love it when Daddy carries you up the stairs super fast, chasing me. You love (thanks to Jeannie) to point at us with both your arms outstretched and your head cocked to the side. You love making the pinching motion with your fingers in the car. You love music, you love dancing, you love it when we sing.

We had a long discussion about whether or not we’d get you a toddler harness. We had decided against it for now, but when I brought you to Walmart to get a new baby gate, you suddenly pointed at something on the shelf and squealed. It was a monkey that you could wear on your back! As soon as I took it down from the shelf, you freaked out and wanted to see it so badly. I gave it to you and you hugged it. So I bought it. And you love to wear it. And although we don’t use this feature, there is a “tail” we can use as a leash should the need arise. It’s a nice compromise. Right now though, you just love wearing your monkey.

Now that the weather is nicer and you can play outside on the deck or in the yard, you’ve been seeing a lot more of your neighbours. A (who is about 4) lives next door, and her mom runs a day care, so there’s always two or three other kids there, too. There’s a little boy and girl who visit their aunt down the street, so they like to play with us, too. And there’s T a few doors down - he’s 3 or 4 and is tons of fun. His little brother E is only 7 months old, so right now you’re the youngest who isn’t a babe-in-arms. The other kids love your play table, and for the most part, are very nice to you. You see them playing outside and ask to go join them. It’s a nice part of the afternoon. Usually, I get home from work, get changed, and we go outside to play until dinner.

I think we’ve found you a day care provider, sweetie. Starting in September, you’ll be going to play at R's house for 3 days a week. After a month or so, we’ll make it 4 days a week. We really like R, but we especially like that she’s warm and affectionate (because you are too) and that she incorporates music into her day, because you love music. You’ll be going with her to a school playgroup in the mornings, too, which I think is a great place for you to spend time.

Your eating skills are improving all the time. We can put the plate on your tray and you’ll eat your finger food without dumping it. We can fill a spoon with food (if it’s relatively thick and sticky, like stew) and you will take the spoon from us and put it in your mouth. You like to drink from a regular cup now, too. We only put a small amount in the cup at any time, and we find that you’re more careful with milk than water. Water is often a free for all - you’ll load it into your mouth and then spit it out because it’s fun. You still take a bottle before bed or nap, and you also drink from a sippy cup when we’re on the go. We’ll eventually get away from the bottle and replace it with a sippy, and we’d also like to get you to brush your teeth somewhere between the milk and bed. We’ll get there. Right now you brush your teeth after each meal (while sitting in your high chair, chewing on the toothbrush) when we remember. You have so many teeth now that it’s getting more important for us to remember to give you the toothbrush! And we sing the Toothbrush Family song, which you love.

You have the best smile, the most awesome laugh, and the sweetest face. You are kind, gentle, determined, are great at problem solving, and are generally a ton of fun. We love you so much. Keep being amazing - you’re so good at it.

Some Advice

I have several friends struggling with infertility right now, and today one of them told me that their boss called a bunch of people into his office and announced his wife's pregnancy. 

"I wasn't expecting that," this person said. "How do you deal with something like that?" 

My reply to this question: 

OMG, you try not to throw up.

I had a mantra. I would tell myself, "I'm happy for this person. I'm just really sad for me." And that feeling this way is OK. And I would put on a brave face for 2 minutes, walk up to them and congratulate them heartily, and then back off and say, "I'm sorry, I must run. Congratulations again!" and get the hell out of dodge. Or if it's a big group, just discretely melt out of the room.

And then go find some ice cream. 

And then you take your ice cream and go for a walk and cry. Because someone has just emotionally kicked you in the stomach and that's what we as humans do when that happens. You cry at the injustice and the unfairness and the why-the-hell-is-life-like-this.

And later, when it comes time to celebrate this man's good fortune, you send me $20 and I go and find some children's books, and I wrap them for you and buy a card, and you sign the card and give it to someone who will be attending the shower and you SEND YOUR REGRETS. Because torture is against the Geneva convention and attending a baby shower is torture for people coping with infertility.

Dear Moe (Bonus)

Congratulations, sweetie. You got up your courage and embraced walking today. Daddy says you were super proud of yourself, squealing and laughing and flapping your arms in glee.

I'm very proud of you.

Dear Moe (14 Months)

My darling, you turned 14 months old yesterday. I’ve been back at work for two months. Somehow, this past month has been even harder than the first month back. I think it’s that you are just so much fun to be around.

You have become incredibly affectionate in the last month. You love to give hugs, you love to receive cuddles, you love to put your head on someone’s knee and have your hair stroked. You love it when I lie down on the floor and you come up to me and lay down on my belly and we cuddle. It’s fantastic. And you don’t discriminate – you hug your Daddy, your grandmothers, and your aunts and uncles. Trust me when I tell you that it makes everybody’s day. Uncle Jay compared it to being shot in the heart with a rainbow. In fact, you hug Saskatchewan Bear less and less because you’d rather hug people.

We read books together every day. You particularly enjoy the First Mighty Movers book – you love pointing out the cars and trucks, and when we get to the police car, you go to your speedway and grab your police car to show that you know they are the same thing. You like My Nose, My Toes and Me, and are getting better and better at identifying your own body parts. You know your mouth, your belly and your toes, and you have been known to also identify your eyes and ears correctly. No luck with the nose yet.

You’ve done some nice little road trips this month. We took you to visit your Great Aunt Carol and Great Uncle Kevin in St. Zotique, and you did super well. You visited your Grandpa in Kemptville, too.

We also did a morning drive to Ogdensburg with you, where we hit Walmart to pick up a few special toys. We got you a water table for the back deck, as well as a ball for outside and a bright yellow metal Tonka dump truck. You had never seen one before, but as soon as we took it off the shelf you screamed in delight and begged us to let you hold it. We play with it with you in the driveway. (Side note – our driveway is very slanted. Granny’s is a safer place to play when dealing with toys with wheels and a little boy who isn’t 100% sure on his feet.) When we go on wagon rides, you insist on bringing the Tonka truck along. I caught you cuddling it the other day.

You’re down to one nap a day now, and it’s been a long process, but we’ve finally moved that nap to after lunch. You generally nap from about 1pm to 3pm, and it works well for everyone. You sleep well at night, for the most part, generally getting up once for a diaper change. I can’t fault you for that.

You’ve had a cold for the last week, which has meant that the nights haven’t been as great as usual. Unfortunately, I was in Waterloo for the weekend when you came down with the cold and your Daddy was on his own with you. Then HE got sick, too! But you were both troopers, and you’re getting less sniffly every day. The key is to keep you well hydrated, and to ignore your cries of distress when you see us coming with a Kleenex. We’ve also gone back to giving you a steam room at night when you wake up congested – we haven’t had to do that in ever so long. But it seems to help you.

My trip to Waterloo was a lot of fun, but it was my first time away from you for an extended amount of time. I missed you terribly, but it was good to get away and recharge my batteries a bit. We both had some separation anxiety, but things are back to normal now. It didn’t help that you were coming down with a cold at the time, you poor thing.

You have ALL kinds of teeth now, small sir. At least two up top, and I think three on the bottom. (It’s difficult to say; you’re not a fan of having your teeth checked.) After so long without any, it’s very strange to see teeth in your mouth!

Let’s talk about eating. You’re a good eater, you aren’t picky, and you enjoy your food. But mealtime is still pretty challenging. You like to be able to play with your food, and we’ll let you, if you’re eating at the same time. But if you stop eating and just keep playing, well… the spoon or the sippy cup gets taken away and the tears and recriminations begin. You like to use your spoon, but not to feed yourself. You used to bring it to your mouth, but now you’re all about using it to burrow into the food and to fling it up, bringing food with it. This is why there’s a tarp under your high chair now. Sometimes we feel like we should be wearing the tarp.

You have become a lot more verbal in the last week. I suspect that words aren’t far away. To date, you do “mamama” and “dadada” with some consistency, and you make fantastic lion noises.

You have a wonderful sense of humour, sweet son. You like to tease us with a very cheeky “will I or won’t I?” smile. It might be when you’re about to pop something in your mouth, and then you suddenly stop and smile. Or when you’re about to drop your bib in the hamper (a job for you that is going very well), and you leave it hanging there with a cheeky smile.

You’re motor skills are improving, too. You can put your discs on and off the wooden pole with great ease. You can make your wind-up train go, and you love pressing the buttons on your phone.

You took your first independent steps with Grandma shortly after I wrote your last letter. I was very gratified to have been there when it happened. But then you didn’t take any more! You won’t do it when we ask you to – it’s as those you’re scared – but we’ve caught you walking unassisted a few steps at a time when you are busy and don’t notice that you’re doing it. Otherwise, you’re cruising all over the place, or walking with our help – but you don’t need two hands now, you can do it with just one a lot of the time.
I took out some toys from the Toy Lending Library, and it’s been fun to watch you play with them. One is a rocking horse – you enjoy it, but don’t like being on it for long. I don’t think you like feeling “stuck” somewhere. The other is a set of toy pots, pans and plates. You have a great time with those.

We realized the other day, to our great dismay, that you can totally reach the outer six inches of the dining room table. We have some work to do. I’m hoping to get a lot done this weekend – we need to get more of the house ready for you. As Uncle Ted puts it, the babyproofing tide keeps rising!

Your Tia and Tio sent us a lovely gift for you. It’s your very own chair! You tried it at Sean and Jeannie’s and really liked it, so we wanted to get it for you. But Tia and Tio beat us to it! It’s red, and it’s set up like half an egg. It spins and has a canopy that you can pull down. You like sitting in it for a little bit, but you LOVE standing in it. I think we’ll be putting a stop to that, as my heart can’t take it.

We’ve started hunting for a day care provider for you. We’re hoping that you can start part time care in September. It will be good for you to play with other children every day. I’ll tell you, sweetie, I don’t think anyone out there is good enough for you, but we’ll work hard to find the best person we can.

We love you so much, little Moeling. You make us laugh every day. You’re just so much fun to be around. Our time with you is the best part of any day. Keep being so wonderful.