Dear Hadley,
Today you are seventeen months old. And today also happens to be Easter so it was a very busy day at the Bateman household! We hosted Easter Brunch and some of our family and friends came to spend the day with us. It was funny because a few people who don’t see you very often kept commenting on what a little person you are becoming, what with all the walking and talking (or rather, attempting to talk) you are doing. It just seems like you are growing up so fast all of a sudden.

This weekend you went on your very first Easter egg hunt. You and Ana have been hiding plastic eggs around our house and collecting them in baskets since we got the Easter decorations out, so your Dad and I were pretty confident you had this whole thing figured out. Sure enough, we set you down at the park and you beelined for an egg, picked it up, and put it in your basket. You were a natural.

This month your language has really taken off. I think you are up to about 25 words now. Since you have been attempting to communicated more and more we decided it was time to start working on your manners. You picked up on it right away and (with some mild prompting) you happily say “pees” and “tay oo.”

As your language is expanding, it’s interesting to see which words you are able to learn. You can now say “poop” and “butt” which your sister (and, who are we kidding, your father) find hilarious. One day you started saying them with such intensity, I thought maybe you wanted to do something about it. I asked if you wanted to go potty, you nodded, and headed for the bathroom. I was thinking “could potty training the second child really be THIS easy?” I took you in and you sat…and sat…and sat. Eventually I’m sure your bottom started to hurt, so I finally took you off. But that began your obsession with the potty. So I dug out the Baby Bjorn potty chair and you LOVE to sit on it. And rip off toilet paper and put it directly into the bowl. I am pretty sure all you think we do on the toilet is fill it with toilet paper.

Near the end of March, just before Spring Break, we had some crazy weather and it actually snowed enough here that school was canceled. We dressed you girls in your snow clothes and headed outside to play before it all melted away. You have been in the snow before, but this time you were mobile and got to walk around and really check it out. I handed you a little snow ball to play with and you instantly started to eat it (don’t worry! It was clean!). You made a series of silly faces… and then WENT BACK FOR MORE. You were hooked.

A day after the snow melted, the sun came out and it got warm, so as Oregonians we were obligated to get outside and play! Our driveway is a little steep and you weren’t sure how to get down to the flat cul-de-sac where your sister was busy learning to ride her bike. You couldn’t walk down without falling, but it wasn’t such a drop off that you’d need to go backwards on your tummy (like you do on the stairs). So, being the little thinker you are, you compromised, and scooted down the driveway on your butt! You were quite proud of yourself too.

You are still wildly obsessed with shoes. You are always trying on our shoes and walking around in any shoes you can step into. Boots are your new favorite because you can actually get them on your feet by yourself. Ironically enough, you spend most of the time we are at home trying to put on shoes, yet the second we get in the car (or the stroller) the first thing you do is pull off your socks and shoes. You, Hadley, are quite the enigma.

Your mobility is a blessing but it can also be a curse. Now that you know you can get around on your own you always want to get down and GO. Sometimes it’s not safe or convenient for you to be down so you are constantly telling me, “Walk! Walk!” and trying to wriggle out of my arms. I understand that you want to get down, so whenever I can, I let you walk on your own and explore the world around you.

As your coordination is progressing, we have started letting you use utensils with your meals. You love when we hand you a spoon or a fork with your food. You always give us this look of excited trepidation like, “Really? Are you going to let me use this? COOL.” Sure, it makes meal exponentially messier, but I figure you have to learn somehow.

Dolls are, hands down, your favorite thing to play with right now. You are such a little mama. I love seeing you cuddle and feed your babies. Whenever I see you going near the dolls I often find myself stopping whatever I am doing to see what you are going to do next. I see you cover them with blankets, give them bottles, and feed them. And it just warms my heart.

I often find myself hovering a step away as you bravely explore new parks or play structures. I know it can be frustrating for both of us having to be in such close proximity to one another, but I know that in no time at all you won’t need me to be so close. So for now, I will just treasure those amazing moments when you reach out and put your hand in mine.

All my love,
Mama

Dear Hadley,
Today you are sixteen months old. And officially a walker. Like all you do is walk, all the time. Sure, you still fall. A LOT. And the more excited you get, the more you fall, but you practically refuse to crawl anymore. It took you awhile, but now that you can, and more importantly you know you can, you walk everywhere. It’s been so wonderful. On days like today, when it is sunny and warm, it’s so nice to be able to let you walk around outside. It’s like you equated walking with a new found sense of freedom and you know you can do so much more now.

You have such a wonderful, easy-going disposition. You are so mellow and relaxed that when you do occasionally get upset about something people are always commenting, “Wow! I think that’s the first time I have ever heard Hadley cry!” But rather than fussing or throwing a fit, you would much rather make people smile and laugh. You are such a ham and you make me smile a thousand times a day.

You recently started rubbing your hands together and at first I thought you had something on your hands or you discovered you could make a new sound, but we quickly realized you had made your own sign for washing your hands. Anytime anyone washes their hands or even mentions washing you start rubbing your hands together until someone helps you wash your hands too. I’d even dare to say you are a tad obsessed (and hoping your Mama’s mild ODC isn’t hereditary). The other day you discovered the bottle of hand sanitizer I keep on my diaper bag and you have been fascinated with this new form of “washing your hands” when we don’t have a sink handy. I keep catching you pretending to use it, and I gotta admit, I find it pretty hilarious.

Another thing you are obsessed with is dipping your food. You loooove to dip. You will dip everything into anything. Last night you happily dipped apple slices into ketchup. You are not particular. I’ve heard about children like this, but as Ana wasn’t a dipper, I never had to worry about it. But you are a whole different child. If you see us dipping any of our food, we better be prepared to get you some too. STAT.

You have officially reached what I like to refer to as the “copy cat” age. In other words, you like to mimic the things we do. I’ll grab a tissue to wipe your nose and you will quickly grab one to emulate the motion. You also like to reciprocate. If I am brushing your hair or washing your face, you like to return the favor and do the same thing for me. It’s incredibly sweet and gratifying to know you are so aware of all the things we do for you in your day to day life.

I think the copy cat behavior plays a huge role in your love for baby dolls. You are such a wonderful little mama. You are always carrying around a doll, pushing a baby in the stroller/shopping cart, or hugging your stuffed animals. It’s so cute to watching you pretend to spoon feed your babies when you can’t even spoon feed yourself yet!

You are starting to talk quite a bit more lately. You aren’t always easy to understand but there is generally some sort of commentary steadily coming from your vicinity. You have added several words to your vocabulary this last month: momo (more), beebee (baby), baybay (blankie), uh-oh, and sissy. There are few things more precious than when you hear Ana’s voice first thing in the morning. Your eyes light up, you squeal, “Sissy! SEESEEY!” and you take off to find her.

While you can often be a sweet little angel, you are still very much a curious, and often times mischievous, toddler. Case in point: you have recently started emptying your crib. Sometime you do this as a stall tactic before you fall asleep, other times you do it to entertain yourself once you have woken up. You like to toss everything out of your crib: pillows, stuffed animals, dolls, blankets. Once your crib is empty you will even start removing articles of clothing. Namely socks and shoes. For some reason, you like to throw all the items in front of your crib with one exception. You prefer to take your special lovey, your beloved blankie, and drop it behind the crib. The first time you did it, it took us forever to find it. I had no idea a blanket could even FIT down there. Now as soon as we walk in to your room you point to show us it’s back there. You little stinker.

Last week your dad took a quick trip to Bend and since you are quite the daddy’s girl, you were really struggling with having him be gone for two whole days. You kept pointing to the office and asking, “Dada?” Then as if I just wasn’t getting the message, you started pointing to every single picture of him and loudly stating, “DADA!” Finally your dad had a few minutes to chat so we used FaceTime on our iPhones. You could not have been more delighted. You kept squealing with glee and trying to kiss the phone. In fact, you even accidentally hung up on him a couple times in your excitement. But it was adorable and I know it meant the world to your father.

Hadley, I know I keep saying this, but you are just such a wonderful little girl. You are growing up so quickly and I can’t even believe the things you are able to do that you couldn’t do just one month ago. I love watching you learn and change. These moments in your childhood are so brief that I hope you don’t mind if I just pick you up, hold you close, and savor these fleeting moments.

All my love,
Mama

Dear Hadley,
Today you are fifteen months old. And yesterday you took several steps! These were not your “first steps” (you took two steps back in December…then broke your leg the next day) but they were the first steps since you got that darn cast off! It was very exciting. Daddy was encouraging you to walk and when, much to his surprise, you actually took two steps he squealed like a little girl, scared you, and caused you to promptly sit down. We quickly did the same thing again and you took THREE MORE steps. But after that you were DONE and simply refused to play that game anymore. But you took steps. And we will totally take it.

The other big changes this month are in your ability to communicate. You are surprising us every day with new words or hand gestures to tell us what you want or need. You are very accomplished at pointing to things. You do this to show me things you want to eat or play with but also simply to draw my attention to something you find interesting, like, “Hey Mama! Do you see that dog?!” I love that you are able to show me things that are important to you and am always entertained by the things that fascinate you.

While knowing what you want is helpful, it is equally important to know what you DO NOT want. You have finally figured out how to shake your head “no.” Want another bite? Shake your head “no.”‘ You point to something in the kitchen. Do you want this? “No.” How about this? “Nope.” This? “NO.” THIS?! And then you squeal with delight. BINGO. It can be frustrating, and often time consuming, but it works.

Aside from non-verbal communication you are growing your actual vocabulary as well. You can say Mama (which, thanks to you having a five year old sister, more often than not is simply “Mom”) Dada, Ana (of course!!), Nana, wawa (water), bye-bye, go, up, baby, and you point to yourself and say “me me” which delights you to no end.

A couple weeks ago we had another first occur around here. Not just a first for you, but a first for our whole household. You fell asleep while eating in your high chair! I have never had a child fall asleep while eating before! Ana passed out once while playing on the floor but never while sitting up, with food still dangling from your fingers. In your defense you were a little sick and hadn’t slept well during your nap. Ana was reading a book to us during snack time and while I was helping her sound out the words (and not just guess based on the pictures) you just closed your eyes and went to sleep! I made sure to take pictures from time to time to document this momentous (and hilarious) occasion.

You are totally fascinated by shoes. Or slippers. Or boots. Any type of footwear, really. You love to put them on your feet, on your hands, or even hide things inside them. Once I even found one of your shoes INSIDE one of my shoes. I thought that was pretty sneaky.

You are also obsessed with the little pink “car” your Grandpa Larry gave you for Christmas. In fact, I was a little worried that it was going to keep you from walking because you simply ride anywhere you want to go. You roll from one point to the next, turning and maneuvering with the greatest of ease. You have even tried carrying things around while sitting down, but this proved a bit tricky.

When you realized the seat lifted up, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for you. Once day I caught you stashing your blankie in the trunk. You figured out you could ride around AND still have your blankie safely by your side. Clever, Hadley. Very clever.

Last weekend while Nana was staying with us, we decided to set up a little camp out in the living room. While you didn’t get to sleep in the tent (this time) you certainly had a great time playing in it. We left it set up for a couple days and you and Ana were constantly playing in the tent. The squeals of delight and constantly giggles coming from your little pink canopy let us know you were in pure heaven!

Hadley, it has once again been a wonderful month with you. You are such an amazing addition to my life. You give the very best cuddles and when you wrap your hand around my finger all the troubles in the world simply melt away. I love watching your eyes light up when we snuggle up in the La-Z-Boy to read yet another Blue’s Clues book (you are partial to the lift-the-flap ones). I can’t wait to share all my favorite books with you. Then one of these days you will understand why we have those round Harry Potter glasses you love to wear so much. Until then, I am happy to enjoy all the things that bring joy to you like you bring to me.

All my love,
Mama