20 Months Old

Today we entered a new decade with Imogen -- she turned 20 months old. I often wonder, how long do we count months? On children's clothing, they typically count them up to 36 months, but am I really going to say, "Oh, she's 32 months..." one day? Probably not. I suppose we'll keep counting them up to 24 months, and then it will be 2, 2 1/2, almost 3, 3, and so on. I can't believe she is getting so old. It's funny to think that I think she's 'old'. To me, she is still my tiny baby, and I suppose she always will be.

So, what is Imogen like today? Here are a few tidbits:

* She knows about 30+ signs in American Sign Language thanks to Baby Einstein "My First Signs" and "Baby Wordsworth" DVDs...and to us for using the signs at home and reinforcing them. We highly recommend the DVDs if anyone is looking for baby gifts! I have attempted to get her on video running through all the signs, but have been unsuccessful. Maybe one day...

* She sleeps through the night like a dream. This has been going on since mid-July and it is wonderful -- we waited a long time, and the patience paid off! I don't really remember what it was like before now, but I'm sure one day we will be back at that place. When she wakes up on the weekend, she will now play in her crib and we'll listen to her talk to her stuffed animals. It's only when she yells "ba-ba" (that's me), that we will go in her room and get her.

* She is just about running like a big girl. *sigh* Like the kind of running where she is quickly switching feet and getting from point A to B fast. She can also dribble a ball with her feet amazingly well. I'm sure soccer will be in her future.

* She can count from one to six...before then skipping straight to ten. It's awesome to watch her learn and I never would have thought she could count this early -- but I guess a love for numbers does run in the family.

* She loves to eat. I would say her favorite food now is probaby yogurt. She polishes off typically between 1 and 3 a day -- and not just any yogurt; she loves YoBaby brand. What does she love about it, you ask? Why, the picture of the baby on the front, of course! While she eats it, she points at the picture of the baby on the container the entire time and says "bay-bee". We love the fact that she eats this yogurt because it is very wholesome and nutricious, but our reasons are purely trivial to her. She also loves to eat pasta with red sauce, pancakes, bagels, cheese, crackers, cereal bars, goldfish and of course, Cheerios. Fruits and vegetables continue to be a source of frustration -- one day she eats them and the next she doesn't. We solve this problem by hiding them in bites of pasta and other foods. However, if her Poppa feeds her broccoli, she will eat broccoli.

* She loves to stack stuff, whether it's blocks, babyfood jars, cat food cans, etc. Anything she can stack, she will. She also loves to push around her grocery cart, play 'chase' with daddy, and spend time loving on her baby and cat.

* Bathtime is really fun now! She will read through the three bath books we have and also identifies all of her colors with her bath toys. Her favorite is the purple one...and she even says "pur-ple" as she grabs it. In the collection of bath toys we have, there are two matching green turtles and when she grabs one, she will always instantly look for the other. She also swims in the tub, laying on her belly and kicking her legs around.

* She loves clothes and shoes -- we have quite the girl on our hands. In a store, she will hold things up to herself and if she really likes it, she won't let go of the hanger. The other day she picked out a cute fleece jacket that was thankfully on clearance for $4.50 -- a bargain shopper too! She had me put it on before we even checked out. She sorts through all of the shoes in her closet to find the pairs and will attempt to put them on, but can't do it just yet and gets upset. One afternoon she wore her red sparkly slippers with her play clothes around the house and just would not have it any other way.

* She does not say 'yes' or 'no', but opts for 'okay' or 'alright' (pronounced awl-wight) for yes and 'all done' for no. We love it!

* Above all else, she is a very happy, content little girl who brings so much joy into our lives!

Here are a few pictures:

This one is back from December on our old camera -- she was playing in the box we used to mail gifts and having a blast.

These next two are also from December. We were shopping after Christmas and let her ride the train in the mall. We weren't sure she'd like it, but thought we'd give it a go. Well, it turns out she liked it so much, she didn't want to get off! Nunny paid for a second trip after seeing that pouty face below.

Now in January -- I had a good friend knit Imogen a hat and mittens. She's an amazing knitter who I've never had knit anything for us before. Back when I was learning, she helped answer so many questions for me! The hat and mittens are perfect.

This next one, I'm not sure what was going on, but loved the expression that I caught on her face :-)
Stacking blocks on the couch at Nunny's house. She was so proud of herself after getting them so high!
Eating a cracker in Daddy's lap over the weekend.

These were just taken yesterday. When Imogen got downstairs in the morning, she kept saying 'ca-cake' which means pancake, but we were in a hurry and didn't have time to make them. All day she kept saying 'ca-cake' so at Nunny's house, she finally got them after dinner. Yummy!

Now trying to feed herself the pancakes. She made an attempt, but the plastic fork wasn't that great; she ended up just using her hands.

Here's to another decade of Imogen...more learning, more doing, more smiles, more laughs, more love.