20 Month Check-In

So, my little Lia turned 20-months old today. I know that I comment on this almost every month, but I still can't believe how fast this is all going. I can't even remember what it was like to have a baby Lia that I could hold in my arms for hours on end. She is so not that little baby anymore. She is now this talking, walking, runny machine. However, she is really a pleasant, enjoyable, fun, and easy 1-year old to be around. Ron and I have been so fortunate to have her as our first child to break us into this whole parenting thing. We definitely love our Lia! So, in keeping with tradition, here is a quick run-down of some of her changes and developments of the past month.

1. We are officially down to one nap a day as of this past month. I held onto the two-nap drill as long as I could (and probably longer than Lia needed). She now sleeps once a day whether it's after an early lunch or before a late one. However, I do have one complaint. Lia always takes 1.5 hour naps. So, I was told by many sources that when she went down to one nap a day, she would essentially just combine her two naps into one by taking a 2.5-3 hour nap. Nope. It's still 1.5 hours long...just one time a day. So, that is all the break I get. In Lia's defense, I must add that she does go to bed much earlier now (we're talking 7 to 7:30 pm) each night due to how tired she is be the end of the day. So, I guess that I am still getting that second break; it just comes after she goes down for the night.

2. Lia has discovered and fallen in love with forks. I guess that she just wants to be like the rest of us in the big people world. She insists on dining with one of her baby-sized forks at every meal...even when it isn't necessary. Who knew that you could eat oatmeal with a fork?!

3. In keeping up with her fascination with all things pooh-pooh (I know, lovely, isn't it?), Lia is now concerned with checking for it everywhere. Several times a day, we have to stop whatever we are doing to make sure that her dolly or her bunny or whatever stuffed animal is around doesn't have a pooh-pooh. It is top priority for Lia.

4. One of the new words that Lia has picked up this past month is "pretty." As a result, she has become interested in all things pretty and has discovered bracelets, necklaces, hair clips, and bows. She loves playing with them and taking them on and off and on and off. We've got a little girl on our hands...

5. Lia's obsession with sharks, most especially Bruce from Finding Nemo, is still going strong! She has learned to say, "Bruce," and it is the cutest sounding thing. She requests to watch him all day long! I'm not kidding you. And, she will even run up to the T.V. screen and kiss Bruce or have her bunny kiss him when allowed to watch him. I learned quickly that I had to put a daily cap on our Bruce-viewing or we would spend our hours wasting away in front of the T.V. So, Lia is now allowed to watch the shark clip two times each morning and one time each afternoon or evening and then Bruce is "sleeping in the T.V." the rest of the day. She seems to be buying this excuse for the time being. We'll see how long that lasts...

6. The is one of my personal favorites...Lia has started saying goodbye to everything. Everything. Whether it is the checker at the grocery store or the food on her plate or the pacifier in her crib or her pooh pooh in the toilet (remember we do cloth diapers around here). No one and nothing are left out. She always says it in this sweet, high-pitched voice. Love it!

7. Lia's growing continues. Sh has always been in the 90th something percentile in height at every doctor's visit, but they haven't been tracking her feet size. Our growing girl went from a size 4 just this spring to a size 7 this month. She cruised over three shoe sizes in about four months! It's a good thing that I have enough hand-me-down shoes to feed an army or this girl would cost us a fortune. I guess that I can't really be surprised at the whole thing as both Ron and I border on the fee-fie-foe-fum end of the shoe size spectrum. Sorry, Lia.

8. Lia discovered running this past summer and has been in love with it ever since. However, she has added the cutest, new addition to this passion by yelling, "Running!" as she takes off running. For some reason, it is just the funniest thing to Ron and me. You can now find me yelling, "Running," in the backyard from time to time as I cruise around with my daughter. Oh dear.

9. To add to the every-growing list of Lia's obsessions, here is another one: Grandma and grandma's house. She just loves the two and talks about them constantly. Every time we get in the car, she states that we are going to grandma's house. She points out grandma whenever she sees her in a picture and mentions grandma's house at random times throughout the day. I think that this whole obsession is well deserved as my mother has put in endless hours watching Lia during her 20 months of life while I have been away at work. We both love Grandma!

10. And, last but definitely not least, is the update on Lia's vocab development. It is out of control! This girl is talking so much that I can barely keep up with tracking her new words anymore. This might be the last month that I do this as it's wearing me out! ;-) So, here we go in no particular order: song, "see you," "ready, go," clock, couch, Bruce, Nemo, Sarah (one of my friends), Kaylee (Lia's friend), Tucker (her friend's dog), dance, bracelet, grandma's house, socks, pants, shirt, dress, shorts, train, button, cereal, pretty, light, band (for hair band), soap, bow, pears, pen, paper, crayon, color, hand, fingers, feet, lips, TV, sleeping, amen, wolf, window, door, stairs, cold, Jecca (for her babysitter, Jessica), eat, wet, hot, cold, heart, triangle, oval, circle, diaper, church, cheek, "papas home," trash, dirty, rug, summer (not the season, but one of my Young Womens), towel, plane, bonk (when she bonks Ron or I on the forehead), off, prayer, nice, cart, wipe, brush, clip, teeth, seagull, zip, yo-yo, belt, swing, glasses, bag, careful, tent, mail, slide, and scissors. She can also count to 10 really well (when she feels like it), sings, "Now I know my..." really well after we sing the ABCs, and says "hi" into the phone. And, there you go.

As always, here are a few quick pics I snapped in the past week or so...

This picture actually has a funny story behind it in a pathetic way. Thanks to a tip I got many months ago from my sis-in-law, Susie, Lia has been limited to her sucker time since she turned one. With the rare occasion of fussy moment in church or a long car ride, she is only allowed to have her pacifier in the crib for nap time and bedtime. However, she tries many times a day to get it outside of these designated times. Our usual response is that "it is not night night time" and so she can't have it. For the most part, Lia respects this rule and deals with it. However, two months ago, she got a baby doll with its own pacifier as a gift while Lola was visiting. Lia soon discovered that she could simply remove the dolly's sucker to use herself. But, what I don't get is that this pacifier is all plastic and must totally feel different and unsatisfying. Nevertheless, Lia can be found sucking on it from time to time. I told her that it was as pathetic as a smoker picking up another person's smoldering cigarette butt off of the sidewalk to smoke. She didn't seemed to be bothered by my analogy...

Daddy and daughter snuggling under Lia's new "gimmie" (her word for blanket) on a sleepy evening. Bet you can't guess what they are watching?

Lia enjoying some pretty autumn colors in our front yard!