20 months

Dear Lucy, 

You are now 20 months old. (yes we missed 19 months and I am planning on at least posting a set of pictures from that month but it's been a bit crazy round these here parts). You've had a busy busy month, as usual. 

You love coming downstairs to mama's office. Sometimes you take the baby for a swing. 

Sometimes you just like to see things my way. 

You LOOOOOVE animals. Petting or climbing into the loft after Sam the dog at your preschool (he no longer says Meow! now he says 'woof!") is one of your favorite ways to start the day when you get there. You loved our kitty Mik so much, but unfortunately he's pretty old and needed a nice quiet place to spend the rest of his life, which isn't something our house is these days... so he went to live with our friend Lyn. You also love your Nana's fat cats. Anyone furry who will let you bury your face on them is fair game. 

You love reading books. It's usually the same three books, or on library day you will look at every book we bring home, but you just love books! you really love reading books with your big sister, either when she reads to you, or just reading together. It warms my heart in ways I can't describe to see you two enjoying books together. 

The other thing you and Ruby love to share is cereal. If one of you is eating cereal, the other must have a bowl too. Preferably with bananas or blueberries. 

You desperately want to be one of the big kids. Or at least you think you *are* one of the big kids. You like to sit at the big table and color (or try and use the scissors!). You go straight for the big slide every time. You don't want to ride in the cart, you want to walk! When Ruby watches a movie while having dinner you sit right next to her at the living room table and eat, even though you just don't care about movies yet. It's so very cute, but you are growing up TOO FAST, so SLOW DOWN!

We took a trip to visit Nana and Grandpa for spring break. You had a great time with the cats, helping Nana and Ruby doing crafts, and going to the park with Grandpa. You ask for "Boppa" every day, although when he's around you won't let him pick you up much. 

 

You love going for walks in the neighborhood. Often you want the stroller, but sometimes you just like to walk with Ruby and jump in puddles.

Your language is just amazing. AH-MAIZE-ING. You easily have 150 words by now. Of course I am the only person who can distinguish all of them, but you can pretty much get whatever you need by asking for it. You will often stop, and think very hard about the word you want and then use it, it blows my mind. You also  have slowly started to string words together, like "I do it!" Your other favorite phrase lately is "NOOOOO!" A few weeks ago you were so agreeable, saying "yep!' or "yeah!" to everything. Now it's "NO! I do it!"  followed soon after by "Hep!" (help!) You also have found the word "mine!" usually in relation to your tooth brush in the jar with all the family's toothbrushes, as you sort through them every morning while I blow dry my hair. 

Speaking of "I do it!" you are very opinionated about your clothes. I will pull each shirt or pair of pants from the bin and ask you which one is acceptable and almost always you say "NO!" until I get to the one shirt with the sparkles or the BRIGHT PINK AND YELLOW LEMON PANTS that make my brain explode and then you say "YEAH!" or sometimes even "YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!" and then you plop down into my lap to get dressed, or alternately run across the house shouting "Nekky nekky nekky!" doing the naked dance that you learned from your sister. And lately you also say "I do it!" and attempt to put on your own socks or pants. You have successfully gotten one leg in your pants but that's about it. I suspect you'll be dressing yourself by summer. 

Your physical growth has also taken a huge leap. You are climbing everything, including things you shouldn't really be climbing. This month you've fallen off the deck (onto flagstone, and were strangely not hurt at all), fallen off the back of the red chair in the living room, fallen off the living room table and I can't even remember what else.  You are much braver than your big sister was at this age, probably *because* you have a big sister, so it always seems shocking to me when you do things, or at least willing to try. She was a bit more reserved and cautious (yes, it was nice) as a toddler, in comparison you are a wild daredevil. You are still desperately trying to jump with both feet, you can do it on a trampoline but not on the floor yet. You are also so very close to running! You can get where you need to very fast, but you aren't at a full run yet... but I suspect you will be long before summer. 

You love your big sister SO much, however you have very distinct times when you would like her to NOT be in your space. One of those times is at preschool pick up when you just want 5 minutes to snuggle and nurse. She on the other hand is SO excited to see you after a day of missing you and she wants to smother your head with kisses and talk to you about everything... it usually results in a little sibling rivalry, but eventually you guys work it out, or at least you scream at her and she backs off a little. After that you are best buddies again. 

My dear sweet Lucy, you are so very amazing. Your smile could launch a thousand ships, or at least light up a million and one of my days. You bring joy to all those around you, with your infectious smile and your glorious laughter. I can't believe you've only been in our family for 20 months, when it feels like you've always been here, in my heart.  Thank you for choosing our family to spend your time with. Thank you for choosing me to be your mama. Thank you for being incredibly amazing. 

All my love, Mama.