26 Months Old!

Over the past month here are 12 ways Nadia has changed:

1. Her sentences continue to get longer. She is almost always able to communicate her thoughts in sentences. For example, this morning I handed her happy meal doll to her, and she said "cut the tag off, please." She's also saying more things accurately. For example she now says "Oh, Daddy where are you" whereas she used to omit the word "where" from that phrase. She's also singing more of the words in many songs. Her use of pronouns is improving although she still says "you" sometimes when she means "me."

2. She now LOVES to count to 11. After 11 she cycles back to 8, 9, 10, and 11 - every time. It's so funny!

3. She's averaging one accident every 1-2 weeks (almost always on Tuesdays). That's a big improvement compared to last month. One bathroom habit I hope she breaks is her love of porta-potties. She has to use it every time we go to the park even if she just went at home 20 minutes earlier, and normally she goes hours in between going at home. I do limit her to using it once per trip to the park. When we get to the park and I ask her what she wants to do first (swing, slide, or seesaw), she says "potty." Oi vey! :-)

4. She's interacting more with Ian. She wants him to join in with what she's doing, and she gives him hugs and kisses - so sweet!

5. She correctly identifies most colors now - pink, red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and white.

6. She's learning to eat her veggies. I can't say she's crazy about them, but she usually will eat them before her dinner (rather than for breakfast or lunch the next day).

7. She can correctly identify more flavors. If I giver her oatmeal or yogurt and ask her what kind it is after she's taken a bite, she can usually tell me the correct flavor (peach, blueberry, etc.).

8. She's always loved hugs, but she's really been saying, "I need a big hug" a lot lately.

9. She's really been focused on emotions lately - hers, Ian's, VeggieTales characters', etc. She usually says she's/ they're either happy, sad, not sad, not scared, or scared.

10. She's come a long way with self- feeding. She definitely hasn't "arrived," but she's made great progress.

11. She's just started to play with dolls. She likes to feed them at her kitchen.

12. She got 2 more teeth! Her bottom 2 year molars came in.