23 Months

This second year with you has gone by so fast! I can't believe that it's already October and next month we will be celebrating your 2nd birthday. You are so incredibly fun right now. Not that you haven't been fun the previous 22 months, but you are SOOOO fun right now! Here are some of the things you are doing right now :)

Physically: You are still wearing 18-24 month pants and mostly 24 month shirts. Some 2T shirts do fit you, too. You love to climb, run, jump, climb, skip, walk backwards, flip, and climb. Did I say climb enough? You've just started climbing on the chairs in the dining room. You've never done that before because they are so high off the ground, but you're not scared anymore. Your Daddy and I have to watch you like a hawk. We know that when we hear silence, something is happening and we better find you quickly! You still use both hands to write and eat, but you seem to be favoring your right more now. I guess it's still too soon to tell which one you'll end up using one day.

Verbally: You have been combining words for several months now. I am very impressed at how much you know and understand right now. You still leave out a lot of sounds when you say certain words, but I'm a good translator so I almost always know what you're saying. Some days you are very chatty and I love that we are beginning to be able to have conversations with each other.

Eating: Eating lately has been a REAL chore for us. You eat very well at Mrs. G's house and at school, but not so well at home. I guess having other kids around you eating makes you want to eat. Maybe I need to hire some kids to come sit with us at dinner every night so you'll eat. We've tried everything we know, but you simply don't care. Food isn't something you think about a lot, obviously. We know you're getting enough of what you need over the course of a week, but sometimes it's hard to not worry. I'm trying my best to not to though, and I think I'm getting better.

Sleeping: We still do our same nightly routine and it works beautifully. After your bath and we brush your teeth, you and I sit down and read 3 books before saying your prayers and going to sleep. I lay you down in your crib, give you your "bay-bay" (blanket), and turn on Praise Baby Lullabies. Some nights you go right to sleep and there is no need for me to sit with you and other nights you need to know I'm nearby. Before the first song is over, you are in dreamland and usually sleep until around 5 o'clock in the morning, at which point, you wake up and I just put you in my bed so I can get at least another 45-60 minutes of sleep :)

Favorite Things to Do:

1. "Drive" cars-play cars, real cars, make believe cars. You love pushing buttons, turning on the air, turning on lights, turning the wheel, buckling your seatbelt and so much more. It's an addiction, really!

2. Play hide and go seek. You prefer for someone to hide with you and you usually come out before we can find you, but it's the best thing in the world to you.

3. Paint and color. If you see me painting, you HAVE to paint as well. Your works of art are already adorning our kitchen walls everywhere you look :)

4. Watch Toy Story or Cars. If I ever need to do something-cook dinner, for example- one of these two movies is what you want to watch. You love them both a lot!

5. Be outside. It's getting colder so we can't do that as much right now though.

Favorite Books:

1. Toy Story

2. Sleepy Time ABC

3. Little Sheep's Big Scare and the Shepherd's Great Care

4. Little Golden Books, "Cars" and "Toy Story"

Favorite Toys:

1. Wheely Bug

2. Any type of sports ball

3. Duplo blocks

4. Coloring Books

In just one month you will be 2 and that is so hard for me to believe. I can't wait to see what you're doing then!