KDUNK

Dear Lili,

Here are a list of things you do as of late:

-Peek-A-Boo: apparently this is the world’s most fun game. To you. To me and Dad it looks like you are trying to smother yourself with burp cloths, blankets, jackets, pajamas and just about anything you can get your hands on to hide behind on a regular basis. It is pretty adorable though I have to say. Especially since this week you really seemed to ‘get it’. When I hide behind something and say ‘Where’s Mommy?’ and whip it off saying ‘Peek-A -Boo’ you laugh like there is no tomorrow. It’s also pretty cute when you attempt to do this. You grab a piece of cloth and sort of half cover your face and leave it sitting there a little too long and then whip it off like a spaz with two hands and laugh and laugh and laugh. I pretend to be surprised every time. Kind of like after a long day when your Dad says, “I need a beer” and I go, “Oh, really? Huh…”

-Wanting to Walk – I have heard of these kids that get too frustrated with crawling and just skip it all together and go straight to walking. This kind of spooks me out. Imagine I sit here typing this and out of the corner of my eye you little Lili just cruise by the kitchen saying, “Hey Mom, what’s up?”. This might be you though. You hate crawling and get very, very frustrated. But when I stand you up on your own two feet and hold your arms you actually move your little feet one by one like Frankenstein taking his first steps and grunting the whole way. But you like it. You focus on something to walk towards like a mirror and when you finally make it you pant and laugh and smile.

-Hate the Bottle Still – yup – boy is this topic a big snore. Well tomorrow I head to the city for the first time leaving you with the nanny in Brooklyn so….good luck with that one! Now or never kid.

-Grab – do you know that game at a carnival – a glass box of stuffed animals and you put a quarter in and a big claw comes down and reaches for a stuffed animal? That is you Lili. You are the walking claw game. Wherever I am these days – a store, someone’s house, the park, at home, etc. you reach your little claws out and manage to grab the most random things without my notice – a hanger, a wooden spoon from the shelf, a fistful of leaves, a plastic bag, etc. I have to keep my eye on you! Or train you to steal better things. Either one.

-Storytelling – recently we went on a family car trip. I didn’t have your favorite book ‘Knuffle Bunny’ so having read it ten million times to you I recited it by memory using the same tones of voice in certain parts and your eyes got wide and your gasped a tiny gasp with excitement. You wouldn’t take your eyes off of me and thought it was SO COOL that Knuffle Bunny could be read here – here in the car even though the actual book was home – fifty times in a row! Dad the driver? Did not find it as cool. (although was impressed with my memory)

-Stroller – about 90% of the time now you must have the stroller in the most upright position possible otherwise you sit there doing what looks like a forward stomach crunch block after block after block until I adjust it. You don’t want to miss a thing.

-Silent – go totally silent – even mid-scream – when I talk on my cell phone and open your eyes wide and listen. I will do the same thing once boys start calling you – just you wait.

-Dad’s Lap – are not happier than when you are on your Dad’s lap. This is usually cashed in on a Saturday when you two love to sit quietly and watch European soccer together. I agree – those Italian soccer players are pretty hot.

We love you

xo