Zoe Louise | 21 months

This girl is growing like crazy.  And her vocabulary is exploding.  We had to go back 2 weeks after her 18 month checkup so Dr. Butry could check her ears, and she asked what new words she could say.  I was caught off guard and said well we were here just 2 weeks ago so I guess I don't know.  Dr. Butry said to watch out because she'll have a new word every few days soon enough.  And was she right…

Piggies!  Finally!

She repeats almost everything.  She can form short sentences.  "Go ou-side" is of course her favorite.  She loves to say "ride" to ride in her wagon or cozy coup.  She loves her "strower" (stroller).  Every morning now we wake up to "Momma, dadda, Wawyyy....Momma dadda, Wawyyy!!  MOMMA, DADDA, WAWYY!!!"  While I wish sometimes she'd sleep in just a little later than 7:30 am, her jabbering is the cutest wake up ever.  And I love how Wally's name is now thrown into the mix.  She can say birdy which sounds slightly like boobie...and loves to point out every birdy she sees on our walks.  And currently "Beeba" sounds like boobie too :)  We get a good kick out of that one.  "Kitty" is another favorite.

One of her new favorites during this time period is "What's tiss? What's at?"  (What's this, what's that?).  And she asks this to EVERYTHING. Even with things I know she knows.  It's super cute though :)

She's really good with Sesame Street characters too.  She knows that Abby is on her shoes.  And she will open the book at school right to Zoe and yell "Oeee"!  She can't get the "z" out quite yet.

She knows who "Papa" is and loves to repeat it and question where he is.  She doesn't get that they don't live close to us.

Then there are the things that are funny but not the best habits...She recently started saying "No, go away!"  Not sure where she picked that up...we are trying to teach her to say "No thank you" which usually comes out "No, go away! No kank you. Go away." Or some similar combination.  Or the fact that one of her books has a phrase "Stop right there!"  And she'll point to people now and say "Stop right there."  Again, it's funny and SOUNDS cute coming out of her little mouth, but not the best thing to be saying to people.

She is doing great at trying new food now.  She'll eat more fruit including blackberries, blueberries, nectarines.  We're getting there on the meat department.  She ate ribs earlier.  I'm really just happy if she tries something even if she doesn't like it.

Her moods have been all over the place these past few months.  She's super happy, then she's throwing the biggest tantrum.  School thinks she can sense that I'm pregnant.  I'm not sure about that...she is getting more of her teeth.  Her eye teeth are almost all the way in.  And I can't quite see the molars.  But I think this is a lot of it.  She's just been very "sensative" as they put it at school where she has a fit over what seems to be nothing.  But then she's super sweet and helpful.  Maybe she's getting out her terrible twos early :)

She's starting to take more to other kids/people.  She was in Aunt "Joey's" wedding and walked down the aisle like a pro holding hands with the ring bearer.  He was very good with her and played with her the day before which helped warm her up I think.  She was also best buds with Aunt "Caky" by the end of the week too.

She can also count (somewhat).  I start by saying one, then she can say "two, see (three)", I say four and five really fast because she moves right into "six and nine!"  We'll get there :)

She's starting to HATE her car seat which has not been the case for her entire life up until this point.  Ugh…maybe when we move her forward it will get better.  Because she can last about an hour tops now and then it's over.  She cried for 45 minutes on the way to my parents until I finally stopped, gave her baby and a kiss and she fell asleep.  Then the way home from the reunion for 4+ hours by myself?  I don't even want to talk about it.  And the 4+ hours to Denver when I thought for sure she'd fall asleep since it was past her bedtime…nope.  Just screams.  

But really, she's a great little girl and makes us laugh constantly.  She can say "pease!" so well and in context.  She's getting better and better with "kank you!" and will run around saying "kank you…you're we-come" all to herself :)  So precious and nice to see that she's learning her manners.  She also says "bess you!" when we sneeze, cough, yawn, etc.  I've given up trying to correct her when we do something other than sneeze and just tell her thank you because it's so darn cute.

Her new favorite songs are "pa-ey cake" and "issy beecy".  Skinninamarink by Sharon Louis and Bram was an old favorite, but she's SO over that one now.  She much prefers Patty Cake and Itsy Bitsy Spider.  And you MUST help her with the hand motions.  And life is pretty much over after we sing the last rendition and tell her it's time for bed.  Oh the drama! :)

Little girl, you really are my heart and make everyday the most fun.  The hugs and kisses you give make every tantrum beyond worth it.  Mommy and daddy love you so much and we can't wait to see what the next 3 months have in store.