Dear Ana,
Today you turn seventeen months old. We have been so busy having fun I don’t even know where to begin. I guess first off, we have to start with your packed social calendar. The other day I tried to set up a playdate and realized you were booked up weeks in advance. Not me: YOU. Monday and Tuesday you have MOMS Club playgroups, Wednesday is Mommy & Me, Thursday and Saturday you have Gymboree. With the exception of Sunday, Friday is your only real day off, and that is only until summer when you start swimming lessons. But you know what? You thrive off of our schedule. You love going places, seeing new things, and playing with your friends. Every day you wake up from your morning nap and say, “Go go?” And we do: we go go.


Somehow amidst all of our running around, you have managed to maintain an interest in potty training. (I know, I know. Here I am talking about the potty again. But this stuff is important. We are talking about LIFE SKILLS here!) We got you the “Once Upon a Potty” kit, which came with a potty for you, a potty-training doll (anatomically correct, no less!) named Prudence, a tiny potty for Prudence, and a little storybook. The story is just specific enough about the details of potty training, but it explains things in a way that you really related to. I think it finally helped you understand the potty is more than a funky shaped chair. You love bringing Prudence with you to the bathroom to sit on the potty together. However you don’t like Prudence to have to use the little potty and more often than not, end up setting her on the little potty INSIDE of your potty.




But something about it has suddenly clicked and in the last week you have peed on the potty FOUR times. Until this week, the only thing I could get you to do was poop on the potty. And that was only because you and I could both tell when you needed to go. You would give me a look, say “potty!” and I would grab you and run to the potty. But I was beginning to think peeing was out of the questions. By time you realized you had to go, you had already gone. Whoops! Too late. Then out of no where you said you had to go, we set you on the potty and low and behold! Pee! Goes to prove all I have to do is doubt you and you will do your darndest to prove me wrong. Good job, kiddo!


Suddenly this month you have become obsessed with bikes. You love to climb on them, walk them, push them, you name it. Luckily this month was also the MOMS Club garage sale and I scored two great finds: a little Radio Flyer trike and a battery powered ATV. We keep the trike inside because its much smaller and just so darn cute, but the ATV requires room for you to drive. We strap on your helmet and you are off! Well, that is until you drive into something. See, you haven’t quite grasped the concept of steering yet. Oh well, I am sure that will come in time.



Along the same lines as bikes, you like anything that moves. The quicker the better. It started with me pushing you in the stroller, then your Daddy hauling you in the bike trailer, and our latest obsessions: swings and slides. You are totally going to be my amusement park ride buddy, because man, do you love to go fast, spin, twist, and turn. You father would prefer to wait on the sidelines while I ride the rollercoasters and so I know you got this from me! Oh we are gonna have so much fun when you are finally tall enough to “ride this ride.”



This last weekend was not only a huge milestone for you, but for you daddy as well. He took care of you for an ENTIRE WEEKEND. I went off on the MOMS Club Spring Retreat, while you got to have an amazing Daddy-Daughter weekend. I prepped your daddy for everything: packed snacks, loaded the diaper bag, I even set out outfits for each day I would be gone. Everything I could do to make the weekend go as smoothly as possible. And boy did it work! You guys both did great. You had so much fun that your father is already trying to figure out where he can send me next so you two can spend more time alone together!


The most wonderful thing about spending so much time with you is the fact that I get to see the world through your eyes. Everything is new and fascinating. Every surface is another obstacle to conquer. Grass isn’t just grass. It’s spiky, it’s uneven, it’s green, it’s GRASS! It is so refreshing to be forced to appreciate all the things I have come to take for granted. Thank you for helping me get some much needed perspective and making everything in my world that much better.


All my love,
Mama