baby girl: 21 months

Um, when did this happen?!

Crazy to think that the next time I write a MacKenna update will be her 2nd birthday.  OMG.  I so don’t even want to think about that.

We might have 3 more months until she’s officially a two year old, but I’m pretty sure we’ve already hit the terrible two stage.  Don’t get me wrong, she’s still a great baby, but man, can she throw a tantrum like none other.  She is a girl who knows what she wants and when she wants it, and if she doesn’t get her way, she’s going to let you know about it.

We’ve also hit the “no phase”.  I thought we skipped over it as my friends with kids a few months younger than Kenna were already saying no constantly.  But, Kenna wasn’t… until about 2 weeks ago, and now she just LOVES hearing herself say no.  She’s not always saying it maliciously, but it is by far one of her favorite words and she will repeat it over and over and over again.  It’s adorable and terrible at the same time.

But, semi-negative stuff aside, she is growing and learning by leaps and bounds.  She is learning something new every single day.  We recently taught her how to say her name and age when asked.  We ask her, “What’s your name?” and she replies, “Menna.”  And then, “How old are you?” and she quickly holds up her fingers and says, “Two!”  Sometimes she gets the 2 mixed up or combines “Menna two!”  It’s my favorite.

She also has learned several new animals and their sounds as well as pretty much every visible body part, including hard ones like elbow, knee, and armpit (she likes pretending to put on my deodorant so I figured it was only appropriate to teach her armpit).  It was also fun to indulge her by taking her to the zoo.  She loved the fish the most (there is an aquarium in the children’s zoo as well as huge fish in the tank with the hippos), but I loved seeing her make an elephant noise as soon as she saw the elephants.  So cute!

We’ve tried teaching her the alphabet, how to count to 10 (or even just 5), and how to spell her name, but all are way too long for her short attention span.  We last about 5 seconds with any activity and then it’s on to something new.  (This really shouldn’t surprise either of us since we both have extremely short attention spans.)  I know that these things will come with time, so all we can do is continue practicing and attempting to teach her new things.

While she doesn’t know letters or numbers yet, she certainly knows how to sing theme songs.  Her favorites to sing are Bubble Guppies and the theme song to Jessie.  It’s seriously hilarious.  And also probably not great that she sees enough TV to know these songs.  (In our defense, the TV is on but she very rarely actually sits and watches it.  Only after naps for the most part or right before bed.  She’s way too busy to actually sit for 2 seconds.)  She has also started saying “Oh Toodles!” when watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Again, so cute!

It’s amazing to think that in a few short months she will actually be talking in real sentences.  She has a few 2-3 word sentences, but I don’t think she’s far off from stringing together even more words.  She has no problem communicating exactly what she wants (or throwing a tantrum if we don’t understand) but it will be so nice when she is speaking in almost complete sentences!  I won’t wish this time away though…

21 month facts

• Weight:  Right around 19 pounds.  We’re praying she reaches 20 pounds by her 2nd birthday so that we can actually turn the carseat around.
• Clothing size:  12 to 18 months
• Shoe size:  Finally fitting into size 3
• Diapers:  Still rocking the cloth, wears a size 3 in disposables
• Sleep:  7:30 PM to between 6 and 7 AM on a good day, 1 afternoon nap from 1 to 4 PM.
• Food:  Still extremely picky.  Favorites are ketchup, mustard, yogurt, waffles, cheese, crackers, avocados, strawberries (yes, there are actually some fruits and vegetables in there!).
• Words:  Building her vocabulary daily and starting to talk in short 2-3 word sentences.
• Likes:  Coloring, outside, the pool, the sandbox, talking non-stop
• Dislikes:  The carseat after awhile, not getting her way, when we don’t understand what she’s saying

We have absolutely LOVED having the last 6 weeks off to enjoy with her!  We have been taking full advantage of our time with her and I have been loving every second.  It’s going to be really hard to go back to work in a few weeks for both MacKenna and myself.  I’m going to miss spending so much time with her.  I honestly miss her when she naps or goes to bed at night.  I love this little girl so stinking much!