Here we are with Vanessa turning eighteen months today. She’s a little girl now . . . no longer a baby . . . but she is our baby and always will be . . .Vanessa is doing so much these days. It’s hard to believe. She has lots of words. Her new thing lately as we put her down for a nap is to wave and say “See ya. Bye-Bye.” She also does this when she finds Mommy’s purse and carries it around. It makes sense that it’s amazing to watch her go through this imitation stage, especially since it’s her mommy that she naturally imitates the most. (And by the way -- she’s been exploring her nose a little more with her finger – she’s not imitating her mommy!)
Her favorite show is Blue’s Clues and she’ll ask to watch it several times a day, especially when she’s tired. She’s mastering the dance moves and likes to try and sing along. For the moment it seems her favorite color is also blue. She’ll sometimes point out blue things and say “Blue?” We assure her when she’s correct. :)
Vanessa likes to help wipe things down with a cloth or paper towel. She washes herself in the bathtub and when she's finished eating or getting messy. (A big person sometimes needs to do a final wipe or cleaning because it can be hard to twist and turn her little hands and fingers in a way to get all the dirt or mess. Vanessa doesn’t seem to be offended by the extra help. :) She tries to dress and undress herself. She’ll often tell us when we need to change her soiled diaper.
(In the next few days look for a sequence of pictures of Vanessa trying really hard to change her own diaper. We think we might be entering the window for potty training . . . but it seems too soon! But a good thing I guess . . . )
And she loves music. She’ll play various musical toys and sing or hum along. She has an attachment to the piano and likes to give recitals. It seems she may have a musical ear. She plays notes and tries to match her humming or singing to them. She does quite well. Vanessa also likes to sing her ABCs and is able to enunciate the sounds of several letters. She enjoys various songs and finger plays and can do several motions for most of them. She’ll also tell you when she wants to dance and listen to music.
She likes to count. She points to objects and usually says “Du, two, tee, du, du, sick, du, two . . .” Her mother is amazed to watch early mathematical concepts beginning to develop . . . and this wasn’t the first example, but we’ll spare our blog readers of an analysis. :)
Shamefully for her parents she can say the words Coca Cola or “Cold Coke.” Her father loves Coke and her mother needs her fix at least once a day, too. So we’ll sometimes let Vanessa carry a cold unopened can just so she can feel like a big person . . . and so we can have a good laugh. She pretends she’s taking a drink and then imitates her father by going “Ah . . .” It’s cute but we don’t want to encourage drinking soda. :)
She loves to share her milk with her stuffed animals and dolls. And she’s very good at playing mommy. She’s more into building with blocks! And her love for reading is still huge!
We think Vanessa is transitioning to one nap. Sometimes she needs two. Sometimes she skips napping altogether. And some days she takes one really long one. We might figure it out by the time we enroll her in kindergarten.
Speaking of sleeping . . . today I (Mommy) went to get her from her crib and she put her foot up on the railing and was beginning to pull herself up and over. She’s been working at this for a long time now but her petiteness has prevented success. She’s had a hard time finding a good spot to anchor at least one foot before using her strong arms to pull up. She’s amazingly flexible, so today the leg she was able to anchor was almost pointed straight up, barely allowing her tiny toes to grip the railing. So as you might guess, we’re trying to plan a good time to convert the crib to a toddler bed. That will surely involve many restless nights and days of putting her back in bed over and over.
Vanessa’s energy, although it can be exhausting, is truly a pleasurable experience. Her inquisitive nature and expressions almost always lead to amazement. This blog allows for us to share our amazement, although we never intend to boast, and to document her milestones. We’re so appreciative for your interest in her life and the strong encouragement we receive to share.
