21 months

This really snuck up on me, but here we are at 21 months! I almost missed it. Celia is so active that it's hard to get good pictures of her these days. She certainly has no interest in stopping to pose for pictures!

I thought it would be fun to start comparing pictures from a year ago. Here's Celia last October, at 9 months.

And now.

Stats: We don't know how much Pita weighs, but last month she was just over 22 lbs so she is probably still under 23. She wears size 18 month clothes and is finally starting to grow into most of them. I just got new size 5 1/2 shoes for her this week.

Speech and Language: A month ago, Celia was starting to use 3 and 4 word sentences. Now she uses them much of the time. The most interesting thing to me is her concept development. She understands all of the most common spatial concepts (e.g. if I tell her a toy is under or behind something, she understands). She also uses several spatial words, as well as lots of descriptive ones (like big/little, tiny, heavy, tired, sleepy, hungry, bumpy...). She regularly uses time-related words, like "minute" and "tomorrow". I'm sure she doesn't completely understand what they mean, but she definitely knows that a minute is a short period of time and that tomorrow is farther away.

Last night I decided to write down some of the things Celia said while playing. First, she wanted to put on her shoes. When I asked if she wanted help, the predictable answer was "No, Celia do it. Shoe on. More tight. Close it" (she was tightening the strap and fastening the velcro). Then she spent 15 minutes taking her shoes on and off, over and over. Sometimes a toddler's idea of fun is really, really exciting. Finally the shoes were put on for the last time, and Celia got out of the chair and announced: "Walk Nonna Nonno's house." After a little walk around the living room she decided to put the shoes on her baby. "Baby lie down. Shoe baby's feet. Here you go." Her language amazes me. She's truly using mostly 3-4 word sentences now! 

When the shoes were no longer exciting, Pita started playing with her alphabet puzzle. She was trying to show our cat, China, one of the letters. "Here you go China. Right here. Here for you. Come on, China! (trying to pick him up) Heavy!"

Speaking of this, I think Celia needs a sibling to play with. She is always trying to get the cats to play with her! And, she loves the babies at daycare now. She pats them on their heads, is so gentle with them, and kisses them!

Cognitive: I already mentioned Pita's concept development. Other than that, her pretend play is continuing to grow. She plays in her kitchen for long periods of time now, cooking different foods, taking things out of the fridge to cook with, using the oven, stirring, and offering food to everyone. She is also doing much more with her dollhouse and all of her Little People toys. She drives her school bus all around the house, moving the people on and off the bus and taking them different places. Celia still loves her doll and stuffed animals, too. She has them do all kinds of things with her. She loves taking care of her baby.

Another interesting thing is that Celia has continued to develop more little fears this month. When she hears a strange noise, she always asks me what it is and gets a little scared. Yesterday one of our neighbors was in his driveway when we got home and Celia was afraid of him. I put her down so she could walk up to the door, and she started reaching for me to pick her up again saying "Pick up, Mommy! Man!"

Motor Skills: Celia has really been into coloring with crayons. Her crayon strokes are changing and have become much more controlled and deliberate. She has pretty good control when coloring different pictures on a page in a coloring book. If I direct her to use certain colors for different things in the picture, she will. She can imitate vertical and circular strokes.

Self Help: Celia has gotten very good at wiping her mouth with a napkin. She also knows when she needs one and will ask. She sometimes tries to wipe herself when I change her diaper (which can be treacherous!), and washes herself in the bathtub. She likes to zip and unzip clothing, and yesterday I found that she had gotten one arm in her dress on her own.

Behavior: I should be calling this section "toddler behavior", because that's what we're seeing a lot of lately! Celia has discovered the words "me", "my", and "mine", and uses them liberally. Even when something isn't actually hers. She wants to be independent and do everything herself. She often says "Self", as in "I'll do it myself". She is generally still a very happy little girl, but lately she's had more cranky periods when she'll flop on the floor or have a tantrum. She is certainly testing her limits more, and trying to figure out how to handle disappointment and frustration when things don't go her way. Sometimes she gets in a mood where I can do nothing right, and everything ends in a tantrum. At those times I really want to pull my hair out. At other times I just struggle to keep a straight face.

Pita's getting more and more fun to play with, loves all kinds of activities, and is easy to take places. She's still in a great daily schedule and takes good naps most of the time. She sleeps pretty well at night. Sometimes she sleeps all the way through the night, and sometimes she will wake up once and I rock her for a minute. One of my favorite new things that she does is on mornings when I leave for work. When I'm ready to leave she will say "Bye bye Mommy. Hug, kiss." And she'll give me a big hug and plant one on me.

We are only a few months away from having a 2-year-old! With the holidays coming up, they're going to fly by.