Whirling Girls

(on the 17th she made 20 months)

And look how long her hair is!  You should see it when it is wet and the curl is lacking . . . it goes down her back.  Well, the back of it does - - - she still has the whole toddler mullet thing going on in the front.  We are loathe to cut it though until the shortest pieces are a bit longer because it took her so long to get this nice amount of hair.  But on to the topic of her age - can you believe that she is 20 months old?  That means in 4 months she will be TWO YEARS OLD.  HOLY COW! She is my big girl now, and her vocabulary just grows by leaps and bounds - we never know what word she will say next and we are constantly surprised by her new acquisitions.  I know I am going to repeat myself and have already told you some of these words that she knows - but you can scan this part if it bores you (no offense will be taken).

These are the words she says that would be understandable by people other than just me and Mike:

money, more, mama, me, moon, dada, daddy, leo, gracie, cat, fluffy, car, flap, help, yeah, yes, yup, no, up, potty, pee-pee, poo-poo, pull-up, panty, pop-pop, purple, super-duper, peace (for please), home, on, off, pot, tea pot, cup, tea cup, sip, sippy, sip-cup, foof (for food), office, green, pet, baby, baby nana, baby doot-doot, boo-boo, toe, shoe, kiss, hook, where’d it go, come, out, me, come on, fluff, pippi (as in  longstocking), duck, quack, meow, sit (which is sometimes sit and sometimes seat and unfortunately sometimes sheet or sh*t), house, ow, cool (for cold), tool, shed, cut, and her new favorite word - cake (as in daddy’s birthday cake - “cake where’d it go” she might ask)

These are the words she says that are understandable only by me and Mike:

d (for down), doopa-doopa (for gloves - we think it is because we always indicate the computer is used with fingers and she calls the computer the super duper), shissha (for lizard), seesha (for cereal), sheesha (for scissors), many (for her mandy doll which used to belong to mama), whoowhoo (for train), swingaswinga (for monkey), go-ah go-ah (when she wants us to sing a song), kahpah . . . (is what she says when she pretend reads to her baby dolls), wuhwuhwuh (for work), shhhhhhhh (for shower), vroom sound (for vacuum), mmmmmmmm engine sound (for lawn mower)

And there are probably most likely more words for each list I just don’t remember right now anymore of her words and phrases.  She also signs with her hands.  She has her own signs for:  more, all done, plane, monkey, elephant, sprinkles and she pants when she wants to indicate a dog - - - again I know there are more that we use but I can’t think of any right now.  She is also very good at putting sentences together.  She can and will and does say things like “baby nana foof” or “dada shhhhh purple car wuhwuhwuh office super-duper” -  to mean “daddy took a shower then drove in his purple car to work at the office on the computer”.  Most of her sentences are the normal short two or three word demands “come mama come - go dada shhhh”.

In other news Annabel is also just plain great.  She is the sweetest little baby.  When I say “ow” she automatically comes over to kiss my boo-boo (which she also automatically assumes is on my toe) - so yes she does run over all the time and kiss my feet (kind of funny and I can’t wait to hold that over her head when she is a tween or teen or whatever is a difficult age).  I do kinda feel bad because when she falls I always tell her to dust off first (partly because it is difficult for me to bend over and kiss her toes) and also so she will be independent.  Annabel loves to read and play with her puzzles and baby dolls.  She feeds them and is doing all the imaginary social play appropriate for her age range (you know - the kind of stuff that is so sweet to see a barely toddler do).  She especially loves trains of all kinds and sorts.  Big trains and little trains and books about trains.  She also LOVES LOVES LOVES fire engines.  We have one fire engine book mama reads multiple times a day to Miss Nana.  Annabel is also doing great with the potty training.  She is all about sitting on the potty and going pee-pee and especially poo-poo.  But, I will get into that in another post -  I have thoughts, deep thoughts that need to be pondered over on their own.  Annabel still loves to vacuum and swiffer and clean in general.  She also loves marching around the house with mama playing musical instruments and singing the Ants Go Marching or We’re Following the Leader.

In addition to being a big old sweetheart to mama, Miss Nana also worries about babies when we hear them crying when we are out in public.  She knows with all her heart that those babies either need a “sip cup” or a “mama kiss”.  She will blow a kiss at a crying baby to make it feel better - bodes well for us eh?  She also still adores her cats.  Kisses for cats and soft pets are quite often the best distraction when Annabel is having a rough day - that and feeding them copious amounts of treats and food.  Not that she minds reprimanding them.  If someone is being bad she will walk up to them and say “go gracie go” or leo, or cat (for gromit).  She also tells them “hush” when mama asks her to and “pssss” as we walk in the house so they won’t run out.

Annabel also has her own view of the world and daddy’s place in it (inspired by mama - oh poor daddy).  Whenever a cabinet that is supposed to be locked with a baby proof lock is left unlocked Miss Nana automatically says, with a sigh, “Oh dada” just like mama taught her to.  And all of the forbidden food and drink is called “dada foof.”  For example, if Annabel wants a grown up cookie (as opposed to the healthier baby cookies) she will run to the cupboard, bang on the door and say, “nana - dada foof, dada foof - baby nana”.  Annabel also thinks daddy kisses are much more powerful than mama kisses and will sometimes tell me no when I offer to kiss a boo boo and say, “dada hoooome, kiss”.  I don’t mind because I know I created this little daddy’s girl.  Annabel is also thrilled that mama bought her a purple (matchbox) car so now she has a car to drive to “wuhwuhwuh” just like daddy’s purple work car.  As for ladders - well Nana knows very well, “mama no no up, Baby Nana no no up, Dada up.”  What a silly monkey she is!

All in all Miss Nana is way too smart for mama.  She listens to EVERYTHING and even understands when we try to substitute words.  Oh Miss Pretty you keep me on my toes!

In other other news Annabel is finally edging away from her shy stage and becoming quite the little ham.  When we have visitors she will at first just duck her head and smile - but pretty soon she is showing off and watching to make sure that you are paying attention to her.  She also LOVES LOVES LOVES to laugh when someone makes a joke.  It is hilarious.  She listens to adult conversation and probably has no clue what is going on but then laughs with the rest of us which makes all of us laugh even harder.

And there is more more more about my now 20 month old baby girl (I still just can’t believe that she is getting to be such a big girl).  She climbs and can almost jump.  She loves to bounce and spin and is always trying to persuade us it is time for bouncing on our bed (which we let her do while she is surrounded by pillows - it is a great way to wear her out).  She can stack blocks and run faster than mama can keep up with her.  All in all she is active and smart and a perfect little sweetheart who loves her mama and her daddy and her baby doot-doot and her cats more than anything in the world.