21 Months Old

What our busy, lively 21-month-old is up to these days...

before she becomes a big sister!

• She's started putting two (clear) words together. Phrases I've heard so far: "mo, pees" (more, please); "Bye, Ella"; "Bye, Gee Gee" (Bye, Keegan); "Bye, Yaygee" (Bye, Reagan); "Mama sit"; "my baby"; "dee dee, pees" (binky, please); "mo dee dee" (more binkies); "Hi, Mama"; "Uh-oh, messys" and "Hi, Baby." She doesn't use phrases very often, but sometimes she'll surprise me and throw one out there! Her dad is working with her on saying "I love you" but I think we have a ways to go on that one. She will sometimes say "mo dis" which sounds like "more this" but I'm not sure that's what she's trying to say.
• Lainey knows some of the hand movements to the song "Jesus Loves Me"...soooo sweet. So far we mostly get the self-hugs for "Jesus loves me" and her two open hands, palms facing upwards, when we sing "for the Bible tells me so." :)
• She likes to read books to her babies, and she helps the babies point out pictures and objects in the books with their little hands. She always wants to make sure that they can see the pictures! It's funny - when Lainey speaks to her babies, she uses a very high voice. It always makes me laugh. She also loves to feed them her pretend food and I've seen her try to give them her juice. I think she'd also like it if they could play Play-Doh with her, but they can't quite seem to hold the Play-Doh properly.
• Lainey will read books to herself and while most of what she says isn't clear to us, she'll occasionally say something that we do understand, like an animal sound or a real word. She'll say "shhhhh" when she sees a character in a book sleeping. She likes the book Ten Little Ladybugs and on the last page it brings all the ladybugs "home." She'll flip through the book until she gets to that page and then she'll happily say "Hooomeee!"
• We love to play hide-and-seek with her. She doesn't totally get it yet and the game never lasts too long, but it's still fun for all involved. :)
• She likes to "cawl" (crawl). She'll just plop down on all fours and crawl around the house, and she really likes it if you crawl with her.
• Almost any object can become a "choo choo" (milk cups, binkies, bath toys) and it can "choo choo" anywhere (on the side of her crib, the table, the bathtub).
• The girl is fascinated with "messys." She's very quick to point out messy things - particularly construction sites (?), dirt (even in flowerbeds?), puddles, crumbs, spilled liquid, stuff on her hands... She calls brooms and mops "messys" and just looovveess to use them. She also likes to help clean the floors with a cleaning rag.
• Pointing out school buses is one of her favorite things to do on the way to school in the mornings.
• She likes to run laps downstairs in the main area of our house. We'll sit in the living room and watch her run through the kitchen, take the curve to go down the hallway by the barstools, and then fly back into the kitchen again, ready for lap 2 (or 10). It's good exercise and funny to watch!
• Barney used to be "Bappey" or "Bobby" but now it's "Ba Ba." Oh how she loves Barney. She still likes Elmo, but I think Barney and Friends is her new favorite TV show. She particularly loves the episode about horses and specifically requests to watch it several hundred times a day. :)
• She still loves playing with Play-Doh and coloring. When we play with Play-Doh, she most often asks me to make peas (so she can put them into a bowl) or the letter O. When we color with her crayons, she mostly wants me to draw binkies and babies. Just yesterday, however, she asked me to draw Keegan! Cute. :)
• Her dancing moves have evolved. She swings one arm, turns around in circles, and does a lot of hopping and stomping and jumping. She likes to dance to all sorts of music (including the songs that her toys play, songs on Barney and Friends and Sesame Street, songs featured in commercials, country music, hip hop, you name it). One of my former students, Caroline, gave her these adorable Christmas houses that plug into each other and light up and play music. She loves to dance to those Christmas songs! She also loves to make her babies dance - she holds onto her babies and makes them jump up and down to the music...very cute and very similar to how Lainey dances.
• Funny words: "pees" (please); "agee" (again); "dakky" (blankie/sleep sack); "wo wo" (water); "nah noo" (noodle); "Auk" (used for both Walker and walk); "bah pah" (a backpack or any bag that slightly resembles a backpack); "baf" (glove); "Yaygee" (Reagan); "ahh dees" or "ahh dis" (meaning "hold me" or "pick me up"...funny because her words sound nothing like either of those phrases)
• She likes piggyback rides. Unfortunately, her pregnant mom doesn't love giving them at this point in time!
• Sometimes she'll just call me "Mom" instead of "Mama." I think it's funny because it sounds so formal.
• Lainey likes to point out things that are "bue" (blue) and "back" (black). Sometimes she's right, other times she's not. I think that she can also identify pink. We are definitely still working on colors. :)
• She has developed a whiny phrase (it sounds like "nooooo aayyyeeee") that is inevitably followed by crying or frustration or more whiny sounds. Anytime I hear it, I cringe!
• She still loves her alphabet books and learning the letters. We're reading her shapes and numbers books and working on counting, too. Well, I count and she listens. :)
• We definitely see her developing a sense of independence. She especially likes to try to buckle herself into her car seat and stroller and gets very upset if you try to help her (which we always do to make sure it's done properly).
• The word "baby" finally sounds like "baby"; she no longer says "dady." Same thing goes for the word "bye" - it no longer sounds like "guy" or "die." She also now says "nauk" instead of "nah" for "milk" and she says "yuck" or "yucky" instead of making the funny guttural noise in her throat!
• She loves bubbles, both the bottle kind with the wand AND the ones you put in the bathtub. I think that is what gets her into the bathtub most evenings.
• Lainey likes to point out men and women who look like they could be a "mama" or a "daddy." She does this with anyone she sees on TV, in books, and in public places. I think this startles some people because she will point to a man in a store and yell "daddy"! :)
• I love the way she greets us in the morning or after naps. We'll walk into her room and she'll say "hi" in a cute little voice, peering at us through the slats of her crib.
• She still sleeps anywhere from 10-12 hours a night, and she takes a very good nap after lunch (usually 2-3 hours). She goes to bed around 8 or 8:30. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she does nap at school for a little bit (about an hour) and that counts as her nap for the day, but we do put her to bed earlier on those nights. Her binky and her sleep sack (her blankie) are her most coveted possessions. Thankfully, she's not attached to just one binky or one sleep sack - she will take whatever is available. :)
• She's getting better at holding my hand in a parking lot or while crossing the street. When we approach the street, she will actually hold up her hand so that you can hold it. She can still throw a pretty good fit, however, if she doesn't feel like holding your hand when you think it's necessary. I'm just glad that we're finally making progress!
• We're also enjoying Lainey's conversations that she has with us, other adults and kids, her babies, Reagan, and sometimes herself. :) She'll talk a lot while we're in the car. We'll catch clear words in there every once in a while - like "Ella" and "uh-oh" and "no" and "Yiyia" and "Emmy" and "yeshies" (horses or horsies) and "baby" and "messys" and "Daddy" and "Mama." She certainly knows what she's saying...if only we could understand her! :)
• She's starting to figure out that please really is a magic word. :) She will sometimes use it without us prompting her, but most of the time she needs a little reminder!

It's hard to believe that in three short months Lainey will be TWO YEARS OLD! We love you, sweet girl! We are so blessed to be YOUR mom and dad!