Lillian - 21 Months

Lillian is 21 months. I'm 8 months pregnant and this post is nearly on time! Go me! 

Lillian and I joined Dane and Brenna, Claire Fitz and Dana Palacios for our (both mine and Lillian's) very first trip to the State Fair.  I neglected to get pictures of Lillian with Big Tex at the fair even though she loved him and kept waving to the giant man saying "Hi!" "Hellooo!" and then we found out just a few days later he burned down.  That's what I get for thinking to myself "Maybe next year."  Halloween also came and went this last month but I think I'll do a separate post for that one.

Here are Dane and Lillian chilling in their strollers ready to start our day at the fair, below.

We tried 'the best' corn dogs there at the fair, below, with mustard and later tasted the fried oreos.  Interestingly enough, she seemed to like the corn dog better. Truth be known it was pretty stinkin good!  And as you can tell from her sweaty hair, the day was also pretty stinkin hot!

Here are the other things that Michael and I thought really 'mark' this age for Lillian....
VERBAL
- She finally says her own name "Yee-yan".  I hadn't thought about it before, but her name is actually a challenging one for a small child to say.
-  The use of  two word combos like "more cornbread" or "mommy down."
- "Milk" still sounds like "No" for some reason but she'll sign "milk" so you know what she means
- Started 'singing' along with songs picking out specific words and saying them over and over (e.g. for "Jesus Loves Me" she'll sing "Yeeesss" again and again because of the "Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus...."  She loves the Taylor Swift song that says "Weeee are never ever ever getting back together..." because it says "Weeeee"
- When we explain anything to Lillian she repeats odd words here and there throughout the explanation as if to show she understands
- Another FINALLY is that she finally said something that sounds like "I love you" ("Lubee") which she has never previously said to anyone except for Uncle 'Bobby' (Michael's brother David) to whom she said "Love You" twice months ago!

ACTION
- Climbing, running and jumping with both feet off the ground (though not high)
- A confident independent player most of the time - on play grounds, at church, at home - though she has also started saying "PLAY!" and pointing at the ground where she sits as her way of asking you to come and be near her while she plays
- The baby obsession continues - feeding them, rocking them, taking them with us in the car, covering them with blankets, and more recently, wanting them to wear her diapers
- Loves when I start up the vacuum and runs around like a crazy lady squealing and loves books (we spend a large part of our waking time stacking books, putting books in her 'trucks' to move them around, etc.)
- Intolerant of the stroller or the shopping cart a lot of the time - we're having to work on keeping her in for some things because she would prefer that I carry her rather than walk in a lot of places like the grocery store and it makes somes tasks really challenging to do on top of being pregnant
- Loves to take baths or showers and really doesn't like it if someone else is taking one and she's not in on the action - if you want to relax in the bath, Lillian needs to be asleep!
- Tickles Michael's armpits unprovoked - it's pretty funny - when he's dressing her or just sitting around. Doesn't tickle mommy.... I think it's one of 'their' games
- Still loves phones (or using remotes, IPhones, makeup compacts etc.) to "call" people and she most frequently calls - who else?! - but cousin "Jasson" (Jackson)

OTHER THINGS
- Loves to sit on the potty but afraid to GO on the potty - she'll sit there until the urge arrives and then hurry around saying "diaper!"
- Still a very good eater though she now has preferences and will ask for things she considers 'more tasty' like 'toast' (toast is an obsession for this girl!!!) so we frequently negotiate things like "eat another bite of soup and you can have another piece of toast" etc.
- Still a tummy sleeper (from around 8 or 8:30pm to anywhere from 7am to 8:30am) with her little bottom up in the air she sleeps with a lovey and a pillow and multiple blankets.  She MUST be covered up with a blanket to go to sleep, but other than that she goes down very easy at night.
- Naps are still around 1 hour with 1 hour 15 mins being the 'norm'
- She is great about going to school Mon. and Thurs. and LOVES her teacher Ms. Aimee.  She waves happily as I walk out the door and this has been the biggest blessing as a mom who has a hard time leaving a sad little girl!
- Lillian weighs around 28lbs (I know because she steps on the scale EVERY time we go to the OB since it's like a little platform and she likes to get up there and dance! ha) She's probably around 33 or 34 inches tall and wearing 24 month clothes.

This girl is a little ham!

Lillian - 20 Months... "Babies"

The start of Fall finally kicked in the last month or so with a few colder days where you could wear a scarf without sweating.  One of the colder days so far this year was Columbus Day where we had a chance to check out the Arboretum as a family of three.  I knew that Lillian would really appreciate it more this year and so I'm glad that we all went together.  They had their amazing pumpkin patch and a petting zoo this year so we enjoyed for a few hours and then headed home to relax. (In these same pumpkin patch photos for Lillian's first Fall it was warm enough that she was in a sleeveless shirt, but this year the cold caught us by surprise and she hardly had warm clothes in her closet to wear yet! Go figure, Texas!)

 

(Above: Lillian in one of many many action shots as she ran around squealing about all the pumpkins.)

(Above: Lillian headed into one of the gourd houses - she would run in one door and out the other and come around to make the loop again saying and signing "more? more!")

 (Above: I try and convince Lillian to try and pet one of the animals that she's watching with such concern - they had sheep, goats, chickens, bunnies and a cow in a separate pen that you could pet through the fence.)

 

 (Above: Michael has a little more luck getting her interested in the goat... which we are certain had to have been drugged!)

Other things that are "so Lillian" at the 20 month mark...

• She is obsessed with her baby dolls and likes taking them everywhere and reading them books and feeding them with spoons and bottles
• "Milk" - which she asks for frequently sounds exactly like "No".  Why she doesn't say drink or something that sounds more like milk I have no idea.
• She has pee peed on the potty once.  We sit on it several times a day but mostly after our bath for a long stretch and the one and only accidental time that she actually used the potty seemed to be a little more traumatic than exciting in spite of Michael and I both making such a positive/praising/big deal out of the whole thing.
• She loves Sunshine School, her teacher Ms. Aimee and her friends there.  Adorable!
• She also has begun to love Ladies Bible Study where she can go and play with her friends in the nursery when I go to the ladies class on Tuesday - this time has been such a blessing for me mid-week and I'm so thankful that Lillian is enjoying it too.
• Laughing for attention - Lillian will laugh this big boisterous fake laugh because she knows that people are going to look at her and say "look how cute she is!" "look how funny she is!" and she works it.
• All of the ladies at Sunshine School say how 'funny' Lillian is, how much she loves music and the playground, and how they just can't imagine that she could EVER get in trouble at home.  Leslie Jackson who watches Lillian during ladies bible study but also sees her at Sunshine School recently told Lillian's teacher, Ms. Aimee "I just love that Lillian she is so sweet and squishy and snuggly!"
• I think that I can see more challenging eating being on the horizon... though a lot of mealtime challenges when we are out are more to do with Lillian being tired or 'finished' before every one else.  She doesn't run away but she LOVES to get out of her highchair and stand around near the table where everyone else is eating.  This is an area that is a potential battleground....and so we are just trying to choose the right battles!
• This month I put a flat adult pillow in her bed and the first morning she slept until 9:15!!!  It didn't continue, but she did sure love that pillow and it is now a sleeping staple. *Sigh* What a big girl.

We've been talking a lot about baby Reed that is joining us for Christmas lately and though she seems excited I don't think she's really going to have a good comprehension of it until he is here and doesn't leave.  Admittedly I have a little bit of anxiety about this collision of newborn and toddler, but as I figured with Lillian - less educated, less rational, and less supported people have survived.... and we will too even if it has it's hard times (and I know it will!).  Until then I am earnestly praying that we have a better sleeper in our son. :)