to our 14 month old montessori girl

maybe it's my montessori training that's putting me at a bit of a bias, but i swear you are such a 'practical life' girl. practical life, or everyday living, is that area of the montessori classroom that children just love. there are all sorts of works to do that involve activities that children mostly see adults do, but never get to do themselves. things like dishwashing, plant watering, and silver polishing, just to name a few. i think you are going to love this area of the classroom.....already you love to help mommy do laundry. you move your clothes in and out of the washer with efficiency. and you lately have taken to doing what we call "cleaning". you will take a cloth out of the drawer and go around the house wiping things with it. you will wipe the stairs, the rug, your toys.....and then when we ask you if you are "cleaning", you just smile as if to say, "duh" and continue dusting.
besides your love of all things cleaning, you also are smitten with playing peekaboo. you especially like to do so with the previously mentioned cloth, as well as the playscarf from your music class. you like to just sit calmly hidden underneath the fabric while mommy and papa verbally search for you, and then you appear and start laughing and shrieking. and then it begins again.
you like to run now as well as walk, and you also like to march and stomp your feet. you also think it's funny to roll across the floor, as well as to lay on the floor and then whine and pretend that you can't get up. mostly you do this because you have figured out that when mommy or papa come to "help" you up, a tickling session ensues. which you LOVE. not only do you like to be tickled, but you love to make a "tickle tickle" sound and pretend to tickle other people. lately you have liked to have your back and belly tickled softly, and you will sit SO still for this.
let's see....just today at grandma joans you said the words, "apple" and "tea" for the first time, and you also say "uh oh" and "bed." you are working on saying "yes". well, we are working on teaching you how to say yes, since you have become so proficient in saying no. you also think saying "aaaachoo!" is hilarious, and when you see yourself in a mirror or see a picture of yourself, you say, "ta" for greta.
books continue to be some of your favorite things, and you love to read your christmas peekaboo book and the pat the christmas bunny book. lately you like for mommy to make towers with your blocks or nesting cups so that you can knock them down.
you are still sleeping well at night but your naps are sort of hit or miss. we think this means that you are in a transition from two naps to one, but only time will tell. one of your molars has cut through, and we can feel and see the other three beneath your gums.
and you continue to amaze us with things that you understand, such as knowing to point to the tree when we say Christmas or being able to show us where your neck is. actually, you are just pretty amazing in general. i swear i don't know what we did for entertainment before you were born, because we could sit and watch you for DAYS. plus, you are already helping mommy out with the cleaning. let's just hope it's a while before you learn to say "allowance".