Dandelions In the Cold

Hey, y'all, it's quarantine time!

Anna's 22nd Month

And just before she turns 23 months, let's look back at Anna's 22nd month!

Oh how I love this little toddler!  She is a delightful little kid, and her sense of humor comes out more and more each week!

She has been telling me and her dad Good job! when we do things for her (like peeling a kiwi or folding and putting away her clothes).  It's so sweet and funny!

She began really singing this month!  She belts out "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie (still a big favorite), and she even started singing the alphabet song with us (and without us, too!)!

(Are we still listening to "Jingle Bell Rock" on the regular?  You know, now that it's April?  Why yes, yes we are.  Yes we are. I believe it's Jingle Bell Rock to the end of time at this point.)
But there are other songs she will sing all on her own, too!

She started out only singing H, I, J, K, LMNOP over and over to the tune of the alphabet song, but she can actually sing the whole thing now, including the last two lines.  It's been amazing to listen to the progression from just asking for this song to being able to sing a tiny bit of it to singing the whole thing.  Like watching a mountain being formed or a tree sprout into a sapling.

She has been getting to know Sesame Street and all its characters.

She would really, really like to push all the buttons, hence poor Dave's antics.

Elmo is her favorite so far, but this book has been her very favoritest favorite for a long time (it's why she's pretty good at identifying shapes, I think).

She still LOVES books and reading, both with us and by herself.

She's starting to be ok with having her hair up, and she is now liking putting on dress-up clothes or in any other way making changes to the way she looks (see the photo of her wearing the sleeve of my shirt over her head above).

Notice the socks and necklace I couldn't remove without a fight (that I didn't care to have) the day we took photos.

Here is a fun game she likes to play with her friend.

They each take hold of this toy broom and promenade around the house, through the kitchen and dining room, and then back to the playroom.  It is hilarious, and the two of them love that they get such a reaction when they do it.

Naps have been 50/50 will she sleep? won't she?  I don't care.  (I mean, it drives me nuts when she doesn't, because she always seems grouchy and tired like she NEEDS to sleep, and then she doesn't, but) By golly she's gonna have quiet rest time until she's 18 and off to college, whether she sleeps or not!

It FINALLY got pretty ok outside this month!  We are outta here!

The house, I mean.  Outta the house.  We're still here.

Dearest little bean, we love you so very much.  I LOVE getting to know you a little every day and getting to see that little mind develop.

You are a wonderful, beautiful little person!

Anna's 21st Month

Heyo!  Get ready for some toddler overload cause I'mma catch y'all up.

This is post one of two.  Anna's 21st month was full for Mama, which is why I missed posting about it entirely.  I took some notes, but this will be a mostly-pictures post.

She saw a bug walking on the floor in the kitchen near the beginning of this month.

We talked about it for three weeks afterward.  Every time she thought about it, she'd go running to the kitchen, Bug!  Walking! Seeit? and then FooWay!  because it flew away.

I can't wait for the summer!!  She's going to LOVE the summer bugs!

We got her a potty this month.

We intend to try potty training this spring/summer, but this potty is just a get-acquainted-with-the-idea-of-sitting-on-a-potty kind of potty.  For now.

It was a big hit.

In fact, we spent a lot of time on the potty this month for people who are not potty training. (We spent a lot of time there the following month, too, but we're not there yet...)

We also got her a doorway swing with a bunch of different attachments.  She has been loving it!

It's just a doorway chin-up bar but with a bracket that grabs the wall instead of just letting it rest there.

At one point this month she drew with her crayons on the window.

It was a good learning moment for her (Not paper!), not least because it gave her the chance to learn to clean the windows.

And it turns out she loves to clean windows!

She loves to clean anything for which there are skorts (squirts) and a rag to wipe.  You're dusting?  She wants in.

It was still so cold this month...starting to go stir crazy!

Stay tuned!  She's already 22 months old!

Blow kisses!

Anna's 20th Month

It's been a long year, but this month finally ended.

Anna's 19th Month

O winter.  Thou art a foul beast, and I like thee not.

Anna's 18th Month

A year-and-a-half!

I could not possibly list all the words this month.  She'll try most any word, so it's hard to keep up with what she's tried versus what she has mastery of.

Cereal, for instance...she recognizes what it means, but she rarely if ever uses it on her own.  Milk, fruit, sausage, cheese, raisins, and water (sounds like whyyy-ee) on the other hand, are frequent requests.

Birdy is a new one for sure (there is a bird ornament on the Christmas tree), and I love it.  Like most babies, she doesn't do the er sound yet, so it comes out as boody.  Dirty is the same way: dooty.  Diaper is another new one.

Interestingly, counting has not progressed beyond two through four, but she has loved "counting" everything in the house using the numbers she knows.

My favorite thing this month has been Anna's pretend games of OH NOOO!!!!

This is usually a game of carrying some object around, dropping/throwing it, and then shouting OH NOOO!!! as she scurries to rescue the object.

CLOSE second favorite thing: tickles!!! Ribs and upper thighs especially, but also under her chin and feet.

She has been practicing gentleness with Monkey and really succeeding at it most of the time.

Least favorite thing this month: temper tantrums.

We are fully into the realm of short-fused, fully-illogical, on-the-floor-SCREAMING-with-rage tantrums. I dislike it, but it doesn't make me quite as crazy as I thought it might.  Most of the time I'm ok with maintaining sanity by telling her, "I'll be right here when you decide to use your words," and then doing some dishes a few feet away or quietly playing with one of her toys by myself.  She usually burns herself out within five minutes.  Usually.

Thanksgiving was last month, and she and I took a harrowing plane ride down to Dallas to visit my family.

This is Anna signing "help"

Harrowing because I thought/planned on Anna sleeping on the flight...and she did not.  So all toys and books exhausted, three hours past bedtime, confined to my lap with a neighbor who refused to make eye contact, she melted all the way down.  I was on my own with her.  Gotta say, I don't recommend this method of toddler travel. (The return flight (with Dave) was much better...but still not recommended)

The visit itself was nice, though.  It was good to see family that we usually only get to see on video chat.

Please forgive...I did not whip out the camera very often on this trip, and what I did manage to get wasn't generally "good"

And despite not having much time to see all the people (it never seems to be enough), we got to visit the Dallas Zoo and the Arboretum, too!

Anna thought watching the giraffes get fed (by other people) was amazing, and she loved getting to brush the goats in the petting zoo.

These pumpkins were thrilling as well (and now she has pumpkin pretty solid, too).

Oh, Anna! You are a surprise and delight every single day.  You fill our lives with so much joy and laughter.

I love you so much, my little lamb, so very, very much.  Plus you are legit hilarious.