14 Months of Little L

It's so true, that old rhyme about how babies don't keep.  Little L is really not a baby any longer.  She's a full-fledged toddling toddler!

Here's her month in review:

Reading: She has really been digging her Planes book by Byron Barton.  Her old favorites continue to be her preference (see last month's update).  She recently got into Counting Kisses by Karen Katz, mostly because she can point to her body parts as she follows along with the book.  She has also really enjoyed One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, The Berenstein Bears and the Spooky Old Tree, and the Paper Bag Princess.  But honestly, Little L loves almost all books.

Eating: My girl is into smoothies.  I mostly make mine with yogurt, berries, banana, a splash of apple juice, and spinach.  Sometimes I do orange juice, sometimes I omit the dairy or the greens.  She seems to like all kinds of smoothies, including the ones from Starbucks (minus the protein), Jugo Juice, and McDonalds.  She has also been into processed kids' cheese puffs (gross, but she likes 'em), certain kinds of sugary cereal (PB Toast Crunch, Krave Chocolate), and organic raisins.  She has really been shunning her veggies as of late, but she still loves her eggs and toast and sausage and cheese.  Macaroni and cheese (not the KD kind) and pizza also top her preference list.

Saying:  heart, pray, bei-bei (nose in Canto), gerk-gerk (foot in Canto), knees, bike, beh-beh (bear in Canto), purple, towel, up, down, out, back, tail, poop, "bucks" (for Starbucks), plus a lot of gibberish that makes sense to her.  Our nanny is surprised by how verbal Little L is, but I'm not.  She is constantly surrounded by talking, so it's little wonder that she would start as soon as she could, too!

Moving: Little L can walk! Little L can run! She can also sit down on little chairs and steps, and seriously, it's so hard to harness this girl into a carrier or a stroller or a car seat now that she's fully mobile!  She will want to walk with us into the elevator, to the car, on the street, in the store.  She can also wave and say hi! and bye!  She is learning to point to her books or bring them to us when she wants us to read with her, and she is able to point to a lot of body parts both on her and on others.  Who taught her this?!? I'm starting to marvel at how God wires little people to just *learn.*

Oh! And Little L has learned how to kiss and hug us.  By far my favourite thing in the world. :)

She can also take off her coat, anticipate events (like grab her shoes and socks when we say we're going out), clasp her hands together with her fingers in interlocked position to "pray," and sing sing sing.  Although she cannot carry a tune at all right now, I still love listening to her sing, especially when she has no idea I'm listening.

Playing: Little People farm and zoo, and her Tiny Love Stacking Elephant.  Also, her many balls, her Step 2 Dream Kitchen (mostly the "food" part of it), and the musical Fisher-Price tea set at her Nana's place.  She also likes these little eggs that we bought for her, that sit in a little egg container and have detachable "shells."  And surprisingly, Little L has continued to love her Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes toy, which she has had since she was a wee baby.  She continues to enjoy putting CDs into her CD player and playing them (or playing with them, much to my dismay!). :)  She is getting proficient at playing "Peekaboo" with us, and making us laugh with her little antics.

Sleeping: Averaging 10-12 hours/night, with 3-4 feeds most of the time.  Co-sleeping and bed-sharing.  4:00 am is the crazy witching hour when she will whine and cry in her sleep.  It's so weird.

Wearing: Anything from 12-18 months to 2T.  Shoes are an 18-24 month or size 21.

Little L is getting better at understanding instructions, too! When we talk to her, she knows what we're saying most of the time, and usually she will obey our verbal instructions after just one or two repetitions.  It's awesome! I've also been using the 5-count ("Mommy is going to count to five, and then we are going to... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)" to transition her from one event/activity to another, and it works super well.  

She isn't a fan of diaper changes, unfortunately.  Telling her that it's happening usually sets her off on a run, and she can be pretty fast when she wants to be.  :) Clothes are a similar struggle.

As Little L gets older, she seriously just gets to be more fun.  The sleeping bit aside (which is still kind of crappy, especially since she still nurses down), we are loving being parents to a little toddler.  Sometimes when discussing a possible sibling for her, we kind of shudder at the thought of having a newborn again, complete with crazy feeding schedules and all that jazz.  But note that I said sometimes, because at other times, we totally want to do this whole crazy thing again!

She's demanding that I read the book to her