our little girl: 20 months

Yes, this is a few days late. It's been a busy week around here, but there will be more on that later! Here is the latest update on our sweet little toddler, who is quickly approaching childhood and outgrowing her "toddler" label. Sad.

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Will pretend to feed a doll: Like a pro. We've had to establish the "no toys at the table" rule in the last month because baby ends up sharing every bite with P, and the meal takes twice as long!

Can take off own clothes with help: She can, but other than her socks, she doesn't do this much. For which we are very grateful.

Will throw away an object such as rubbish, in imitation: "Throw garbage" is one of her favorite phrases.

Emerging Skills (half of children can do)
Learns words at a rate of ten or more a day: Probably. It's hard to tell anymore. She's a pretty verbal kid. She takes after her daddy.

Can walk up (but probably not down) stairs: If the stairs are shallow (is that the right word?) enough, she can go up or down. Luckily for me, her independence hasn't kept her from attempting steep stairs on her own. She still allows me to hold her hand. For now.

Searches for hidden objects: Yes, and she's very persistent. Lots of kids her age are easily distracted and redirected, but if she decides that she wants to find her stickers, she will not rest until she has found her stickers.

Advanced Skills (a few children can do)
May start exploring genitals: Pretty much any patch of skin for which she doesn't have a name is "belly." She'll tickle her stomach, neck, or genitals and say "Belly, belly, belly!"

Draws straighter lines: She's pretty much still a scribbler at this point. I don't know that she'll get Uncle Eric's artistic talent.

Names several body parts: Most of them. We're working on adding cheek, shoulder, and elbow.

Other things you might want to know:

-Much to the delight of Daddy and Auntie, one of her favorite activities this month has been to "watch Elton." We've even moved her red piano into the living room so she can play along. (We're huge Elton John fans in this family, especially Daddy and Auntie. And mommy is a huge fan of the idea of her not being the third generation to quit piano and regret it, so if Elton is the encouragement she needs, we will watch the concert DVDs on repeat!)
-For awhile she seemed really interested in potty training - sitting on her potty chair, wearing the "pull ups" we have in her room - but that seems to have passed. Bummer.
-We are starting to let her pick out her own clothes. Options with Elmo, Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse, or animals are the first ones out of her drawer.

Favorite new words she's saying:
She's learning numbers, which is pretty cool. Usually she counts "One, two, five..." but she almost always gets "seven, eight, nine, ten!" perfectly. Also, she loves "plate up" and "milk in fridge" after a meal. She was very upset when we went out to eat last month and we would not allow her to put her plate up.

We are no longer allowed to cut her "babana" for her. She has to eat it like a big girl.

Oh the pigtails!

One of her new favorite activities, along with "play play doh." Thanks, Auntie.

She also likes to cook.

Backwards bib worn cape-style and mommy's running shoe? Clearly she thinks I'm a super hero.

This isn't a great picture, but I had to post it anyway! This was my dress when I was little, but I don't think I wore it until I was quite a bit older. I actually remember wearing this dress, so I must have been older!