23 Months

Your vocabulary is growing so much. There are a few books which are your favorites with letters and pictures of different things and animals on them, and you name so many of them that it surprises me every time. Also we are making progress on learning letters as well as counting. You at least attempt to count, even if it isn't always right. You are very good at repeating them when we ask you to. You answer yes and no to so many things that we ask you. To food it's usually a "no", unless it's something you really like, and to going outside, or park or to see a friend you usually say "yes". Big surprise there.

You love just about every activity that we take you on. We've gone to the Little gym in Poway a few times which is a gymnastics place and you get so excited when you see that we are there. You're super brave on things that they have you try out there and every time you see me try to help you in any way, you say "Sama" which means "by myself", you want to do it all on your own, which can be a bit scary since you don't know your limits very well yet. At times on the playground when I pick you up and place you somewhere, you will say the same thing and deliberately go back to the place where I picked you up and climb up on your own, you're pretty stubborn about it already. The other things you enjoy are still your swim class, we've skipped a few because you were a bit under the weather but when we returned you were so excited to get into the pool. We still have a few sessions left in your music class. Last week, we didn't get the message in time about a cancellation and took you there anyways and there was no class so we had to leave. You were so upset when daddy had to take you back and you couldn't understand why you were leaving without participating in class, it was so sad. Your favorite instrument seems to be "baraban" - the drum... you get so excited when you see it.

The bed situation is much better, it no longer takes us hours to get you to stay in your room and bed, some nights are better than others of course.
You did get your first cold of the season last week which was really no fun. We actually all got a mild version of it, but you actually had a fever for a few nights and still have the lingering cough, and you seem to wake up a few times a night and start crying until one of us comes over to pat you on the back... usually you go right back to sleep.

You are still a pretty picky eater, but now you really don't like when we attempt to feed you. Sometimes you get mad if I take the spoon, although I am only helping you get some food on the spoon, you will still get upset at times. You are definitely getting very independent.

Tooth brushing is going well. You actually got another molar in the back, and I finally got a Crayola automatic toothbrush and I feel like it's way better than when I am trying to scrub your teeth. We even floss now, at least the couple of teeth that are close together which the dentist recommended that we floss.

Next month you are going to be 2 years old, I honestly feel like the last 2 years have gone by in the blink of an eye! I am already looking at older pictures of you when you were a tiny little infant and can't believe you are growing up to be such a lovely and beautiful little girl. I am so excited to see what is in store for us next year, but also a little bit sad that you're growing up so fast, sometimes I wish I could slow down the time, so I can enjoy it for just a little longer. I am really looking forward to the holiday time when I am planning on taking some time off and have some more fun together. Did I mention that we're taking you to Disneyland for your 2nd Birthday? It's going to be so much fun!