Dear Dash: Sixteen Months

Your great-aunt Kristi died at age 42 this month. She loved you sooooo much! Our last memory with her was in March when she came out and greeted you by saying, "Dash! Did you push a car under the door? Did you push a car under the door?" because she had seen the instagram video I posted. She had a picture of you pinned up in her room and was always thrilled when we came to visit. 

You now say three new words: "boo!" "umbrabra (umbrella)" and "guck (duck)"

You are learning about colors with the help of our beautiful yard.

You graduated! Just kidding, Dad did. 

You are so curious and willing to try new things. Like play the korean danso.

This month's illness was hand-foot-mouth.
Except instead of getting boils/blisters on your hands, feet, and mouth, you got them on your chin, legs, and butt.

You are so independent! You want to get out and explore wherever we go.

I tried styling your hair. It didn't last too long.

You love to wave good-bye at any opportunity!
Even though your wave looks more like karate chopping.

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

Dear Dash: Thirteen Months

Dear Dash,

Congratulations! You're one month older!

You LOVE to clap

And read books BY YOURSELF

Shredding tissues is a new favorite

You've joined us eating at the table!

You've already developed the habit of putting your feet up.

We still have fun going on walks!

Playdates are a must these days

You had your third haircut with clippers today!

You are walking 80% of the time these days. It's so cute to see you toddle around. You have figured out how to shut doors, but don't quite have the coordination to turn the knobs to open them again. You are finally drinking out of sippy cups. Graham crackers are your new favorite snack. You hate cold foods. You are getting so close to talking!

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Dash: Twelve Months

Dear Dash,

We had a great celebration for your birthday! You loved all of the attention.

In honor of the Winston-Salem Dash, I did baseball themed cupcakes and a batter bowl smash cake. 

You ended up pushing the entire cake off of your tray, so we gave you a smaller piece to munch on instead. 

It's crazy to think how much you've grown over the past year!

I'm kind of glad this is the last time I'm doing monthly pictures because it's so hard to get you to stay still.

It's been a busy month for you! You celebrated your first Christmas, caught another cold, and took your first steps. You can climb our stairs in 30 seconds flat, and have started to figure out how to climb down them safely. You are a social laugher and social cougher. You play most with your musical toys, although you will push anything around on the floor (paper, boxes, cans, etc). You still think the vacuum is the coolest invention. You love to turn pages of books. You sneakily gnaw on the corners of our games or the corner of the bottom stair.  You will let us spoon feed you almost anything if you are distracted.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Dash: Eleven Months

Dear Dash,

Although you don't have a favorite toy or blanket, you love sleeping with my robe.
You've started "talking" more, especially when you are upset. Your most common phrases are "ba-ba" "da-da-da-da" "blah-blah-blah" and "je-ju."
You are the tippy-toe king, and use this ability to reach things on countertops and in drawers.

You have a cardboard addiction. We may need to have an intervention soon.

You've been teething. And it's been awful. I really thought I'd be singing "all I want for Christmas is Dash's top tooth" but it finally came in this week! This brings your total up to 8 teeth. (Even though you can't tell in this photo).

You had your first full haircut this month! I used the electric clippers with an 8 guard around your whole head.

You are getting more confident in your cruising abilities. You can now cruise on walls.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Dash: Ten Months

Dear Dash,

It seems like each month is a new adventure! This month we tackled sleep training, worked through a brief nursing strike, and speculated whether you were going through a growth spurt or teething or both. Turns out it was both. You sprouted a new tooth on the top and bottom left side, which means you have two more that will be coming in pretty soon.

you have the weirdest sleeping positions

you love making messes!

and exploring new things

you love chasing the vaccuum

k

and you resemble someone famous...

dennis the menace!

complete with hair bump

you're officially in the double digits!

despite being sick, you've been in a great mood today

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Dash: Nine Months

Dear Dash, It's been a month full of changes for you:

 You learned to crawl! You love your new-found mobility.

You also braved the stairs- but you only did that to get our shoes,
so we haven't installed the baby gate quite yet!

Although you like crawling, your first and only love will always be standing.
Here's just a few places I've found you standing when I come to check on you.
It seems like every time you wake up from a nap I find you in a standing position, smiling.

You were a trooper for your doctor's visit with two shots and two toe pricks.
So many bandaids!

Apparently you didn't want the giraffe to see what was so funny.

You are still our happy social baby! You love to give open mouth "kisses" to other babies, and we enjoy it when you wrap your arms around our necks to hug us.

Your top teeth came in this month, which means you can now experiment with chewing biting our shoulders. 

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

Dear Dash: Eight Months

Dear Dash,
You are soooo close to crawling. You can get on your hands and knees now, but have yet to figure out how to coordinate them. This frustrates you, which means you hate tummy time once again.

You've branched out and tried lots of new foods, including some that Mommy doesn't approve of, like napkins, cardboard, other people's hair, and grass.

You have officially learned how to pull yourself up from sitting to standing position, and you love it. You would rather be standing than doing anything else.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dear Grandma Sweetness

This is my heartfelt note for your birthday-

Thank you for taking such good care of me!

You were master swaddler to help me feel warm and comfortable

And if that didn't work, you were always good for a cuddle! 

You held me even when I was in a bad mood 

You played fun games with me

And encouraged me to smile

But you were still willing to be serious if needed. Like during a staring contest.

Deliberately, 
Dash