Dear Cass,
You are a sweet little monkey.
The other day you feel asleep in bed with me and Daddy. You were right in between us and we were trying to be as quiet as we could so we wouldn’t wake you up. Daddy looked at me in disbelief and mouthed the words, “We have a baby!” Yes. Yes indeed. We do. It’s still surreal. Are you a dream? My worst fear is that you are. That there may be some point in my life I have to be without you.
But I will not let my imagination run rampant…that would only lead to useless pain and worry. Instead I will enjoy you to the extent that I know how. I will try to remember that next time you act like I’ve killed a puppy right in front of you just because I set you down for a moment or I change your diaper. I understand you don’t want to be bothered with the trivial things like not being held and hygiene, and believe me when I say I UNDERSTAND AND TOTALLY AGREE. I cry when Daddy changes my diaper.
What?
It was a big month for you, Little Mama. You’re looking more and more like a toddler and less like a baby every day. I suppose that’s appropriate considering you are actually a toddler now WHAT WITH ALL THE WALKING! You, little girl, are taking several steps at a time now. I have a bone to pick with you now because you won’t walk to me, even if you’d only have to take two steps. You will get down on your hands and knees and scoot half and inch and put your arms in the air so I’ll pick you up. Do you know how much effort that takes? But you will gladly walk to Dad even if you have to walk half way across the living room. What is that about? What? Do you want to go in time-out? Cause that’s where you’re headed. On the balls of your little feet.
Speaking of time-outs, eh hem…you have become quite the protester of rules. I must say, I’m very proud.
And also, you’ve had more time outs this months than I had planned. You have this thing for a certain lamp that you knocked over and sent a short circuit throughout half the house and it messed up our router and now we don’t have wireless and so now you have a lamp to knock over and wires to get tangled up in and a gas heater to point at and see if me or Daddy will yell at you first and on top of that you made me write this horrible run on sentence.
This life is hard. The world is harsh. Let’s just stay indoors and look at it through a glass window.
I’m sure there are many people who think that I should just “redirect” you. Have they met you, Cass? Because any member of my family could tell them that you can’t be redirected. You’ll just take the toy I offered you and head back to the one I took you away from, thank you very much.
You eat big people food now. I still give you some pureed things, too, but you have really enjoyed getting to try new things. You finally ate an avocado after 5 months of rejection! (That should encourage you other mothers not to give up trying new foods!) You like parsnips, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, gumbo, rice, monkey bread, biscuits, asparagus, sugar cookies and cheesecake and ice cream. Last but not lease, you have loved yourself some spaghetti.
I title this next one “A Sacrifice to the Spaghetti Gods”.
Thank you for being a good eater, Cass. Trying new things is one of the few things that I will demand of you. You don’t have to like it, you just have to try it. What if Dad and I end up overseas and the food is completely different? What if something happens and we can’t afford anything but brussel sprouts? What if global warming kills all the chickens in the world and we have to live on tofu? Mostly I just think food snobs are rude and inconsiderate.
Good eater you may be, but good sleeper you are not. You just keep psyching us out with your random night of full sleep. You’ve had 4 or 5 of them so I know it’s possible, but Cassidy Carter, my New Year’s resolution was to get a full night of sleep on New Year’s Eve. We ended up seeing each other all night long.
What is up with that?
I do not take pictures of you at 3 in the morning. I would if it would make you sleep.
Thankfully Daddy was here to rock you to sleep for your nap time over Christmas break.
You have six teeth. Have I told you that?
This picture was taken the day Dad and I went Christmas shopping for a few people. You were very good. You didn’t fuss at all that day and we were so proud of you.
You got so much for Christmas I thought about putting a cap on your gifts for next year. We’ll see.
I think you felt the same way.
This is your Daddy the Sith Lord.
The Sith Lord is rocking you to sleep in your room right now. I hope you both know how much I love you.
Love, Mama
And then I’d attach a basket to the handlebars and ride it like a shopping cart scooter through the aisles of Walmart collecting my Caesar salad, oatmeal and organic carrots in my basket while people wish they too had a wooden bike. 
