21 months almost

Hi Maggie,

You are turning into such a pretty little girl... less like a baby every day. And, today 2 people told me that you looked just like me. Those kind of comments are pretty new, and even though I don't really see it, it makes me happy that other people do.

You have become quite the little talker. You try to repeat back almost everything that your daddy and I say to you. Just a couple of days ago, you learned to say the word "happy." You spent the day walking around saying "happy, happy, happy, happy." I asked, "Maggie, are you a happy girl?" "um-hmm, yah" you responded, as this has become your standard affirmative response. You still like to tell me when you are happy.

At your 18 month check-up you weighed approx 25 lbs and you were in the 50% for height and weight. You also easily said about 30 words at that time. Now, I have no idea how many words you can say because you come up with new ones ever single day. You also will occasionally combine a couple of words (e.g. more dink [drink])

Here is a very non-comprehensive list of some of the words that you use frequently: daddy, pease (please), hot, hi, dog, happy, ball, outside, nananana (banana), dink (drink), fooo (food), juice (you are always hopeful with this one after learning about juice at Grandma and Grandpa's house), teeeat (treat--even more hopeful with this one... in fact you still say "tick teeat" if you see candy, and let's be honest, I am more likely to give it to you when you ask so cutely), more, doggy, no, shoe, sock, tent (you learned this one over Christmas because your grandma and grandpa bought an awesome princess tent for you and all your little cousins to run around in), zoom, car, nice, sad, bath, hat, paayy (play), song, dance, show (again, hopefully), George, and cat (for your two favorite shows, Curious George and Cat in the Hat), nose, eyes, teeth, paste (for toothpaste), bite, some (as in I want some), jummey (jump), up, pick, (as in I want to make my own decision about which book, toothbrush, etc), and side (as in outside--your favorite place to be!)

A few more two syllable words have started making their way into your vocabulary too-- jacket, oranne (orange), colors (you say this when asking for your crayons), monkey

I have also heard "oh boy" and "oh shoot;" I guess it is a good thing I don't swear.

You frequently grunt when you pick up something large or heavy or if you are working really hard to tear something apart (most often something that can't be torn apart, like a block). . . I don't know if it's your daddy or myself that does the grunting, but I like to blame your daddy for that one.

You also make a bunch of animal sounds, but your favorite, of course, is still the monkey. The other day one of your little friends came over to play. He happened to have a monkey on his shirt. You ran over to him, pointing, and loudly said "ah, ah, ah, ah, ah" until he was startled and I realized and acknowledged that yes, he did have a monkey on his shirt. You were very proud of yourself.

We recently bought you a pair of nice, fuzzy, cheetah jammies. Your daddy taught you a cheetah growl and swipe of the paw, and now each time we put you in your cheetah jammies (or your zebra jammies) you give an enthusiastic cheetah growl and swipe of your little paw.

You have become a total mama's girl. Perhaps this is because, even though you have a pretty great vocabulary, you just recently learned how to say "ma" and "mom" over our Christmas holiday trip, and now you often call out for me. You pretty much have me wrapped around your little finger. You love to cuddle with me, and I love to cuddle you back! In fact, recently when you started having a hard time sleeping through the night (due in part to teething, traveling, and a nasty cold), your daddy and I started letting you sleep with us when you would wake up in the middle of the night. Maybe it was a mistake because now our bed is where you always want to sleep, but we both are such suckers for your sweet little cuddles. The other day I woke up and found that you had decided to use my belly as your pillow. Yes, I have said it before, but you are really cute.

There are some moments that being a mom is so wonderful; I feel like my heart is turning to mush. The other day I leaned down, gave you a hug, and said, "I love you." You hugged me right back and said "I-ove-uuuuu."

I love asking you for hugs and kisses. You usually comply with my requests. You give tight lipped, slobbery kisses and you wrap your arms around me and lay your head on my shoulder. I love it.

You have become very attached to your binky. Whenever you are upset you immediately throw your hands up and out (as if to say where is?) and then you cry out "BBBBBBBBBB." As soon as your binky is back in your possession, your hands go back up and you cry "BBBBBB." Now you are looking for your blankey. Sometimes, you walk around saying "BBBBBBBB where uuuuuuu?" You look in various rooms, under the couches, under your crib . . .

You love counting, or at least the idea of counting. When there are multiples of something, you love to count them. Usually, you point your finger over and over and say something like, "two, one, sempey, eight, nine."

You also love fisheys (as in gold, the kind that you can eat). Before you were able to say "fishey" (which you have now added to your vocabulary), when you wanted a fish cracker, you would make the best squishy little fish face. In nursery one day, the teacher was quizzing all of you little ones on what noises various animals make. Thinking he was being clever, he asked "what sound does a fish make?" Most of the children were stumped, but not you. You immediately demonstrated exactly the kind of noise, and face, that a fish makes.

One final last cute thing that I am going to write about for today . . . You love to pop your little pointer finger into the air and say "one?!" What you are really asking for is more (as in, "oh, do you want one more?" But you are very persistant with your one. When I am nearing the end of a bedtime song or your daddy is nearing the end of a bedtime story, you pop your little finger into the air and say "one?! one?!" Sometimes you end up with more than one because you are just so dang cute when you ask for "one?!"

Okay girl--even though I could keep writing all day about the funny things that you do, I think I had better stop for now. I just want you to know that your daddy and I love you very much.

Love,

Mommy