Lizzie is 17 months old, just one month short of the big 1 1/2 year old mark. She really seems to be growing up too fast. So fast that sometimes this pregnancy seems to just blur in with the pregnancy when I was carrying Lizzie. But no... Lizzie was born over a year ago; she walks; she talks; and she will soon have a baby sister.
I always thought it odd when parents would refer to their toddlers as being "17 months" or "18 months", etc. Why not just say 1 1/2 yrs old? Don't we refer to people's ages by the years? Can't we just do a little rounding instead of specifying the exact number of months a child has been alive? Now that I have a 17 month old, myself, I know exactly why we specify age in months at this point. This girl has changed SOOO much in the past month, its amazing. She has probably grown more, learned more, and changed more than I have in the past 5 yrs of my life.
This past month she has entered the "terrible twos" phase early it seems. She has been asserting her free will and independence at every turn. Tantrums and sour faces are a part of our daily life at this point. It can be frustrating in the moment, but at the end of the day I smile and appreciate the sheer will of such a young girl who is just trying to gain a little control over her daily activities. Apparently, its very frustrating to have so many wants, desires, and needs while having such a limited ability to communicate and control one's environment. I do give the girl credit because she has strong opinions, determination, and a long memory. There is no such thing as "distracting" tactics anymore.
Don't get me wrong though, she is still the sweet, happy girl who loves giving mom and dad hugs and kisses. She'll do anything to get us to laugh at her. She is just in a phase where her spunky side flares up a bit more often. Perhaps that is why her favorite phrases to say lately are "Boo-ya!", "Silly momma!", and "Silly Daddy!"
Warning: Beware of parent bragging about child beyond this point. Stop reading now unless you are a grandparent or a future/older Lizzie wanting to read lots of praise about milestones reached!
Lizzie- I've found that you learn in spurts. You'll go a month without too much change then, WHAM! You'll learn a million new things in a week. This month has been one of those spurts. I have also learned to take advantage of these "spurting" times because a couple weeks later you're interests have changed. Your latest interest is in letters, numbers, colors, and words. I introduced you to the ABC's by showing you the website starfall.com and a month later you now know all your letters and some phonics. You then learned numbers 1-10, basic colors, and you try to repeat every new word you hear.
Its so fun to watch you learn. I love teaching you. You're very quick for such a little girl. You're very cute. You're very funny. You're very clever. And very sweet. But this is not why we love you. We love you because you are YOU! No matter what you do- we are always so proud!
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We have looked forward to Lizzie being able to communicate her thoughts for so long we have recorded some of her favorite words and phrases over the past couple months. A little sneak peak into the mind of a 1 yr old:
