22 Months

Dear Annie,

As of Saturday, you are 22 months old. I think I got ahead of myself with the months a few months back, but we are back on track now. It is officially two months until you turn two. My head is about to explode with this fact.

I don't even know how to describe you these days. You are non-stop, unpredictable, loud, sweet, fast, tough and smart. You talk so much and have real-deal opinions. What we thought was a cute trick in teaching the seagulls to "GO AWAY!" has backfired. Big Time. You now yell this at us when we are doing something that you do not like. This, coupled with "Ahhh done!" lets you really get your point across.

You are in full swing toddler mode. You get into everything. You love something one minute, then act like it's scalding hot acid the next. You are a fairly picky eater but we are chipping away at it bit by bit. Last night you ate baked beans, which made me very happy. You have also been eating sweet potatoes, green beans and corn in addition to your steady diet of pasta and yogurt. And peanut butter. Also known as "butter". Oh how you love it. You consume it with zeal every morning, only to have to be decontaminated prior to delivery at Jen's (her youngest has a nut allergy).

You are in size 5 diapers now. You love to sit on the "toddy" (potty) but have only made one successful deposit thus far. I am not pushing it just yet because I just don't feel like you are quite ready. You are still loving the mimi (binkie) and your whammy (bunny) and have somehow accumulated quite a collection of stuffed friends in your bed; Nemo, Tinkerbell, and Dumbo are just a few of the usual suspects. In addition to your "bankie" and pillow. It's a miracle there's room for you in there.

As evidenced by your crib-mates, we might have been hitting the Disney a little too hard because you are now demanding all your clothes be "pitty" (pretty). There are some clothes that are obviously pretty, but others require a little more convincing. Thankfully you can be easily swayed if there is a dot of pink, a ruffle, or a flower on any item.

You don't like milk, you love your water, you've never really had juice, you like to pretend to each choc-it (chocolate) but are ambivalent about the real thing. Your favorite food of all time (for now) is goldfish crackers.

I wrote a few months back about our nightly routine and how sweet and snuggly it was. I should learn to not be so boastful on the internets because that has changed. It is now a bit of a power struggle. I set a two book limit and you end up making me read Go Train Go four times. Once the reading negotiations have completed, I try to get you into the seat for snuggling, but you squirm out and march around the room, in the dark, looking for any stray toys to play with. When I get serious about putting you in your crib, you sweetly ask for the "seat". For a few days you would ask that I held you like a baby, which I loved. But most nights you squirm and try to get up. When I have reached the end of my tether and say it's time for bed, you will collapse onto me and again say "SEAT!" and pretend to lay quietly for 5 seconds until it starts all over again. We have recently started a "count to 10" method where I ask if you are ready to count to 10 and then we will go to bed. We count very slowly (you skip seven) and then you know it's time for bed when we reach 10. I am not sure why this works, but if I could make sense of a toddler brain I would have eleventy billion dollars.

Years from now I want to remember how you proclaim "hoe you" (hold you) out of the blue when you want me to pick you up, how you think giving hugs is a game and how much I love it when the game runs on for an extended period of time. I want to remember how it was at 22 months when people (strangers) started saying how much you look like me (it's been all Dad up until this point). I want to remember how you evaluate everyone's plate at the dinner table and proclaim when each person is AHH DONE! You are overflowing with personality and we are so blessed to have you as our daughter.

I love you, sweet girl.

Mom