23 Months

Dear Annie,

One more month of these letters to you... it's hard to believe that this was the 2nd to last month photo that you'll take with your friend Raggedy Ann - who you now know to go get and pose with. One month to go until your 2nd birthday, and this doesn't really make me nostalgic just yet, because you are so very decidedly TWO right now, that's for sure! One of your favorite recent phrases is "I do it" - and you get very frustrated if that doesn't happen so easily. You're still quick to ask for help, and we try to help you while still letting you figure out how to do things on your own as well.

You have some very specific ideas about the way things should work, and do not hesitate to let us know when the reality doesn't match up with it. If we are holding you and you want to walk, you wriggle out of our arms while yelling WALK!! You also have become VERY particular about what dishes and utensils you use. It is quite frustrating - you have several colors of forks, so we ask you which one you want - normally you say "purple!" but then half the time by the time we get to the table (2 seconds) you've changed your mind and proclaim, "no, YELLOW!" as if we are horrible people. Also, if we give you the "wrong" cup, you will usually spend a few minutes whining about it and saying "no, other oneeeeee" but we stand firm and eventually you drink out of the cup we originally offer. USUALLY. One never knows with you, though.

This month, I've really noticed even more that you're starting to remember things. For the first time, when I asked you a question about what you did that day, you actually responded factually instead of just saying something random or giving me a blank stare. I thought that was pretty cool - and you seem to remember more of your friends and their houses, and who belongs with who if we see someone. You also remember very random events, and talk about them for a really long time - for example, seeing a train get "broken" at the train store. For about 20 minutes in the car much later in the day, you repeated "Train broken... happened? Sad... choo choo, broken. Fix it.". On that note, if ANYTHING is or appears "broken", you asked what happened, and for someone to immediately fix it.

The time has officially come, as your dad has learned a few times, that we need to start watching what we say... because you are definitely repeating EVERYTHING! Especially if it's an ... ahem... one word declaration of frustration. You say more words than I can count or keep track of now, and are using short sentences - you can definitely get your point across most of the time now.

You still love books, but this has been such a busy month that we haven't had a ton of time to just sit around at home. This month, you demanded "The Thinks You Can Think" be integrated into your nighttime routine, and you point out many things throughout the book. There is one semi-creepy page that shows a little shadowy stick figure and a creepy ..... thing, and asks "what would you do if you met a Jibboo?" - every single time, you point at the shadowy stick figure and say "ANNIE!" and I do not know why. You can recite many of your books if we leave the words out for you to fill in.

This month, you haven't been super into coloring, but it could be because again, we were gone quite a bit. You DO love playing "rosie" and if any kids are around, you ask that they play too. Otherwise, you're fine spinning and spinning and falling down on your own. This entertains you wildly for many minutes. You still love playing night night, anywhere, anytime. You always find a pillow and blanket and lay down anywhere. A blanket can also be a rag or a towel - you do not discriminate. You frequently ask to get in your crib when awake. I do worry you will miss it when it's not yours anymore, but hopefully you enjoy your new bed just as much! Your babies are still a big hit and you play mommy to them all the time.

You've grown up so much in the past month - even in the way you respond to your name - now you say "What?" or "yeah?" like a little adult :) You understand if people are happy or sad, and offer a hug to them if they are sad. You're still good about sharing, although you seem a bit annoyed if you want to play with something and another kid takes it from you. If they ask for it, you're quick to give it to them, although with a sad look on your face. Most of the time, you are a very sweet and caring little girl!

This month, you've learned to love sweets even more so than before - you've certainly gotten your fair share! You ask for "more kee-kos" (cookies) frequently, but only get angry about not getting them rarely. You don't typically eat a ton at dinnertime, which is frustrating to your dad and I. We suspect it is because you have a big snack at daycare and fill up then. On the weekends, we don't really offer snacks unless you are REALLY asking for them repeatedly, and even then it's something small, so you eat much more then. You love to dip, and request ketchup and dips for chips a lot. You also now recognize even pizza boxes... ha. So I guess we eat pizza too much around here! It's definitely a favorite among us all. You love grapes, clementines, berries, and most other fruits. If we give you one clementine, you eat it in about 2 seconds and then demand MORE ORANGES - and do the same with the 2nd, and 3rd. We've cut you off after 3, but I think you could easily eat 5 no problem.

Your dad and I are pretty much obsessed with you, little bunk. We talk about you all the time after you go to sleep, recounting the funny things you did and said that day. We love you so much!

Love, Mom