Tula is 14 months!

What does Tula love right now?

- Dancing. Absolutely her favorite activity of all time. She snaps her fingers (she has her own version where she just pinches them together), spins around, claps, and shuffles her feet. It is adorable.
- Giving hugs and kisses to other kids her size, she will chase them around to give them.
- Playing with older kids. Anyone bigger than Tula but smaller than Mommy is very, very intriguing right now.
- Holding baby Mav for about one second and then shoving him off her lap, throwing her hands in the air, and saying "All Done!"
- She loves that she can use her only phrase, "All Done", to communicate whenever she wants whatever is happening to stop. This list includes, but is not limited to, finishing eating, anyone who is holding her brother, sitting in a highchair at the restaurant, the carseat or stroller, and diaper changes.
- Sweet potatoes. Pureed. I think she will love these forever and they will be the main course at her wedding. This kid would eat them for every meal, every day I think. I have been trying all sorts of finger foods and sometimes she takes stuff but never enough to fill herself up, I usually have to feed her after a meal.
- Showers. Another cool new thing we just tried, she likes to sit on the floor of the shower while I shower and play. I can put her down and not hear a peep from her till I am done, she loves it when I sit with her and splash in the water though. I started doing this a little at the end of my pregnancy cause it was an activity I could do with her that didn't require me to move a bunch.
- Waving hi and bye, usually bye is after the person she is waving to has looked or walked away, and unfortunately for them they have no idea what they just missed.
- Her new "cheesy grin" that started awhile ago to appear very sporatically but is now showing up a few times a day. She loves to do it to strangers while we are out, I think because of the reaction it gets. Basically, she just scruched up her face into the fakest smile ever. Oh yeah, she does it right before you are about to tell her "no", when you say her name and she knows what's coming next. Yep, she's a smart cookie. It still gets us every time and makes "no" a difficult word to say.
- Coloring. This month, she went into daddy's lunch box and grabbed his pen and a piece of paper and started to try and draw on the paper. When I saw her sitting in the pantry doig this, I was shocked. We had never even really tried coloring with her. I just don't know how she would have known that the pen and paper even go together? I was convinced at that point she was brilliant.
- Tula loves making me beg her to say Mama...lol. She still hasn't said it and it drives me crazy. I know it's worth the wait and I firmly believe at this point she just loves hearing me ask her to say it. She says "dada" or "daddy" and "all done" clearly, but thats about it for words right now. My Mom and Dad claim she said "turtle" at the zoo, I haven't heard it yet but she has a little turtle animal they got her and we are working on it. I will let you know if and when that happens.
- Mommy's milk! Brother is here and my milk is back in full swing, my supply was so low at the end of my pregnancy there was pretty much nothing left. She is still nursing, I think right now to have what her brother has, more than anything. But she loves the new milk and I am sure she is still wondering what the heck happened.
- Toots. Tula figured out her toots this month, that they come from her and from below, though she is unsure of where exactly. Whenever she lets a loud one rip, she looks up at you and then opens her mouth in this "I am shocked" face, lifts up her shirt, and looks down. Not sure what she's looking for, but she knows it comes from below.
- Helping Daddy. This is a huge one. She loves to do anything he is doing, and will just hang out and watch him do any task. Fixing stuff, building stuff (Mav's furniture was a fun job!), cleaning. Anything he is doing, she loves to be right there.
- Visitors. Tula LOVED having Grandpa, Grandma, and Auntie Jen here for their visit when Mav was born. She liked to go and knock (bang) on their door when they were in their rooms, she loved all the fun games Auntie would play with her, and going out for a ride in Gr and Gr's car, spending the afternoon with them. She misses everyone so much, and after a week of them all being gone, she still randomly will knock on the spare bedroom door in the mornings, I think hoping it will fling open and there will be a grandparent behind it!
- Waiting for Daddy at the door. Tula has figured out the sound of our garage door opening and knows it means daddy is home. She will run to the door and wait patiently for him to open it from the garage and greet him with a huge hug.

At 14 months old, Tula is now a big sister, and that is by far her biggest change this month. She has adjusted fairly well, there have definitely been a couple tantrums (these are new) and sad faces when she sees me nursing him. She likes to watch me change his diaper though, and yesterday noticed his penis for the first time. She was pointing at it, and last night when she went for her bath, she was bending down trying to look in between her own legs. I think she was just putting it all together, she definitely knew something was different. She likes to hold him briefly, kisses him lots, and loves to poke at his eyes or pinch his nose (we are working on these ones). I have never said the word "Gentle" more in my life than in the last two weeks. But all in all, she loves him and is a fabulous big sister. She loves to help me, pass me diapers of wipes and throw things in the garbage. She is a sweetheart and John and I are loving seeing her loving and tenderhearted personality shine through right now. She has big kisses for anyone, and we are amazed at how much love she has inside her for such a tiny thing. We are so, so blessed.

Tula, 14 months have flown by with you. And every month I love you more and more. Thank you for being such an angel, I know this month has been a big transition for you and although you will never remember it, watching you feel sad about it sometimes breaks my heart. I want you know know that I love you so, so much. Any, any, anything in this whole big world may change but my love for you never will. No matter what. Kisses! ~Mommy