twenty months

At twenty months, Avery is awesome. That is all. Not really! I mean, she is most definitely awesome, but there's so much more. It makes me a little sad to type twenty because that just sounds so close to twenty-four, which means she'll be two not one. And that means she's thismuchcloser to growing up and leaving me and waaaaaaaaaah! Okay, I'll try to rein in the "my baby is growing up" emotions because really, she'll always be my baby.

She was playing in the backyard after dinner last night, in just a diaper and a shirt, and as she was climbing up and down and over her picnic table, I saw it. She's a full-fledged toddler. It's a little hard on my heart, but this age is truly so much fun! She is becoming so independent and opinionated. At meals she takes my fork or spoon instead of the toddler (smaller) ones I offer. She doesn't want me to hold the water bottle to help her get a drink, which often results in wet clothes...and couches...and church pews. She loves shoes and always tells me which ones she can wear, though they don't always match! She mostly wants to wear her "squeakies," her most favorite pair of shoes.

Her language skills continue to develop daily. She has become quite the parrot and it's really teaching me to think before I speak in some situations. She's been saying "um" a lot lately and yesterday while we were out and about I asked what she wanted to eat and she said, "Um, noodles." And um, then I realized um, that maybe I um...say UM a little too much. We also hear the word "wasp" about 742 times a day. There's a wasp nest in her playhouse and we've had to avoid it the last few days so every time we go outside it spurs another round of wasp talk. We're still working on "I love you" and she's so cute when she puts her hand up to try and sign and say it. Those little fingers don't quite do what she wants them to yet. :)

We've been going over a few letters and letter sounds. I think this song helps, because she's always trying to sing along in the car. She's recently mastered "A" and now says "apple" instead of "bapple" and gone are Melmo and Bobby (a cousin), in favor of their correct pronunciations. I was both excited and a little sad as "Melmo" was really cute!

One of the biggest changes over the last month has been Avery's interest in toilet training. As in, she wants to use the toilet. Yea! Except when she woke me up Saturday morning at 7:30, the one morning an alarm clock doesn't wake me up, grabbing her diaper telling me, "tee tee" and then to "moose (move)" and "mon (c'mon)." Like, get off the bed and get me to a bathroom! We're not in full potty-training mode but we're close and that's still exciting. I'm hoping the two jumbo packs of diapers purchased last month will be the last diapers she'll need!

And I'll be honest, one of the things I'm most proud of at twenty months is Avery's ability to point out Texas on a map. We have US flashcards and of course I started with Texas because we live here...and it's the most awesome! Now when she sees her USA placemat laying around she'll say, "Detsas" (sounds just like Texas!) and I'll pick it up and ask "Where is Texas?" and she happily points out our great state.

So geography skills aside, Avery at twenty months is really amazing. She is so sweet and really squeezes us on the hugs and kisses. Gosh, it's the best feeling when she grabs me for a hug!! And even though she's all but cut out naps this last month, she's a keeper. I love spending each day with her, and without a nap that's like, two more hours we get to spend together. Don't get me wrong, she still needs a nap, but I'm embracing the lack of nap and using that time to do more productive things...like teach her about Texas, paint on the sidewalk, pick wildflowers, and in general, just have a couple more hours of fun.

And it wouldn't be a monthly update without an iPhone photo tribute to my best girl...



Happy 20 month birthday baby girl, we love you lots!!