How a 14 Month Old Shows Love

Eliza inaugurated her 14 month marker by biting and hitting me. I suppose I had it coming. I tried to do something really horrible…like take her away from Nathan when he was holding her. They looked so cute cuddling, and I must say I was jealous of their cuddle time. I reached my arms out to Eliza and she smacked my hands, as if to say: “Go away!” Thinking she was playing, I reached for her again, where my hands were instantly slapped away, and a scream ensued. Nathan laughed. I cried.

She wasn’t messing around. She wanted to be with her daddy. How cute.

The next day, I had to tell her “no” after she repeatedly turned the television off . She looked at my hand holding hers, then leaned over and bit my arm. I guess she is getting a little personality! I hope she doesn’t become the child who bites everyone. If she does become that child, she is certainly just like her mother in one sense at least.

This little girl always has a mischievous grin on her face as she runs throughout the house.

And she has absolutely no concept of how her body is subject to the laws of gravity. She bumps into tables, falls on the floor, and staggers around our house as if she can never quite reach a state of equilibrium. There is no slow moving for Eliza. There is only fast and faster. Please note the bruise on her forehead.

Most notably, at 14 months, Eliza has formed obvious attachments to toys, books, her favorite blanket, and people. She expresses outright sadness when her friends Tina, Samuel, and Joseph leave after playing or when Nathan gets dressed to leave for work.

And although I am somewhat jealous Eliza prefers Nathan's company over mine, I think it is precious how much she and her daddy love each other. She squeals with delight every night when he gets home, she looks for him in rooms when he is gone, she runs to him when I vacuum and she gets scared, she takes him all of her books so he can read to her, and she expects to see his face most nights when she wakes up wanting a bottle (the weekends are my night shifts!). I’ve learned parenting is much different than I originally anticipated, especially with our current situation with working/school. I expected I would stay home and do all the mothering, while Nathan worked and provided for our family. Instead, Nathan and I have done a tag-team routine for the past few months, where we both work full time and parent full time. We’ve sacrificed having our days together in order to be with Eliza.

Look at that cute face concentrating! You can tell we think it has totally been worth it.  However, I am excited for us to be together more often in the not too distant future. The end is in sight!