My dearest little crazed, climbing monkey,

You are keeping both Mama and Papa quite busy these days. You have progressed from staggering around like a little drunk man, to full-fledged walking to running and now you are pushing and climbing chairs to get what used to be out of your reach. You also like to climb up on the couch and run from one end to the other; however, the couch is too tall for you to pull yourself up on so you push up one of the cushions, climb underneath it and onto the couch. You gave me quite a scare the first time you did that; I looked away for 2 seconds and the next thing I saw was you laughing and screaming as you ran across the couch.

You still can’t say much but you’re trying. You can only say “buh, buh” so when you see a ball or balloon (or when you want a boobie), you point frantically and say, “Buh! Buh! Buh!” You don’t seem like you’re in too much of a hurry to learn how to talk (and the doctor told us that you may not start talking coherently until you are 18 to 24 months of age). You scream and point when you want something and that seems to get the message across just fine for you. You have also become quite a drama king and after a crying fit, you’ll throw your hands over your face and hang your head, as if life as you know it might end because we won’t get you another ball (which, by the way, only seem to interest you when we’re out of the house). You love to have your picture taken and say “sccchhhh” (very lisp-ishy) when we tell you to “Say cheese!”

You still have only 6 teeth — 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. We are anxiously awaiting some new teeth. You love to eat what everyone else has on their plates but your lack of molars is preventing you from eating Big People Food. (And yes, I have tried to cut things up and/or puree them and you spit it out and make gagging noises.) You also LOVE orange juice and apple juice (watered down, of course) but the sugar in them makes you even more crazed than you already are and your consumption of them makes putting you to bed at night an Olympic feat.

You can point to your ears and nose and belly button when asked to do so. You actually love belly buttons more than one should and you knocked over a swimsuit poster at JCPenney trying to stick your finger in the model’s belly button. You love to pull up Mama and Papa’s shirts to get to our bellies and when I am not quick enough to give you The Big B, you pass the time by shoving your nubby little digits in my belly.

You love, love, love your music! You dance at the intro to Little Einsteins and Hannah Montana. You are also completely mesmerized by Rihanna’s Umbrella song and will sit and stare through the whole video. If Papa does a little beatboxing, your head bobs up and down. You are truly your father’s son.

You are still as affectionate as ever and love to give hugs and kisses (although your kisses are more like open-mouthed invitations for someone to kiss you). Some days you will stroll up to me, lean against me and put your arm around me — these are some of my most treasured moments.

Love always,
Mama