20 months

It's the holiday season, so I'm pressed for time, but here's a short update:

I'm going to have to stop counting the words in your sentences, as they just get longer and longer. The other day you said "Zadie reads a book while I change your diaper." Okay, you didn't have the pronouns quite right, but that's a subordinate clause! Also, you tell little stories. Like the other day, you said, "I was born in a hospital. I had a thingie in my nose."

You are also really into nursery rhymes, and can say parts of many of them. You really like Humpty Dumpty, Hickory Dickory Dock, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and a few others. You also really understand stories. The other day, we were reading a Frog and Toad story, and Toad was gathering things to go help Frog. He opened the door and you yelled "Frog! I'm coming to help you!"

You have this little trick -- it's a rhetorical trick that is very effective. You know how parents tend to expand on what their kids say? For example, a kid would say "diaper" and the parent would say "Oh, you need your diaper changed?" Well, you have completely tricked me several times. You'll say "Grapes." I'll say "Oh, you want to eat some grapes?" And you'll say "okay!" I was just clarifying, but you act as if I've offered. It's very sneaky.

You have the funniest little devil laugh. It's a really deep, throaty laugh. I have a phone game that allows you to record your voice and play it back at high speed so it sounds like a chipmunk. You LOVE this, and will play for a long time, but usually you start out speaking ("Daddy is sleeping") and end up just laughing and laughing.

You can finally jump and get air. Also, you saw a girl in a ballet outfit and decided you like ballet. You dragged out two books about ballerinas, and I bought you the Nutcracker DVD. You have also declared that not only do you paint, but you are "an artist." You play the piano and say that it is "beautiful music." You're a real renaissance girl.

You exclusively sleep in your big girl bed. In fact, we have Christmas presents stored in the crib.

Your favorite food right now is eggs, and you would eat them at every meal if you could. The other day I made you THREE scrambled eggs, and you ate them all.

I also have to add, you get the colors right about 75% of the time now, you consistently count from one to thirteen, and you can say the entire alphabet without prompting. When we give you a crayon or pen, you scribble, then point at it, saying "I writed my name!" You have also said "I'm drawing Mommy."

When people ask "How are you?" you sometimes answer "Fine, how are you?" but more often than not, you say "I'm wearing socks!" or some other non sequitur.

The other night you had some nightmares, and when I asked you what they had been about, you said, among other things "My coat fell" and "fuzzy rocks."

Okay, lots of things to do, but you're great fun, and I love you more than ever.

Love,
Mommy