Dear Lou,

I am in disbelief that you are eighteen months old now! Yesterday was a big milestone, but even if we weren't counting the months since you arrived, I'd still know that you are really growing up. Somewhere between seventeen and eighteen months you really changed. And thank God we took you to Europe before that change.

These days you know exactly what you want but usually have a hard time getting it. You end up getting frustrated because you don't have the words you need or don't understand why you can't have or do everything your little heart desires, but I promise it'll get better soon (at least that's what I'm telling myself). Your vocabulary is already expanding rapidly and as we begin new routines, they always seem to get easier with time. A week ago I was convinced I was doomed to listen to your screaming and crying for hours after bedtime until you were at least ten years old, but you've already made drastic improvements. Sure, there's still a little fussing coming from your room, but I also hear a lot of singing and talking, too.

Speaking of singing, your favorite song right now is a toss-up between "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good." You can start "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" all by yourself by singing "Row, Row Row," (that's the only part you know), but when the Amy Winehouse song comes on in the car after your Music Together CD, you start jamming out and dancing in your carseat every single time. And speaking of Music Together, we just started a new semester of classes-- I can't wait to see you learn all kinds of new things and watch you enjoy yourself there every week!

This past month we learned a couple other things about you, mostly that you are seriously frightened of drills, hair dryers and dustbusters. I don't think we'd ever seen you scared before! Although I hate for you to feel this way, I secretly love how you hold on to me as tightly as you can when you come face to face with any of these things. But lately you've been super affectionate with me and Daddy (oh, and Lola, too), so I promise not to torture you with small, moderately-loud appliances just to get some free hugs.

I hope you know that although things aren't as easy as they were a month ago when you were Miss Laid-Back/Go-With-The-Flow, I love watching your personality grow and seeing you beginning to develop into what I can only hope is an independent, strong and confident little girl. I know there are still thousands of tense moments to come, but I hope we can both meet them with a sense of humor, keep some perspective and enjoy all of our time together. You are still the sweetest thing to me, my most favorite person in the entire world, and I love you with every bit of my heart, forever and ever.

Love you,
Mama