I'm so awful at keeping up with the documentation of the daily ups and downs of life. And since Avalai's almost 20 months old now, I feel guilty for not recording all of her amazing growth thus far.
So, I'm determined to do a better job of recording all the cute words, hilarious moments and wonderment of her toddlerhood yet to come so that she can look back and read about what a wonderful child she was!
Our little word-whiz has an amazing vocabulary! She probably knows 300 words, and will quickly repeat most any word you ask her to.
She's just begun to do a lot of pretending. Like finding a stray washcloth and pretending to wash her big bunny...or pretending to drink from an empty cup, and then feeding her little monkey some of the invisible liquid.
I just a couple days ago told her about her "Little Piggy toes" and she insisted that I repeat the rhyme several times that evening saying "Again" as she giggled. Of course she loves the end part. So, today while I was in the shower (she often plays in the bathroom as I take a shower so that I can keep her out of Daddy's hair for a half hour) she kept saying "Foot, Foot" and I didn't realize what she was getting at, and I just said, "You're right honey, that's mommy's foot." After her repeated pointing out of my foot...she finally said, "Wee, wee, wee, wee, wee, wee, ..........home" skipping the words in between. So I finally got it, and put my foot up on the side of the tub as she pushed the curtain back and was trying to do the little piggy game with my foot. She didn't get all the words right of course, but she would touch one toe at a time down the line from big toe to littlest one, and would end her babble with "Wee, wee, wee, wee, wee, wee, ..........home" and lots of giggling. It was such a sweet, cute example of what a sponge she is. Soaking up any info we give her, and wanting to repeat it herself!
Even funnier was when she saw Matt without his shirt on (which isn't that common actually). He has some hair that's kind of thicker on his stomach, and there are some areas that are thinner than others...I guess you could say it might be in a horizontal stripey pattern...
Avalai definitely thought so. She pointed right at his stomach and said "Zeeba" and smiled, then said it again! And she definitely knows exactly what a zebra is! In fact she knows most every animal she loves critters of almost any kind.
She saw squirrels like twice in our yard from the window...and for weeks whenever she looks out the window she calls for them "Curr-ell, Curr-ell!" As if they're going to hear her and come running!
Oh, and although she's been able to say "dog" since about 8 months (I guess it initially sounded more like "Dough" then by 10 months became "Doag", then by about 12 months became "Dog" or "Doggie")...and since about 8 months she's been able to do an "erf, erf" kind of bark...she stayed for two days in a row with our neighbor Cathy Deluca whose dog Avalai is always intrigued by...and she knows his name is Rudy. Well, after actually being around the big yellow lab for that amount of time...she's decided that a dog doesn't just go "Erf, Erf." Now her little barking sound is followed by a lengthy, tongue-hanging out pant as she says "Heh, huh, heh, huh, heh, huh" She had to have picked that up from him because we never told her that!
She had fun playing with Little John Dicarlo when we went by the Dicarlo open house this afternoon. He's 2 and a half, and was very good with her, considering that she was shadowing him everywhere! He shared his "tomato pie-pizza" with her. She was over his shoulder saying "Pizza, pizza...peeeeeez!" So, he turned and let her take a bite of his! I cringed a little at the germy aspect, but it was done, and kind of cute. And it was nice of such a little guy to be willing to share. She of course showed off her back bend stretches, and her ostrich move. She always knows that those antics can impress a crowd, so she pulls them out often when we're in a group.
We got a couple new books from Ollie's. One color book about penguin Rob, and one touch and feel book about things on a farm. She loves them both of course!
We dropped in on Jenny and Leland tonight too. Since we were out already and we haven't seen them in over a week...and...Avalai asks about them all the time! They've got their house looking great! All the big projects are out of the way, and only little touch ups needed. Anyway, Avalai was overjoyed from the moment we told her we were heading to see them. She loooooves her Aunt "Nenny" and Uncle "Neenand"! And even Chia whom she was calling "Sheerah" tonight for some reason. She loves to run down their hallway, and into every room. She's such an explorer. She found Leland's deoderant "noerant" as she says...his tweezers...the battery cover to the remote... It's amazing how kids just find everything! After lots of spinning and dancing and laughing and running, we headed home to get her to bed. And she was saying "Bubbye Neenand, Bubbye Nan Nenny" throughout the car ride home!
She surprised me and told me right after she did a poopy diaper tonight. She normally denies it if you ask her. I hadn't even asked, and she pointed to her bottom and said, "poopy". Good thing I ordered the new potty chair from Amazon today. I think she may be ready to start. And we're ready to stop buying diapers!
We talked to Matt's dad and my mom today. It's nice that they appreciate all the pictures we send. It makes me feel like all the time and effort that goes into taking them, sorting them, editing them, and posting them is worth it. It's the best way to keep all our family and friends up to date with how fast she's growing, and the vast range of her silly...exhuberant...and somber expressions.
Oh...and Avalai decided that she did NOT need a nap today. Although we put her up in her crib twice for an hour each time...she cried for a short time and them gave up and talked to her animals, read her books and sang the entire time! Not a wink of sleep for our crazy girl! (She usually does all of that before a nap, but for like 20 minutes before she dozes off). So, bedtime was a little easier tonight. She was absolutely exhausted. As are we now that it's 1:45 am. Hopefully we can get to bed earlier at least a few nights this week.
...Until tomorrow... goodnight.