21 Months (and 20 months, because I was a slacker)
Life was busy and my energy was limited last month. Between Keira's cold and then various illnesses for me, an update was simply not forthcoming.
It's been a pretty big two months for Keira, with lots of language and emotional development. Keira is getting better and better at asking for things specifically... we may not always understand what she's saying, but she's trying really hard. My favorite was last night, when she asked my mom to go do their hand/foot washing routine. She stood in front of my mom and flapped her hands saying "Splash! Splash!" and then made drying motions and said "Dry, dry" over and over again. I told my mom "Ummm... I think she wants to go wash her hands and feet now," and Keira chirped "Okay!" and started toddling off to the bathroom.
Keira is also using more and more 2-3 word sentences and statements (or more). Things like "Baby's blanket" or my favorite "Oh, you got the binky there!" have been popping out of her mouth more and more frequently. It's pretty fabulous. Emotionally, Keira is now recognizing emotions when she sees them. If I'm in pain, she knows and becomes very anxious until I tell her it's all okay. Also, when she really pays attention to movies, she can recognize characters in distress or dangerous situations and will become very anxious about that character... hence why we had to stop watching Disney's Tarzan within the first 15-30 minutes (in which a baby and a gorilla are threatened by a cheetah, young Tarzan must get a hair from rampaging elephants, and adult Tarzan & Jane are threatened by very angry baboons). Yeah, that wasn't the wisest of movie choices. The other big thing is that her toys will sometimes interact as well, giving eachother hugs and kisses.
Hmmm... other stuff... Oh! We're starting to see some counting (to three so far), and she'll recite the alphabet up to about "E". I've been taking opportunities to show her letters and spell out words for her. Keira is also capable of recognizing quite a few colors... blue, yellow, green, pink, purple, and orange are the big ones so far. Oddly enough, I haven't seen her identify red yet. Huh. She now adores "coloring", which is basically filling any blank page with as many colors as she can, and also getting us to draw whatever she wants... circles, moons, starfish, octopi, babies, turtles, and flowers are quite popular. Oh yeah, and darn if she isn't getting picky about which binkies and leashes we use! The other day, she had on a green and white outfit, so she made sure I used the green binky and green/red polka dot leash. The next day, I put her in a mostly pink outfit, so she wanted nothing to do with the green binky leash, and grabbed the pink/yellow one and handed it to me. Craziness!
The pool is now a fun place for Keira. Prior to a couple weeks ago, she really didn't like pool time, but now she adores "jumping" from the steps into our arms and going for a little "fly" around the pool. It's pretty funny and cute. I also have her enrolled in a kid's music class. Mostly it's singing, dancing, and shaking maracas. But at the end of the class, the kids can pick from xylophones, glockenspiels, and drums. So far, Keira is *all* about the drums.
The drum thing actually makes perfect sense since Keira is now a huge fan of the Muppets, with Animal easily being her favorite character. She knows many of the others, including Gonzo, but in a contest Animal would win hands down. In general, Keira tends to like the slightly naughty, silly, or rambunctious characters... Tigger, the Big Bad Wolf, Animal, the Minions from Despicable Me, Huggawugga (a Muppet Show bit from the first season). I think she recognizes fellow purveyors of mischief.
As always, it's not all sunshine and roses. Keira began her Terrible Twos a while ago and is definitely ramping up on those behaviors. Boundary testing is huge right now, as is her campaign to try to get what she wants through fits and yelling. So far, what she's learned is that those tactics don't work, but she's persistent. Luckily, so are Mike and I. Keira has also been having what I strongly suspect are allergy issues... rashes around the mouth, a frequently runny nose and/or watery eyes that can and will turn into a nasty cough. Three more months, and I can start getting the answers I need on that score. And then, of course, there are those back molars that are coming in at a glacial rate. I'm pretty sure she's working on one of them right now, as there have been major sleeping problems for her for the past couple of nights.
Some of the big things we're currently working on (besides the aforementioned behavioral issues) is 1) getting her to give up the binky as often as possible and 2) promoting potty training. We're using her beloved Elmo (she does still love Elmo) to do so, as there are DVDs out for both. I call them propaganda. :) We really need another potty training DVD, though. I'll have to go back and look up recommendations. Or if you have one, please leave a comment.
It's been a pretty big two months for Keira, with lots of language and emotional development. Keira is getting better and better at asking for things specifically... we may not always understand what she's saying, but she's trying really hard. My favorite was last night, when she asked my mom to go do their hand/foot washing routine. She stood in front of my mom and flapped her hands saying "Splash! Splash!" and then made drying motions and said "Dry, dry" over and over again. I told my mom "Ummm... I think she wants to go wash her hands and feet now," and Keira chirped "Okay!" and started toddling off to the bathroom.
Keira is also using more and more 2-3 word sentences and statements (or more). Things like "Baby's blanket" or my favorite "Oh, you got the binky there!" have been popping out of her mouth more and more frequently. It's pretty fabulous. Emotionally, Keira is now recognizing emotions when she sees them. If I'm in pain, she knows and becomes very anxious until I tell her it's all okay. Also, when she really pays attention to movies, she can recognize characters in distress or dangerous situations and will become very anxious about that character... hence why we had to stop watching Disney's Tarzan within the first 15-30 minutes (in which a baby and a gorilla are threatened by a cheetah, young Tarzan must get a hair from rampaging elephants, and adult Tarzan & Jane are threatened by very angry baboons). Yeah, that wasn't the wisest of movie choices. The other big thing is that her toys will sometimes interact as well, giving eachother hugs and kisses.
Hmmm... other stuff... Oh! We're starting to see some counting (to three so far), and she'll recite the alphabet up to about "E". I've been taking opportunities to show her letters and spell out words for her. Keira is also capable of recognizing quite a few colors... blue, yellow, green, pink, purple, and orange are the big ones so far. Oddly enough, I haven't seen her identify red yet. Huh. She now adores "coloring", which is basically filling any blank page with as many colors as she can, and also getting us to draw whatever she wants... circles, moons, starfish, octopi, babies, turtles, and flowers are quite popular. Oh yeah, and darn if she isn't getting picky about which binkies and leashes we use! The other day, she had on a green and white outfit, so she made sure I used the green binky and green/red polka dot leash. The next day, I put her in a mostly pink outfit, so she wanted nothing to do with the green binky leash, and grabbed the pink/yellow one and handed it to me. Craziness!
The pool is now a fun place for Keira. Prior to a couple weeks ago, she really didn't like pool time, but now she adores "jumping" from the steps into our arms and going for a little "fly" around the pool. It's pretty funny and cute. I also have her enrolled in a kid's music class. Mostly it's singing, dancing, and shaking maracas. But at the end of the class, the kids can pick from xylophones, glockenspiels, and drums. So far, Keira is *all* about the drums.
The drum thing actually makes perfect sense since Keira is now a huge fan of the Muppets, with Animal easily being her favorite character. She knows many of the others, including Gonzo, but in a contest Animal would win hands down. In general, Keira tends to like the slightly naughty, silly, or rambunctious characters... Tigger, the Big Bad Wolf, Animal, the Minions from Despicable Me, Huggawugga (a Muppet Show bit from the first season). I think she recognizes fellow purveyors of mischief.
As always, it's not all sunshine and roses. Keira began her Terrible Twos a while ago and is definitely ramping up on those behaviors. Boundary testing is huge right now, as is her campaign to try to get what she wants through fits and yelling. So far, what she's learned is that those tactics don't work, but she's persistent. Luckily, so are Mike and I. Keira has also been having what I strongly suspect are allergy issues... rashes around the mouth, a frequently runny nose and/or watery eyes that can and will turn into a nasty cough. Three more months, and I can start getting the answers I need on that score. And then, of course, there are those back molars that are coming in at a glacial rate. I'm pretty sure she's working on one of them right now, as there have been major sleeping problems for her for the past couple of nights.
Some of the big things we're currently working on (besides the aforementioned behavioral issues) is 1) getting her to give up the binky as often as possible and 2) promoting potty training. We're using her beloved Elmo (she does still love Elmo) to do so, as there are DVDs out for both. I call them propaganda. :) We really need another potty training DVD, though. I'll have to go back and look up recommendations. Or if you have one, please leave a comment.