23 Months!!

Dear Evelina,

You are 23 months old!!  Only one more month until your big 2^nd birthday.  How much you have grown this year.  It has truly been a joy to witness. 

Here is what’s been going on this month: 

• You have made great strides with your color identification.  You can accurately point to colors when asked, verbalize the correct color and sign the name of the color.  You even enjoy proclaiming the color of things, unprompted.  Your go-to color is still the color blue, but you know better and can correct yourself most times.  
• You really love when we count and you will join in with us, repeating numbers after we do, or continuing the counting sequence.  Your favorite sequence from 1 to 10 is 8, 9, 10. 
• You like pointing to letters and saying what you think is the correct letter.  Sometimes you are right, but we still have A LOT of work to do.  
• When we sing the ABC song, slowly, you will join in with us at certain sections.  ABCD...G...JK....P....TUV...XYZ (while signing Z). 
• You enjoy using the pet names that Papa and I use for each other.  We will often hear you saying “Hey Beb” or “Hi Honey”.  It is hilarious.  
• At long last, you have started to say your name.  You especially like to look at pictures of yourself and point out "Nina"....aka...Lina.  
• You are just the sweetest little thing on the planet.  Always offering us hugs and kisses, or asking for them, running to us when we pick you up at school.  You really know how to put a smile on our faces.  
• Ever since we got your new play set, you can’t get enough of your “wee”.  If we let you swing 24/7, you would.  When it is time to go inside, you always look at your “wee” and say “bye bye wee” in your cute voice.  So sweet.  
• You are extremely bossy.  Always telling us where to go or sit, telling us to play with you.  
• You are always concerned when things are out of place/messy, you have an accident or do something you aren't supposed to.  You look at us and say "Oh, no" endless times a day.   Really, it is okay!! 
• You adore trucks, trains, buses, and airplanes, and once we see one, you will ask for “more, more”.  It breaks our hearts that we can’t produce them out of thin air for you.
• When you smell something stinky or when we are changing a dirty diaper, you will proclaim, “P-U!!” 
• You can now hop without holding onto anything, and you think it is the BEST thing.  
• You can walk up and down the stairs with little help, although, we still stand by in fear of you falling.  
• One day this week I brought you to school.  When I was taking you out of the car seat, you reached for my hair and I thought you were going to pull it, but instead you said “Mama Pretty” with a smile.  It made my heart melt.  
• Speaking of car seats, we took the plunge and you are now forward-facing.  You love it so much and really enjoy looking out the window and telling us what you see.  We wanted to keep you forward-facing until you turned 2, but you just seemed so uncomfortable (and cranky).  
• Whenever Papa or I (or anyone for that matter) leave the house without you, you will run over to the window, climb up on your stool and watch us drive down the driveway while waving and smiling.  You think it is so exciting.
• Our neighbor’s kids, Abby and Mitchell (Mitchy as you like to call him), are two of your favorite people.  You constantly look out the window hoping they will be outside so you can play with them.  
• There are some words that make me laugh every time I hear them come from your mouth:  Bagel = “Bagee”, Mail = “May”, Orange = “Ornie”, Blueberry = “Bluebee”.  If you didn’t know how to sign the color orange, I would have never known what “Ornie” meant!!  
• A few of your favorite books this month are:  Hippo Has a Hat, DOG, and Alphabet. 

We can’t wait to celebrate your 2^nd birthday milestone with you in just one month!! I thought you may have some hair by then, enough for a barrette, but I was mistaken. 

You are the sunshine of my life,

Mommy