21 + 22 Months
Spring has come in full force in Michigan and we truly love the weather. We have been going on many bike rides as a family, and it is so much fun. Kayla LOVES her bike seat. She gets so excited to put her helmet on (and David and I now consistently wear them too, so I guess she's made things a lot safer for us too!). She frequently asks David to go "so fast" or to do "wiggle, waggle"! She tells David when we are going "up/down the hill" and she always asks where I am if I'm behind them and she can't see me! It's really cute. I already feel like we've gotten our money's worth out of her little seat, and we've only had it a few weeks!
She is loving playing outside - in her playhouse, in the sand box (do all kids enjoy taking sand out of the box more than playing with sand in the box, or is it just my kid?!), on her red riding toy, using her lawnmower, playing with bubbles, going to the park, etc. When I tell Kayla that we are headed out, she runs to the coat rack and says, "Jacket!". It's a hard habit to break now that we don't need one outside anymore!
She's started picking up sayings and using them on her own. When I pick her up out of her car seat, I (apparently) always say, "come here (you!)" because now every time I go to get her she says "comear". She also says this when she's sad or upset and wants to be picked up, again imitating the language I would use in that circumstance! If something drops, she says, "Uh-oh spaghetti-o"! I often do tasks with her to the tune of "the Farmer and the Dell".... like, "we're washing Kayla's hands" or "we're brushing Kayla's teeth".... and lately I've heard her sing that song to herself while doing something. It's super cute!
She's also started randomly coming up to us, saying "I love you" and giving hugs and kisses. THAT is just too precious. She's also started coming up to us and saying "snuggie" (for snuggle) when she wants to sit down, typically with a blanket and cuddle. LOVE THAT!
Her vocabulary continues to explode even more as she puts more and more words together. She's consistently putting 2-3 words together (more please, up please, more snack please, up the stairs, down the hill, home again, I love you daddy, change the diaper, Kayla go downstairs, it's a fan - don't touch it, the train is stuck, etc).
She makes connections that surprise me. When we turn on our road she says, "home again" and points to our house when we are in front and says, "there is it!". When we talk about church she remembers her friend Trey goes there and as we are about to walk inside she gets all excited and says "bagel" because she knows we stop and grab one before putting her in the nursery. If I tell her we are going shopping at Meijer she gets all excited and asks for a "penn" (penny) so she can ride the "horsie". She remembers things like that and it always catches me by surprise!
She knows most of the colors and most shapes. She can pick out and say almost all the animals in our books. She can count to 10, although she often misses 5! Sometimes she is trying to count things/objects, but usually she is just saying the numbers at random. She can sing the alphabet and many other songs on her own (sometimes when she is singing the last bit of the alphabet where it says, "now I know my ABCs" saying the ABC makes her start all over again!). If we are singing or reciting a nursery rhyme, I can stop and she will complete the part I've left out.
She says please, thank-you and is starting to say you're welcomed at the correct time and unprompted (not always of course, but often). She also says "sorry" when she knows she's done something wrong. She's a stinker about it though sometimes! Sometimes she'll be doing something she knows she isn't supposed to and immediately says sorry or sometimes she'll start running away with her hands over her ears so she can't hear what you are trying to say! It is very sweet, though, when she says it when she knows she's done something wrong. I don't allow or enjoy being hit, but it makes things a lot better when it's immediately followed by a sorry. It's like she is just SO frustrated and her first instinct is to hit (why this is I don't know, we never hit!) but then she immediately remembers that this isn't an appropriate response. That sorry is often followed by a "comear" and a need to be held. It's very sweet.
We are now the proud owners of the book, "Teeth are Not for Biting"! This book will probably shortly be followed by "Hands are Not for Hitting", but I have priorities! :) Kayla is typically very loving and affectionate. She wants her own way like any almost 2 year old does, and she'll sometimes hit or attempt to bite if she isn't getting her way. She is disciplined for her actions (time outs) and responds well to it. However, she takes on a different personality when around other kids her age. She becomes very aggressive and has a mean streak in her. One night at our Bible Study she hurt all 4 of the other kids at some point (to be fair, she was extremely overtired as she didn't take a nap for Amanda while I was at work, and she was also extra needy since I was gone all day.... not to justify her actions, but to give the big picture). While all kids her age lack the skill to share, she does not lack the skill to react to someone taking her toy, nor does she show any remorse in taking a toy from someone else. And she would hit, scratch, pull hair or bite someone if there is a conflict. Hence the book. I'm not exactly sure how to handle her aggressive behavior. It's not something I really see unless she is around other kids. She's not usually aggressive like that when it's just me, or just David and me. I have very limited experience with her acting like that and I don't know what to do about it! She isn't always like that, but it scares me to think about how she might react when I turn my back! Anyway, the book is very cute and she asks to read it multiple times a day. When I ask her what teeth are for she says "smiling" and then gives me a big toothy grin - so cute! She points out the kid in the book who is bit and says, "sad.. hurt... ouch" so she understands the concepts. I'm hoping it will have a positive impression and that I don't have to worry about that from her. We'll see. I am also hoping that as her communication continues to develop that she will be able to use her words to express her frustrations.... but I do realize that we are a ways away from that time. Apparently this aggressive trait is genetic - from me! My mom says the way Kayla acts is very similar to the way I acted. Except that instead of biting I chose strangling as my form of aggression! Nice! But I turned out ok and my mom survived, so I guess Kayla and I will survive too!
Speaking of time outs, I am doing less and less of them. She is learning to listen to me and my warnings (I give her a warning before she is disciplined). Not that it always works, but we often go days without doing any timeouts. She totally understands the concept of time outs and incorporates that into her play. I've seen her put certain toys in time outs. She puts them in the corner, or in a pretend chair and says, "stay"..."listen momma". The other day she put her banana in time out in the corner of her tray! It's hilarious to see! But I'm happy to know that she understands the whole process.
One other interesting thing to note is her eating/drinking patterns. I have been avoiding juice with Kayla for months. She has had extremely loose stools and our doctor said that his top 2 suggestions were to cut out juice, and then if that didn't work, to limit her total liquid intake per day. Well, we tried both, but neither were really working. I did some research on it and one of the internet suggestions was for kids that are lactose intolerant. I don't think she is, however, I took one of the suggestions I read which was to limit milk intact to only times when other food is being eaten, like just during meal or snack times. That helps the milk be digested with other things. I don't know if that solved the problem, or if she just reached a different development level, but regardless, her stools have solidified (for the most part) and it is great! Instead of having like 5 dirty diapers a day, we are down to 1 or maybe 2. The good news is that the solids are helping avoid a diaper rash. The bad news is that solid toddler diapers are pretty gross. My desire to potty train has increased greatly! In all seriousness, there was no way I was going to attempt potty training to a child who has 5 loose stools a day. That would be a nightmare. Now that we are down to 1 or 2, it is manageable. I'm not ready to start yet, I'm going to wait until we are in town for more than like 1 week at a time (my are we traveling a lot lately!). But she is showing signs of interest, and is going longer stretches being dry and so we'll see. I'm not going to rush right into it, but I think it would be very convenient to let her run around the house naked, and with Michigan weather than means we need to start it in the next few months! We'll see.