22 Months

Sara Kate, you are 22 months old!! What have you been up to?

Where's Sara Kate's head?
Where are Sara Kate's eyes?
Where is Sara Kate's mouth?
- You are learning so much in school right now! You can say the name of your teacher and you can even say the names of some of your friends. You are learning letters, numbers, shapes, how to trace things (like letters), you practice writing your name, you practice coloring in the line, you play with Play-Doh and puzzles, you sing songs and know the motions to lots of songs (your teachers say you love song time), you are learning your manners, you have different activity centers during the day...I could go on and on! It is very evident to us that you are thriving at school, and that makes us so happy. The only negative about your school day is that we are still dealing with terrible separation anxiety when I drop you off. You are so excited to get to school, and you want to walk in by yourself but when its time to walk into your class you cling to me and want me to hold you. Then you cry when I leave. I know the crying doesn't last long as your teachers are good about redirection, but it still makes me sad to hear you crying as I leave. But I know you LOVE going to school and have a wonderful time because sometimes you don't want to leave at the end of the day!
- When we get home from school, you immediately want a snack. You take your coat off and say 'mama' and run to the pantry. Your favorite snacks right now are veggie straws, graham crackers, goldfish, and Ritz crackers. For a special treat you get a Hershey Kiss.
- Dinner time is definitely messy!!! You are very independent when it comes to eating. You want your plate and your spoon/fork on your tray (or sometimes my plate and fork!)! You are doing well with a spoon but your favorite thing to do is start eating with a utensil, then hold the utensil and eat with your hand. You aren't very adventurous when it comes to trying new things. Some days you can be very picky and some days you eat everything we give you. Everyday is a new day when it comes to eating!!
- Your sleeping is back on track, although a few nights lately you have thought bedtime equals play time! But once you go to bed, you sleep great at night. Bedtime is around 8, and during the week I wake you up between 6:45-7 and on the weekends you can sleep in until 8:00-9:00.
- You are working on new teeth right now! Currently, you have your top 4 teeth, your bottom 4 teeth, both of your top 2 year molars, and both of your bottom 2 year molars. You are working on your I-teeth. At first I thought it was just the bottom ones, but I see little holes where the top ones will be soon. You have been in a great mood lately, but you have been drooling like nothing I've ever seen before! After your nap the other day, your whole shirt was completely soaked as was the sheet in your bed. The gums are sore and red in those spots so hopefully they come in soon. It seems that you've had so many teeth come in lately!
- Your vocabulary has really picked up over the last month! You are saying so many new words and you will repeat things when we ask you to. I tried to start a list of words you say so I wouldn't forget and here's what I can remember: mama, dada, dog, cat, duck, Poppa, bubble, paper, my, me, bib, bow, ball, my bow, my bib, my ball, my book, more, bath, bird, apple juice, water, eye, mouth, ear, teeth, that, what's that, where did it go, where's my mom, out, one, I love you, all done, go, no, yes/yeah, car, hi, bye-bye, Elmo, snack, drink, and stop. I'm sure I am forgetting some, but you seem to say new words every day!
- Some of your favorite things include books (you LOVE books!), blocks, any ball (you like to say my ball!), being outside, you love to see the dogs in the morning and when you get home from school, you love to eat, you still love watching your Baby Einstein videos, you love your best friend Grayson, you love going to Meme's house, you love putting a bow in your hair (and you say my bow!), you love to jump, you love to be silly, and you absolutely LOVE music.
- We think it might be time to start potty training soon. You know when you have a dirty diaper, and you will point to your bottom and get a diaper and go to the changing table or lay on the floor. Recently, you have been very interested in the potty and will point to the potty and then your bottom and you say 'pee-pee,' or something like that. We just got you a new potty and you know you sit on it and close the lid. That's as far as it's gotten right now!
- Your hair is getting so long and it can be so crazy in the mornings!! It cracks me up to see what your hair looks like when you wake up. It's very fine but it curls up when it's wet or it's humid.
- You have learned how to climb on all the furniture. Or I should say, all of a sudden you are tall enough to be able to climb onto the furniture! Unfortunately you like to stand and jump on things once you climb up so we are working on teaching you NOT to do that!
- You are starting to get a little temper and attitude when things don't go your way. When something isn't going right you will hit or pull my hair. We work on 'be nice, nice hair' and no hitting by giving your hand a little pat but that doesn't always work, although getting your hand patted gets your attention and it hurts your feelings. On occasion you will try to bite or have come up behind me and bitten my leg, and that is a big no-no! I haven't heard of you getting in trouble for any of that at school so I assume (and hope!) it's just your attitude at home.
- You are wearing size 18 month clothes, although 18 month shirts are too short. I think you might have a long torso like me. Your 18 month pants still fit fine or are too big. Your dresses are 18 month, too. You also wear size 18 month pajamas.
- You wear size 4 shoes, although your size 4 boots have gotten too small. We recently found you a pair of size 5 boots on clearance to get through the rest of the winter.
- You wear size 4 diapers.
- You are the apple of our eye, and we are so blessed to call you ours, sweet Sara Kate! We love you!!