Staceytown: 22 Months

Several months ago, we were talking to a mom after storytime at the library whose little boy was about Josie's size, and we were really impressed by how clearly he was able to say several animal names, colors, etc. If I remember correctly, it turned out he was about 22 months (Josie was probably around 18 months then), and his mom assured us that kids will really explode with their vocabulary during those intervening months.... and sure enough, the explosion appears to be upon us now with Josie. She's adding new words just about every day now, and refining (or not) her pronunciation of the words she already knows. She can say all sorts of things very clearly now (and many, many more unclearly, and all still mixed in with plenty of gibberish), like shower, spoon, bunny, horsie, doggy, mole, pull, moon, wet, water, milk, shoes, diaper, potty, toilet, and towel. We're also currently working on "help" so that perhaps she can start asking for help rather than immediately collapsing on the floor with the tragedy of it all when she can't do something on her own.

She is also beginning to say some multi-word phrases, like "happy day", "throw it", "stop it", "yay, I did it!" (or something that sure sounds like that). She carried on quite the lengthy phone conversation with Ryan the other day, which was completely nonsensical and yet also really cute. She also talked on her rolled-up placemat like it was a phone, and then when she had finished and said good-bye, she pushed the (imaginary) "off" button on the placemat ;)

[Happy day! - even though she usually sounds pretty forlorn when she says it]

There have definitely been more than a few signs this past month that Josie is moving further from being a little baby. We've (finally, some might say) gotten her off bottles now, although she's not too happy about it. Her milk consumption has gone down significantly since switching her over to sippy cups, but she's perfectly happy to drink plenty of water (...out of a sippy) for her fluids and she eats enough variety of foods for her nutrients that we're not too concerned about it. Speaking of which, her appetite has really been extraordinary lately. She's always been a good eater (except for a few days or weeks here or there), but lately she's been cleaning her increasingly large plates of food (eating more for dinner than I do now) and sometimes clamoring for more after that. Her current favorites are strawberries, corn on the cob, and asparagus, and she usually does quite well with her meat too (not chicken, not pork, just "meat!" according to Josie).

And after nearly two years now of Josie generally not pushing her limits physically or getting into too much, it seems those tides are changing. She is starting to climb on things more, and loves climbing up on a stepstool so she can help when we're getting dinner ready (by issuing orders and providing running commentary in gibberish). She also about gave me a heart attack the other day when I looked up to see that she had climbed all way up on a stool on her own - with a book in hand - and had settled herself in to read to herself.... and then I started laughing when her "reading" included all of my usual inflections and hand gestures ;)

Josie still loves going on slides, only now she can get herself up and down them all by herself. We still have to spot her sometimes and keep an eye on her, since she can be a bit slow climbing up and isn't super quick yet with getting out of the way for the bigger kids (especially since one of the playgrounds we go to can be a bit chaotic at times), but she's really been able to take more on on her own now.

She is developing a decent arm now too, after all the practice she's gotten with throwing rocks into the river lately. We've been walking down to the river before dinner most days, and while quite a few of the rocks landed inches from her feet the first few days, now for the most part they are landing with a satisfying splash a few feet out into the water, with her yelling "throw it!" each time :)

We went to a gymnastics place a few weeks ago for a birthday party for her cousins Taylor and CJ. Even though I was a bit worried Josie would get swallowed up by the foam pit, she had no such qualms and happily swam her way through the foam and then bounced around on the trampoline. She had such a good time that I started looking up gymnastic classes to sign her up for once we got home, narrowed it down to one or two (depending on scheduling).... and then realized that seemed like a much better cold-weather activity. So that's on hold for now, and maybe we'll be doing swim lessons for her instead :)

Mother's Day was also very nice this year. We did Mother's Day with my side of the family on Saturday since my mom was going to be away that Sunday, and since my brother and sister-in-law unfortunately weren't able to join us, we instead changed plans and went to a fish place by our house which is now two for two for being super good. We then had brunch on Sunday with Ryan's side of the family, which was fun except for Josie getting overtired and therefore more erratic, and then threatening to hit me for not giving her my water :\ (And one guess as to who still didn't get my water.)

[The only picture I took of her on Mother's Day - I'm not sure what her hand did to her, but it looks like she was making her "ooh-hoo" sound at it that she makes when she's displeased]

Miscellaneous cuteness:

[She must find a way to get inside any box that comes into our house now]

[Don't let her smile fool you - she was coming at me with her snot-filled tissue that she then wiped over every (formerly clean) surface she came across]