"S" at 22 months: Chatty Cathy!

So this next S update was "supposed to" be at 21 months, however given our li'l monkey is already close to 23 months I decided to tack another month on there. (The OCD part of my brain is feeling a little anxious about this, but it'll deal. :) I do have to say - amazing what an extra month can add in terms of a toddler's developmental progress! Not only that, but I get to show off four month-to-month photos this time around. w00t!

19 months:

 20 months:

21 months:

22 months:  (She's giving me some 'tude in this one!)

Evidently, I have a bad track record of getting weight and height measurements on her milestone dates. At 21 months, we clocked her at just over 31 inches but then forgot (?) to get a 22 month update. Today (almost 23 months) she's 31 1/2, however, so let's set the official "guestimate" at 31 1/3 inches. :) Weight-wise, she was in the 22-23 lb neighborhood. So she continues to be 5-10th percentile for weight and about 25th for height. Our li'l peanut. :)

In dental news, her eye teeth started poking through at 21 months, and these babies take their sweet time, lemme tell ya! (Now, at 23 months, they're still only partially through.) Thankfully they don't appear to be causing her much discomfort, and the rashiness we were battling during months 16-18 (and onward to about 20 months) has eased considerably as well. We continue to give her a lot of bare bum time at home, both to air out her skin and assist with potty learning, which is coming along slowly but surely. In a nutshell, she's now close to 100% success with bare bum peeing at home (mainly on her potty but sometimes on the toilet) but we're still working on poop and have yet to venture into underwear territory when out and about. With both Chris and me working full-time and S in daycare, it's been difficult giving potty learning the attention it requires, so this is something I look forward to tackling when off on mat leave. (This'll probably end up with a post of its own!)

Here are some of the physical development strides S has made recently:

• 19-20 months
• Running, for realsies (vs. her "toddle run" from 16-18 months) 
• Attempting (and almost succeeding) to climb into the bath tub and scale her change table
• Twirling in circles
• Walking down stairs (with assistance) and refusing to go backwards on her tummy
• Climbing up on chairs at the kitchen table
• Taking off her own shirt (after we help her with arms), shoes and diaper. Attempting to put on shoes.
• 21-22 months
• Attempting (and almost succeeding :) to climb out of her crib. (Thankfully we'll be making the move to a toddler bed shortly!)
• Scaling the climber at her daycare 
• Standing on the seat of her Rock, Roll 'n Ride Trike (I think she got this move from her older daycare buddy!)
• "Just about jumping"; she gets the knee bend and springing action but can't quite get herself airborne just yet. Here she is having lots of fun doing splashy jump-ins with Daddy at Duck Tots!

If we do say so ourselves, however, the really impressive shtuff has been in the realm of intellectual, social and verbal development. Some highlights:

• She "graduated" from 2-word phrases to full sentences by 20-21 months. Some notable earlier examples: "I'll have water too please, mommy" and "Make a nose, mommy!" (the latter after I'd drawn a picture of a sun with just two eyes and a mouth.) 
• She has learned pretty much every popular animal (and some less common ones), and will correct you if you get one wrong. (Someone: "There's your monkey!" S: "No, that's an orangutan!")
• She started singing at 19 months (remember this li'l birthday serenade?), and by 22 months had accumulated a repertoire of about 20 songs, from Twinkle Twinkle to Rain, Rain Go Away (subbing in various family members for the "___ wants to play" part) to Call Me Maybe (this one's equally appealing, it would seem, to toddlers and seniors alike!)
• Her number skills progressed from everything being "2" at 18-19 months to counting past 10 at 21 months. By 22 months she could recognize most numbers from 1 to 10 but was still learning to associate the symbols and words with the actual amounts. Mad props to her ChildUp game cards as she's played with them almost every day since we received them. Here (at almost 22 months) she sings, recites the alphabet and counts "kinda sorta" up to 18 all in one fell swoop - though she does it kinda begrudgingly. (I think she gets a little self conscious at times being in the spotlight, so in the interest of not giving her a complex, we're selective (and sometimes furtive) with our camera & video usage!)

• Her knowledge of colours has really taken off. At 18 months she was hit and miss, however by 22 she could quite readily identify all the common colours, match objects of the same colour together, etc.
• We began "co-reading" with her (i.e. giving her opportunities to finish sentences in her favourite stories) at 18-19 months, and this continues to be one of her favourite activities. Here she is reading "Pigs" by Robert Munsch with Dad.

• She's already learning manipulation to get her way. :) For example, she'll tell us she needs to pee or poo when she really just wants that one extra book before bed, as she knows we never turn down a potty request!
• Her pretend play has really taken off. She likes to prepare coffee and "chocolate tea" with her Magical Tea for Two set, and give all the animals swing rides in her Animal Sounds Zoo.
• She's definitely adopted her Daddy's love of hide 'n' seek. Boo!!!

 

• At about 21 months, she began engaging in true conversations with us which has been one of the most exciting, rewarding developments! Here she tells us all the fun she had at daycare. (Side note: "onee-yonees" is how one of her daycare friends pronounces "macaroni" (one of his favourite foods) so she's adopted this pronunication herself!)

Personality-wise, she continues to sport a generally sunny and easygoing disposition. She's happy to play on her own which obviously comes in handy at times. She is in the midst of the stereotypical "mine" phase, but apparently every child (literally) goes through this, so we'll just ride it out and not worry about it too much. We do gently encourage her to share with her peers but don't make a big deal out if it.

Next up, the big 2 year update. Holy smokes!

In the meantime, I'll leave y'all with one more picture of our li'l sweetie at 21 months - just love this one. :)

So tell me - what were your favourite memories/developments during the 18-22 month phase for your own child(ren)?