21 Months with Amelia

It seems like ages and ages since she was tiny, but I feel like I'm just gripping at the days as they slip away, with Amelia getting closer and closer to being two. I demand, "Only 21 months!!" when people guess that she's about two years old. Three months is a long time, right? Tell me I'm right.

Being a monkey at the airport.

I usually write these update posts in letter form, but this time, I just want to write and remember everything about this age. Maybe because I feel like it's slipping by so quickly.

"Wrap you!" Daily fave.

She's definitely increasingly verbose, and increasingly emotion, with such a big personality for her petite person! She makes lots of faces purely for reactions' sake, loves to please a crowd, and LOVES company.

Being a socialite and show-off, dancing with a missionary.

She gets most excited in life about going to the park, and taking a bath. She yells "go da park! slide! swing!" most any time you ask her where we are going or what she did today (even though it's usually wrong), and gets so excited she can't eat and can barely help stripping when you mention a bath. She loves to be silly, "fly" on your legs, and be tickled.

Enjoying the park on a balmy 45 degree Sunday.

We've settled into more routines which I mostly like. Some- like praying with a lit candle before bed, and singing "twinkle star" and "Hail Mary" before falling asleep, and her genuine concern for the inclusion of her baby doll in most of life's activities, I love. Others- like watching Curious George when she first wakes up (so she doesn't make to much noise for our sleeping downstairs neighbors), and waking up by 6:20 daily, I know and hope, respectively, are merely a phase.

Watching her beloved George.

She spends a lot of her play time with her blocks and crayons (and stickers when I ration them out), but also loves to read books, be involved in whatever I'm trying to do, and watch Dinosaur Train and Curious George. I try not to let her watch too much, but I do enjoy watching her giggle at or comment on what George is doing, and since we own exactly two 28-minutes episodes of the "Dines," it's fun watching her join in on memorized lines.

Giving a hug (of sorts) to her friend. She loves babies.

She's getting really good at identifying colors, and can predictably count to 5, doesn't know six, but has an emphatic "sev!" Everyone once in a while she throws around a big, long accurate sentence "I found the blank(et)s!" or "I see the heart!" but she mostly calls herself "you" and speaks in two or three words inquiries and demands. "More milk Mom" "Watch George Mom?" "You eat!" "Out da chair!" "Face all dirty Mom" "Hold da blankies Mom!" "Baby sleep, too?" "Daddy, too?" "Help wif da sock, mom?"

Playing outside in actual nice weather. Hooray! Hurry, spring!

When I'm focused on getting work done I can allow myself to get frustrated at her, but when I give her my attention she's really an enjoyable kid. I am so grateful to be her mother and I can tell she's teaching me so much. She was calling Tim "daddy" and me just "mom" but yesterday she started calling me "mommy," too. For whatever reason, I love it. One of her cutest quirks at the moment is to walk but and drop her head on your lap and say "HI Mommy."

Sweetest smile, and standing up in the highchair. Classic.

 Daddy and I love you, precious girl! Please don't forget to be our baby.