20 Months Old!

Where has our baby gone???

An (ahem) interesting new development this past month comes in the form of "testing the limits". We have no idea where she got it, but suddenly Ellison gets a sheepish little smile on her face and kicks while I change her diaper, and she slaps and headbutts for no reason. Sigh. She doesn't do it out of anger or frustration, she just seems to think she's being cute and funny. Even when you sternly make it known that it's unacceptable, she smiles. We tried time-outs. She thought that was great fun & would try to play peek-a-boo. Isn't there a manual out there somewhere?! :)



Her latest thing is announcing whether objects are "big" or "little". Here's hoping she doesn't catch a glimpse of her mom's hind-end anytime soon. Her vocabulary and language skills continue to increase, and she's even begun trying to "read" to us. Yes, even the little "Caution" stickers plastered on large toys are a good read these days. And since her dad and I have taken to spelling out words we don't want her to recognize, she tries spelling now, too. It sounds something like "a, e, i, o, u" done in a stoccato rhythm.



One of her favorite things to watch is still Curious George, but now "The Wiggles" DVD has been added to the repertoire. It's impressive watching her mimic the different dance moves. She can sit/lay and color for long periods of time, and is quite good at trying to stay in the lines for her age. She's still obsessed with playing in her dad's car every evening and helping me do the laundry. She's really into mothering her baby and Teddy lately - putting them to sleep, cuddling them, consoling them, covering them up, etc. She's so into the baby thing that now when we take her on our evening strolls, she wants the stroller seat flattened out so she can pretend she's a baby. Her fave food is still Goldfish crackers, along with cereal, "meat", and cheese.

Ellison's big on kisses right now. Unless, of course, you happen to be her mother. I do suppose I wear out the request a little, though. :) But it's cute - she has to kiss just about every stuffed animal she comes across, she kisses the air toward any real animal, and she even has to kiss the caterpillar and teddy bear on her toothbrush. Photos of babies and kids (even in a magazine)? Kisses. Sketches of animals in her little books? Kisses. The cartoon-looking alligator on the box of "Alligator Krispies"? Yup.

She looks like such a big girl to us here. :(