Twenty

Time for an update.  Here's a quickie:

Reading: Seuss, Little Critter, Usborne Little Book of First Experiences Treasury, Max and Ruby Treasury, Little Bunny Follow His Nose, and the FP Lift the Flap books.  Karen Katz books are still a favourite, although of late Little L has been more into singing kids' songs and listening to her CDs than reading her books. I have no doubt that her new iPad play time has contributed to this reduced time with her books; I'm just glad she's still reading ;)

Eating: "I'm a chocaholic!" Little L will declare.  And she is; she *loves* chocolate milk, chocolate croissants, chocolate cereal... She also really digs her yogurt, her cucumber/ham/cheese sandwiches, rice (in any form), ramen noodles (not the instant kind), baked chicken fingers, baked fish filets (not the fish stick variety, but actual whole fish filets), most fruit, and cheese.

Her new favourite snack food? Popcorn.  It's a somewhat dangerous food (choking), so I get the painstaking task of sifting through every piece of popcorn and tearing off the leftover kernels from the fluffy, popped pieces.  But Little L *loves* her popcorn, and will hoover it as fast as her hands and mouth can go.

Saying: Little L likes to recount stories that she has read, and storylines from the Fisher Price videos that she has watched.  She also enjoys playing a little game where she attaches a word to random other words to make herself (and me) laugh; an example might be "cake," and she will say, "Toe cake!, Nose cake! Bed cake! Green Cake! Shoe cake!"...on and on and on.  We play this game several times a day, and the ensuing discussions are always cause for laughter.

As I mentioned earlier, the CD player is getting a lot of action these days.  Little L is now able to sing, independently, songs like Baa Baa Black Sheep, Row Row Row Your Boat, ABC Song, Hickory Dickory Dock, Animal Farm, Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, One Two Buckle My Shoe, He's Got the Whole World In His Hands, Wheels on the Bus, to name a few. She loves to sing and to listen to songs, so she is constantly loaded and changing around her CDs. 

Playing: Magnetic letters are one of Little L's current faves, as are her stuffies, stickers, and sensory bin (filled with cheerios, rice, and oats). She loves going to the playground, climbing the steps on her own, and sliding down the slide unassisted.  Climbing is also something she still loves to do, be it stairs or the "climbing mountain" at the park or the ottoman and rocking recliner in our living room. 

She is also playing with the iPad and iPhone regularly, although we do try to limit the time she is on technology and we attempt to coax her away with other, more interesting/interactive games and toys and activities after a few minutes.

Wearing: She is still in 23/24 in Pedipeds, 7-7.5 in toddler shoes, and 2T/3T in most of her clothing. 

Other New Things: Little L is starting to learn how to use stamps and ink.  I made the mistake of introducing it with a black ink pad, which she promptly shoved her hands into the moment the lid was off.  The ink got everywhere, including under her nails.  It was very messy, but she liked it...for a few brief minutes. ;)

Little L also went to the pumpkin patch for the first time.  It was very exciting for her, and she felt like it was her job to go and touch every pumpkin she saw.  Since that pumpkin patch visit, Little L has been on a mission to make contact with every pumpkin she sees, including our neigbours' pumpkins on their patio. 

This month, Little L had her first hot chocolate from Starbucks. She was whining for some of my coffee, so I caved.  And she loved it! But I am not keen on the mix that they use, so I have since been frothing up some organic homo chocolate milk in my Nespresso Aerocino and pouring that into a reusable Starbucks cup for her.  It has been a win-win for both of us ;)

My girl is also a proud, card-carrying NEXUS member now.  It's her first membership! And soon, we will be doing a pumpkin carving, which I am excited (and a bit nervous) about.  We're not using a real pumpkin, either.  We are using a foam one.  Rationale: it won't rot, and I'm afraid of mold. ;)

Like a boss