20 Months

 

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I'm a day late with Az's month photo because she was taking her morning nap when I left for work and it was dark by the time I got her back home yesterday.

Az at 20 months:

• She can now mimic so many words and out of the blue uses words I didn't know she knew so I've lost track of how many words she can say.
• She can also both put on and take off both of her shoes. She doesn't have to sit down to do it most of the time. While standing she will use one foot to take the shoe off her other foot and then slip her shoe back on. I have a hard time getting most of her shoes on her myself, and I have a few years of experience on her.
• Is able to somersault, and is still seemingly fearless about all of her gymnastic feats.
• Very rarely cries unless tired or another of her basic needs are not being met. When she falls she usually pops right back up again, albeit with a grumpy expression on her face. She can whine when she doesn't get something she wants but she almost always moves on quickly.
• She can point to and name her eyes, ears, hair, mouth, belly, feet, ning ning, and hands, though she insists on calling her nose "eyes." I think maybe she thinks we are saying "no" whenever we point to a nose so I've try to over-enunciate the word and the "s" sound- "nosssse." She is unfazed in the fact that it is another eye however. 
• When Az first wakes up she usually asks where Z is, and upon finding him will promptly ignore him after an excited exchange of "hiii!"s. If Z should decide to walk away too quickly after the exchange she demands that he return, upon which she will go back to ignoring him.
• Her next request is often, "Caillou!" I try to keep TV watching to a minimum but now that I am working more it is easier for Migs while I get ready in the mornings if I first turn on her beloved Caillou to watch. Which is of course ironic because it wasn't that long ago that Migs and I were publicly bemoaning the fact that we are not fans of the Caillou. I thought maybe Az was using "Caillou as a generic term to request that the TV be on or as a term for cartoons but it is specifically Caillou that she wants.
• Az is becoming more and more outgoing, and insists that everyone we come into contact with acknowledge her. If someone doesn't seem to be properly appreciative of the Az monster she will try to break the ice by lifting up her shirt. This seems to be her first joke; she recognizes that it is funny and tries to induce laughter.
• My girl almost always seems to have a doll of some sort in her hands. I try to encourage her to walk around with something not so stereotypical but nothing compares in Az's eyes like a doll, whether it be a Barbie or Wolverine. I had had high hopes of keeping plastic toys and brand marketing away from her but it seems it is already too late. 
• In addition to dancing Az loves to sing. It's one of the most beautiful sounds to my ears when I catch her breathy "do do do"s. Usually when I hear them it means that I'm about to be asked to dance.
• She has finally accepted that I am "Mama" and Migs is "Daddy." She's spent the past few months experimenting with names for people. At one point everyone was Mama but me, at another time both Migs and I were Mama. It seems I am finally the only Mama, though this is subject to change at any time. 
• Az's new way of expressing the fact that she likes something is saying, "That's cool!" 
• This past month she has definitely learned to expressed her preferences; she's used the words "no" and "yeah" for a little while now but recently has really embraced them and realized the power of "no."
• She is very good about saying, "Thank you" when appropriate, which is nice since I hadn't seriously tried teaching this yet.  
• On sort of the same note, Az is very good about throwing garbage away unprompted. She also is good about throwing away things when I ask her. The only negative to this is that sometimes she throws away things I don't particularly want thrown away so I've gotten into the habit of visually checking the trash can as I walk by. Still and all, I'm still trying to get both Migs and Z to throw things away when they're done with them so I'm quite impressed with her.

I sure do love this girl more and more every day.