22 at 22

Bella Boo, at 22 months, you're not only two frighteningly short months away from being two years old, but also:

1. You know how the plaster on some ceilings is in funky designs, and if you stare long enough, you can see shapes and objects? One day, you were laying on the couch, and said, "A horse!" And sure enough, when I looked up and squinted real hard, a horse formed up on the ceiling. Such an imagination. You regularly point out the horse to me.
2. You've added a large vocabulary of jibberish to your regular vocabulary. We call it "the heavenly language," as we're pretty sure you're telling us all sorts of secrets. Like if the baby is a boy or girl?
3. When you had a little cold, and your nose started to run too much for your liking, you'd request your "not cough," which is to say, "snot cloth," which is to make me giggle every time.
4. You know all your letters (uppercase only still, although you now recognize that "little" letters exist) and sounds. Although the sounds for V and Z cause you some grief. Sometimes you can't get the buzzing sound out. So V sounds like F and Z sounds like S, which is really funny. But you have the other hard ones, even Q (qua!) and X (xsssssss).
5. You really love all Mexican food. Like anything I make that has a Mexican spin, you devour. You also love Greek yogurt, milk, grapes, and noodles with sauce (alfredo is your favorite).

6. You can communicate almost anything you need to - if we don't understand, you'll use other words we do understand until we figure it out. It's pretty amazing. You also use regular complete sentences and correct pronouns quite often. I love it when you say, "Mommy, look at dis!" You still, however, say, "I washee," for "I'm sorry." And I have no intention of correcting it. It's too cute!
7. You've finally got a handle on your colors. You (usually) know pink, blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, black, and purple. Red is a crap shoot. You think it's pink.
8. You lost your ability to count to ten for a while. Like you couldn't count at all. It was pretty funny. But it's back, including the forgotten number nine. You still can't remember nine to save your life. And although we've worked on it, recognizing numbers by sight isn't so much setting in like the letters did. Every number is a one (if it's straight) or a three (if it's curved) to you. :)
9. You're still obsessed with Woody. I'm about ready to toss the DVD in the river. If we had one... The worst part is that you can now remove DVDs from the player, correctly put them away, and put in whatever you want. So even when we tell you no, you sneakily put it in. The good news is you don't know how to run the remote controls. Yet. You also love Tangled, "Pops" (Seabiscuit, yes a really random choice for a toddler), and "Mickey Mouse" (Ratatouille). And "More Girls" (Gilmore Girls), which does your Mama proud.
10. While you do love nursery, you've had a few rough weeks. Usually you're fine being left there, but lately you just want Mommy or Daddy to stay with you. My guess is that the few new kids in nursery who are terrified and scream at the top of their lungs have taught you you're supposed to be scared. In any case, you do still love nursery and talk about it all week.

11. You love to wear shoes still, but you particularly love wearing two different shoes. I suppose you're maximizing your options? I particularly love how you tie your shoes by sticking the ends of the laces in the empty holes. Very clever.

12. You've started to "read" by yourself. You'll bring me books to read, then sit down and say, "No, Ah-Belle do it," and proceed to "read" me your books.
13. You know that when Mommy gets her "bud dawn" (blood drawn), you get a free sucker. After they wrap my arm, you stand there until the sucker is produced.
14. I finally took you to the library this month. I didn't want to take you when you'd be too loud, although you're generally extraordinarily well-behaved, so I'm not sure why I didn't do it sooner. In any case, you loved it. You took plenty of time to sort through the books and choose a few. And then we read them over and over and over when we got home.
15. You like to recite what people say. For example, "Kimmy say: 'Hi baby!'" or "Gram say: 'Charlene Cheney!'" or "Whitney say: 'Rock an' Roll!'"
16. Almost every time I go to get you in the morning or after a nap, you ask, as though you're hoping I'll correct the assumption, "Daddy woke?" (Daddy at work?) When he is home, you practically leap out of your crib to go see him.
17. You love to color, and you've started trying to write letters. I know that sounds crazy at your age, but I've watched you do it. You can scribble out Ms and Is and Ws, sometimes intentionally. Usually it's on accident, but you get so excited when you see you've made a letter.
18. You used to go to bed with just your blanky. Now you take blanky, white, and a few toys, usually Sheepy, Dolly, and Baby. Although one night you took a letter C, a truck, and two phones.
19. You have no interest in using the toilet. In fact, you don't want to talk about it at all. This doesn't concern me much as I secretly want to do it after the baby is born in case you want to revert to diapers, as some kiddos tend to do. When we ask if you want to use the potty, you adamantly shake your body in a no, and shout, "Nooooo!"

20. You love playing with Legos. I know it's not a typical toddler toy, but it's one of your favorites. Especially if Daddy will build something with you. (You don't generally request that Mommy builds with you - apparently I don't have those skills. :) )
21. You're scared of the linoleum square tiles at grocery stores. It's a crack up. You won't walk on them unless I hold your hand. Maybe they're too shiny? In any case, it's fine with me because it means you're still happy riding in the cart.
22. You still prefer drinking your sippies reclined. It's pretty much my favorite routine ever: you take your sippy, find your blanky, set it up "just so" on the floor or couch, and lay down. You're fully capable of sitting like a big girl and drinking your sippies, but if you have an option, you'll definitely take the lounging one.