Sixteen Months

Dear Lena,

     The summer and autumn days are mingling together and somewhere in there you've turned sixteen months.  You are so so busy little lady!  You are such a mover. You can't be still.  You rock in your high chair, you run, you jump, you follow after every one.  But then....you crash from exhaustion.  You don't want to sleep. It is as if you are afraid you'll miss something, so you hang on until at the last minute you just fall asleep.  You are talking a lot, though sometimes you make up your own little ideas.  Recently "doodle" means dinner or food.  I think you associated Emmie asking for "noodles" (her favorite) at meal time. But who knows.  Either way, when it is time for "doodles" you just get in your chair and wait. And by wait I mean, you make a racket. It doesn't matter if you've just eaten, you still expect more. You eat so much and yet you're in the lowest percentile!! It must be because you're so busy!  Right now your two favorite people are Papa and Emmeline. You don't like being away from either of them and search the house when they can't be found.  Mama is who you want when tired or upset. But Papa and Emmie are your happy people.  You have taken an interest in coloring, in baby dolls in all animals. You think turkeys are the funniest things in the world. You still don't like books. You still love sausage best of all.  You have a little temper now and we're working on that right now. You clench your fists and pound them sometimes in deeds of misbehavior. When you like something you go "mmmmmm".  When you're happy you are ever so happy and when you are sad, oh dear. Look out!  Dearest Lena we love you!