21 Months

My little girl is still in the midst of the vocabulary explosion. In the morning, during breakfast, she will start proudly labeling everything on her tray. "Mik" [milk] "cup" "omeal" [oatmeal] "anna" [banana] "poon" [spoon]. Speaking of spoon and oatmeal, I've been letting her feed herself without freaking out about her getting oatmeal all over her clothes. Some days she only drops a little bit down her front. Other days, I wonder if she was at all successful in getting any into her mouth. But she is persistent. We laugh because when she drops some in her lap, she tries to pick it up and put it back in the bowl--when our first instinct is to put it in our mouths. She's so tidy, even when she's messy.

Last night we had dinner at our neighbors' house--steak and potatoes. Elsie pretty much ate my piece of steak as fast as I could cut it into small enough chunks for her to chew. And then she kept saying "more meat". I finally had to give her some baked potato so that I could also enjoy the fabulous carne.

Today, in the car on the way home from the babysitter, she drank all her milk and started asking for more. My hands were tied, of course, because we were in the car with no milk nearby, so I kept telling her we were almost home. By the time we pulled into our driveway, "more milk" had turned back into "more meat", and by the time we were in the garage she added a "more juice" in there, though she hasn't had juice (at least from me) in a long time.

More stuff:

-She is becoming more and more aware of dirty diapers. The other night she came and showed me a diaper (Eh-see's dyter, she says) and then lay down on the floor in my bathroom waiting for me to change her. I had to run and get wipes--it was a change to not have to fight her!

-She hates brushing her teeth, or having them brushed for her, but loves spitting in the sink. So, at least the trauma ends on a high note.

-She got a "Hide 'Em in Your Heart" CD from her Sunday school teachers and we listen to that frequently now (I'm dreaming these songs, people--it's scary) and she likes to sing along...sometimes. But it's cute when she does, because it's surprising.

-She has been carrying my Cabbage Patch (a preemie boy named Vick) around and mimicking what I do with Oscar. She pats him on the back and bounces with him. It's pretty cute. She sits down with clippers and tries to cut his nails. And she lays him on the floor and tries to change his diaper. She also puts the baby doll in the jumparoo, the bouncy chair, and the car seat carrier attachment.

-The other day I had to take the SpaceSaver Highchair off the chair and put it on the floor. Elsie thought that was the perfect place for her doll. Later I hear her saying "eat, eat, eat" and when I went into the dining room, there was a plate of plastic cakes from the Say Please Tea Set on the doll's tray. The next night, I gave her some animal crackers, and when I walked by the dining room after returning from the front door, she had put some crackers and her actual milk cup in front of the baby. Now, when you give a fake baby fake food, that's one thing...

So we're still just a-be-boppin' around here, usually to the tune of the ABC/Twinkle Twinkle.

I can't believe my baby is almost two!

Cheers!