Month 20

Dear Desi,

Happy 20 months! I've been so excited to write this letter to you cause it seems you've crammed a lot of immense growing and learning in the past month I can almost physically feel your babyhood slipping away. You're getting bigger and stronger, prettier and smarter everyday, and we are so incredibly proud of you.



My favorite things you've learned this month are your letters and numbers. Last month, I mentioned you were beginning to know some of the letters at random. By now you know all the letters already! I can point to any capital letter and you can tell me what they are. Granted you don't speak very clearly yet so your C and G sort of sound the same, so with your X and S, but I know that you know your letters even if you can't pronounce them yet. You even consistently call W "bubbawah!" And sometimes we hear you singing the alphabet song, in tune but mixing up the letters. And you always end with YAY! Baby we are as proud of you as you are of yourself.



You can also count now! I can point to any number and you can tell me what it is. You can also count to ten! You sometimes forget the number six but as long as one of us says six after you say five, you continue on from seven to ten. And just as you like to pretend to read, you also love to pretend to count. You like to point to you fingers and say "wan, too, tee, po, pab!" Once while we were in Mommy and Daddy's room, you started moving around your two TV duck chairs. I asked you, "Where's the chair?" And you said "Der!" Pointing at both chairs. And I said, "How many chairs do you see?" And you pointed at one of the chairs again and again saying "wan, too, tee, pou, pab!" Darling, you make counting so much fun!



Together with learning your letters and numbers, you also sort of know your shapes. You can point to any shape if I ask you to, you can even say "Tar" for star and "Ha" for heart. And even if you know the difference between rectangle and triangle, you tend to call them both "cocogol". You already know so many words I don't think I can list them all. And many times you talk what sounds like nonsense, and yet your face is so earnest I know you must mean something that our puny minds simply cannot understand. For example, you say W as "bubbawah". And if I point to a butterfly, you also say "bubbawah" and when you want water you say "buhwa! buhwa!" and when you see a strawberry you say "bubbawie" and if you want a banana you say "buhwawa". I really aught to compile a glossary of your fun words. I'm just really excited for the day when we learn what you're really thinking, aside from "No!" and "Yah!"



You are a very confident and brave baby and you want to do everything your Ate does. Whenever I take you to her school, or when I brought you along with her playgroup, you would hold your own with kids twice your age. You can play right beside them without being intimidated, and if some kid grabs something from you, you just move on to the next toy. You love to swim, you bravely jump into the water when we go to the pool, but you've become like your Ate, you don't want to swim without wearing your life vest. You love love LOVE to run around in the park. When you go everyday, you love it when your yaya chases you around, and you allow yourself to fall on the grass on purpose like it's the whole point of running.



And as always you are our sweetest sweetie, happy to hug and kiss the whole day through. You're becoming a fast expert in the art of pa-cute, with your naughty smiles, covering your face with pretend shyness, and loud arte cries, so dramatic in execution it could almost fool us, if not for the lack of tears. You're also beginning to insist in your way, when you refuse to eat by spitting out all your food, or when you want to be carried, you would sit in the middle of the road until someone came and got you. Your yaya and I really have to stop the urge to spoil you or you will be walking all over us in no time at all.



But really for the most part you are a good baby. You put away your toys, you listen when we say no, you pick things up and give it back when told. You are even known to share Mommy's iPhone with Ate. And you are very gentle and attentive to your baby cousin Luis. You like to sit beside him and watch him, you like to kiss his feet, and stroke his head, always gently, never nanggigigil.



I really really love you, Desi, you are such a wonderful, beautiful little girl and turning out to be so smart and loving. You make me so happy just by existing and no sound is sweeter to my ears than your daily greeting of Mommy! And nothing is more precious than your big sloppy wet kisses and tight clingy hugs.

I love you,
Mommy