The Yost Family

Dear Kaitlin,

I wasn’t really planning to write you another letter until your second birthday, but you are just changing so much and doing so many new things everyday that I couldn’t stand to wait any longer. I wanted to write this on April 23, when you turned 20 months old, but I never got to it so it’s not a special “birthday” or occasion, I just feel like doing it today. It could be that the loss of baby Nate, Mrs. Courtney and Mr. Bryant’s baby, is making me want to have everything recorded. Whenever something sad like that happens it reminds me that life is short and anything can happen. Definitely makes me want to give you extra hugs and kisses…even if I have to chase you down to get them!

You are really talking a lot now! I couldn’t even tell you how many words you say. You pretty much repeat anything that mommy and daddy say. The other day I told you that you were very hyper and you started walking around saying “hyper, hyper.” Then today, I had a soda at lunch and when I belched in the car and said, “I’m belchy today.” You started saying “belchy, belchy” the whole way home. I guess we will really have to start watching what we say around you! You’re not really putting together sentences yet, but occasionally you will put together two words. I will ask you to say each of the words separately and you do great, but when I ask you to say them together, it sounds nothing like what it is supposed to. Today at the doctor’s office, I was trying to get you to say Dr. Carter, but it sounded for like daughter. You’ve also started singing. A lot of times I will hear you “singing” to the music in the car or I will look in the mirror and see you doing the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider. You sing “itsy bitsy” at the beginning and clap at the end. It’s so cute!

I think your most impressive word is edamame. You love to eat edamame and often ask for it even when it’s not on the menu. I’m really glad you like it because you don’t eat many vegetables or meat. You still like green beans and you’ve been eating a lot of turkey lately. Mostly you just want bread, crackers, tortillas, cheese, yogurt, and of course edamame. We don’t give you a lot of sweets, but you do usually have a cookie or a few M&Ms everyday. I’m sure you’d eat more if I would give them to you. Mommy and Daddy’s eating habits have definitely changed since you started eating table foods! I used to cook lots of yummy things and try new recipes all the time. I was always experimenting with different veggies and spices. Now I try to cook things that you will like or that I can easily modify for you and our menu is pretty limited.

I also need to cook things that are simple and quick because you are into everything! I try to get you to sit and watch a video while I cook, but once you figure out what I’m doing you just want to eat. You fuss and whine until I pick you up and it’s difficult to hold you and cook at the same time. You are always opening drawers and cabinets and pulling things out of them, like medicine, soaps, your toothpaste, saline solution, pencils, paperclips…you know, all the things that toddlers shouldn’t be playing with! You’re also really interested in the toilet lately and have started putting your hands in the water. I don’t think you’re quite ready for potty training, but you are definitely becoming more aware of things. You like to watch mommy go potty and then put pieces of toilet paper in the toilet. You are always putting the training seat on the toilet and sometimes you put your stuffed animals on it and tell me they’re going tee tee or poopy. You always choose small stuffed animals and I’m sure that one of these days you’re going to drop one of them into the toilet! You also like to climb on things. We had to put the step stool from the kitchen out of your reach in the utility room because you were constantly moving it and climbing up on it to get things off the counter.

You’ve definitely reached an age where you like to test mommy and daddy. You recently colored all over the dining room wall and now every time I color with you, you stand up on the bench of your table and reach up to the wall with a crayon. When I tell you to sit down and keep the crayons on the paper you just grin and giggle. I checked out some books from the library to get some ideas on how to discipline you, but I really haven’t had time to read them. I don’t want to spank you or pop your hand, but I don’t know what else to do. I haven’t tried time out yet because I’m pretty sure you would just get up anyway! I’ve thought about setting up the pack n play to use for timeouts, but you still sleep in it when we travel and I don’t want you to start hating it!

As I read this letter over I realize that a lot of it sounds pretty negative, but you really are a joy! You are just learning so much and becoming such a big girl. Some of our favorite things to do during the day are dancing, playing with cars, throwing balls, coloring, and of course playing outside. You like to push your big purple ball up the hill in the backyard and watch it roll back down and then you run down the hill after it. You always say “wee” when it rolls down. You also like to help us feed Harley, Simba, and the fish!

Well, I’m sure I could say more but this letter is already really long. I can’t wait to see what you get into tomorrow!

I love you,

Mommy