20 months

I have a 20 month old today. 4 months from being a 2 year old. Hold me.

We are completely in the midst of toddlerhood. On one hand, it has been so much fun to see all of the things that Grace has started to pick up on. She learns something new everyday and it makes us so proud to watch her grow. On the other hand...she is still learning how to express her feelings and let us know what she wants, which can be frustrating stuff (for all parties involved) and often leads to meltdowns of epic proportion. In toddlerworld, everything is dramatic. It's sort of like dealing with a teenager in a teeny, tiny body.

Hurricane Grace

The fun stuff:

We are starting to learn colors. Right now Grace has mastered Blue and Purple, which is her favorite. Just yesterday, unprompted, she pointed to my shirt and let me know that it was purple, which was correct. :) She has started to really embrace music and enjoys dancing. Several nights a week she will grab me by the hand, pull me into the living room and try to start a dance party. Unfortunately, she learned all her moves from me...so there is a lot of jazz hands and booty bouncing. It's awkward.

Speaking of leading by the hand, that is what we do a lot of these days. If Grace wants something, rather than tell you, she will grab your hand and show you. We walk to the pantry all the time. Girl likes her food. She is 100% on a sippy cup, which she fondly calls ba-ba and refuses milk most of the time, so we make sure she gets a lot of calcium through the food she is eating, which is also pretty much anything we offer. She's not a picky one (other than the milk thing).

Grace knows many words, but is very stubborn with using them. She babbles all the time, as if she is telling us long, drawn out stories with huge hand gestures, but basically none of it is in English. She is getting better at talking and we try to make her ask for what she wants rather than point and go "mm-hmm" for yes. We also try go enforce manners, like asking please and saying thank you. It's been a rough go of it, but we will get there.

Potty training has stalled. I'm letting her call the shots and she is just not interested right now. I plan on getting more serious about it after the move when things settle down.

She is super loving and gets very attached to certain toys and stuffed animals. She will insist on taking them everywhere with her and even kiss them before bed as we are tucking her in. Grace loves to pat her little "babies" on the back and share her sippy with them. It's very sweet. She is also the biggest hugger with her daddy and I. There is seriously nothing in the world better than getting a big hug from that little girl, complete with her squeezing us tight. Love it.

These are both named "RaRa"
All bears are. Know why?
Because they say "RAWR, RAWR"

The not so fun stuff:

Oh tantrums, how ridiculous you are. We are definitely in the stage where one gets thrown if Grace doesn't get what she wants. This consists of throwing herself on the ground or throwing her toys...basically a lot of throwing. They last for less than a minute and we ignore or timeout until she calms down. Our family rule is: Use your words. Also, "whining is an automatic no". Haha...wonder where I picked that up from? Sounds so familiar. Mom? She also knows "timeout" and walks to the stairs and sits on the bottom one. We try not to giggle because it is pretty darn cute.

Luckily, tantrums are pretty short lived and Grace is generally a pretty happy go lucky little girl.

The Stats:

Diaper- Size 5

Clothes- 2T

Shoes- 6

Height- 34" (?)

Weight- 28lbs (?)

I have got to get some good pictures taken, and luckily I have a sweet friend who has a photography business and plan to get some family shots done soon. More to come. :)

All in all, this past month has been lots of fun, with some trying moments sprinkled in here and there. That's just the truth as far as parenting goes. It's not always rainbows and butterflies, but it is definately a sweet gig and I am so thankful to be Grace's mother.

xo,
H