21 Months

Sally will be 22 months on November 6, so maybe this should be entitled a 21.5-month update. I don't know what to say about Sally... she's crazy. And so very sweet. And crazy. As unpredictable as her moods and actions are these days, it's actually a really fun age. 

For one, Sally talks a ton. She just flipped a switch a few weeks ago, and now she is a nonstop talking machine. And she uses actual words from the English language! She'll try to say almost any word so I can't even compile a list of her current words. Suffice it to say, it's very long, which is so much fun. 

Every single day, Sally asks to go to the park. She asks it in the morning, afternoon, and evening. She asks it while we run errands, while we drive around town, and when it's nap time. She also asks to color just as often. I've never known a girl who could color for so long. She does it at least an hour a day, and she's fairly reliable with only drawing on paper, although we have had a few incidents involving our couch and coffee table. 

Her next favorite thing is taking a bath, probably because she has bath markers. So she can both color and be in the water at the same time -- the best of both worlds. 

Sally also throws tantrums. And if we're at the store and she doesn't like it, she'll just start yelling and fake crying and trying to do really insane things -- like sticking a pencil in a banana that's in the cart. It totally takes all of my patience not to freak out. Instead, I attempt to ignore her and resume my shopping. She has one or two tantrums a day, and I really hate them. There is currently nothing that stresses me out more, but I think she's starting to get better.

Now, let's talk about how sweet Sally is. She gives hugs all the time. She'll run full speed at me and wrap her arms around me and nestle her head into my legs. And she loves holding my hand when we walk places. She also gives the very best kisses. When Johnny goes out of town, she asks about him several times a day. When she wants to show us something, she grabs our hands and says, "Moc, moc!" which is her way of saying, "Come on!" 

My favorite phrases Sally says right now are, "I did it!" "All done!" "I tired!" and "Again!" I seriously don't know where she learned, "I tired!" but she takes a deep breath and says it in the perfect exasperated tone. I guess Johnny and I say that a lot when she's around? Not surprising. She has 10x the energy we do. My least favorite phrase she says is "Uh oh!!!!" She will drop (or even throw) something while she's in her carseat and hysterically yell, "Uh oh" over and over and over. But luckily she stops when we say, "It's okay. We'll get it when we're done driving." 

It's crazy how different every stage of parenting has been so far. I'm really loving this stage, though. Sally has gone from being my baby to being my little buddy. And while she has her moments, she's getting to a point where I can explain things to her and reason with her, which is such a relief. She has finally started staying in nursery all by herself for the full two hours. Each Sunday Johnny and I would explain to her that we were going to our class but that we'd be back, and two weeks ago it finally clicked. We made it through two hours without the teachers coming and getting us. 

Anyway, we really love our little girl. And she's as tall as ever. I'm worried 2T won't fit her much longer. Although, she is really thinning out. She is the pickiest eater on the planet, and she barely eats a thing during the day. I'm just happy she still drinks milk each morning and evening. And I'm giving her vitamins to hopefully supplement any other nutrients she's missing out on.

As far as Johnny and me, we're doing good. Johnny's work has been busy and stressful, but we're looking forward to the upcoming holidays. And we love our weekends, especially me. Coparenting is a dream.