23 Months

I can't believe she'll be two in a month.

This past month has been incredible. Jessica's comprehension and speech seem to have exploded.

Today we were playing with a wooden animal alphabet puzzle that we haven't had out in weeks. I asked her to find me letters - she knew C, D, F, K, L, and O without me having to ask twice. She can also identify Lions, Giraffes, and of course Bears. Sometimes I don't stop to think how much she actually understands because she speaks so little, but when you ask her questions she often comes up with the answer and shocks you.

A couple weeks ago while we were visiting family in Kentucky a doll diaper went missing. It was from my cousins' baby alive doll and it only came with two, so we wanted to make sure it wasn't laying around on the floor waiting for a dog to chew it up. Jessica had been playing with the doll earlier so I reckoned there was nothing to lose and asked her if she knew where the diaper was. She headed straight to the kitchen and pointed to the bin. Sure enough, I opened the bin and there it sat. She understood that diapers go in the garbage AND remembered more than an hour later that she had put one there. I was impressed.

Her actual words have increased too.
Her favourite phrases at the moment are: It's stuck, Momma. 
                                                                It's stuck, Dada.
                                   (the other night in the car I was talking to my Mom on the bluetooth and Jessica decided that she needed out of her carseat to come talk to Bo and started repeating "It's stuck Bo! It's stuck BO!" She of course being the IT.)
                                                                 Oh no, bwoken!

She's decided that it's finally time to start repeating what we say. Yesterday we were outside listening to birds.

Jessica - "Who's that?"

Me - "Birds. They're singing. Birds say Tweet!"

Jessica - "Twee twee!"

She thinks Os and circles are the same thing which is kinda cute. I mean they are pretty much the same thing. It might take a bit more explaining.

She's more fascinated with Leeloo everyday and has taken to calling her Leelee. We're working on the Loo bit, but neither my father or my father-in-law can pronounce my cat's name correctly either so I'm not going to hold it against her. ;)

She points out pictures of owls even though I don't remember ever telling her what a owl was and her favourite song is still the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She hasn't tried to say it yet, she just looks at me, repeats Momma twice and then does the hand motion for Itsy until I get the idea. 

She's precious, wonderful, amazing and I don't even mind a bit that I haven't slept through the night in more than 2 years.. (well maybe I mind a tiny bit lol) but we're making progress on that as well.

You can see the rest of the photos from our mini-phoot shoot over at the Picasa album 23 Months. She found a puddle and got her arms wet up to the elbows and since it was in the mid-40s I decided baby pneumonia wouldn't be worth a few more shots. :)

ps. Did I mention this kid can thread cheerios onto yarn with a darning needle? She can. That's some pretty impressive fine motor control for an almost 2 year old!

16 Months!

I don't do a lot of the monthly check-ins with milestone updates but since she's asleep I thought I might as well give it a whirl!

Jessica MacKenzie Smith - June 18th 2011 - 16 months old.

 Current aliases: Jessa, Jessie, Jessabear, The Bear. 

Weight: 22.4lbs

Height: hmm this is going to require some skill from the parents to work out later.

Hair Colour: Strawberry Blonde

Eye Colour: Almost brown but still hazel

Every single day this little girl develops more of her own personality. She's demonstrating both Daddy's stubbornness and hints of Mommy's ocd. If you peel the wrapper a fraction of an inch too far down her string cheese stick she flies into a rage. At times adorable... other times, not so much. If you take the Babybel cheese entirely out of the red wax casing she will refuse to eat the cheese point blank. She's also showing her relation to G'ma Tina. If you try to help her by doing something for her rather than by showing her, she gets fussy. (heheh I love you Mom!)

On the other hand she's really communicating now. I'm so glad we decided to teach her a few signs and even happier that she took to them so well. She doesn't say much yet but she uses her signs all the time. Her most frequently used signs are; Eat, More, and Help. I have to say- there's nothing more mind blowing than when she combines them into compound thoughts! 

Even though she's not speaking as such yet, she does know a few words. She has finally started using Momma and Dadda with direction. It's rare that she'll call me Dadda anymore. Hi and Hiya she has mastered and when LeeLoo (the cat) jumped into bed this morning, she very clearly said, "Hiya EeeOoo."

She loves her friends and is interacting with other children so well. Her best buddy went on vacation for a week and she took to carrying a dolly everywhere she went. (I think she missed her!) There's very little toy stealing and practically no shoving. A hug that maybe winds up with both toddlers on the floor? Yes. A shove? No. [However, Caiden is her exception to the rule. She thinks he was built solely for rough-housing - see?]

Summers in Raleigh are HOT! So we've been swimming a lot. She's a fish. She kicks and paddles and completely thinks that I should let go of her and that she'd be fine. One of my favourite parts about swimming? The extra long naps afterwards!

She can put all the pieces in the proper spots in her animal puzzle, she's gotten pretty darn good at eating with a fork, she runs like an olympian (okay that might be a bit of hyperbole), and she loves to sing!

She's absolutely precious and we love her to bits. We think she's amazing and she continues to astound us on an almost daily basis. That said, she's such a handful that we're definitely not thinking about a sibling for a long while! If you know her you'll know that she's completely sure that the world revolves around her and to even imply otherwise would be heresy.

You can find the other shots from her 16 month photo shoot in the picasa album.

8 Months and a day!

I keep missing the month check-ins by a day! I got pretty darn close this time, it's only 20 minutes past midnight at the moment. Jessie was not interested in sleeping, despite yawning and rubbing her eyes she was determined to keep playing.

[You know what? I've only written 3 sentences but I've lot my train of thought at least 5 times already so I'm calling it a night and me and Jessie will try to do the update together tomorrow.]

~~Next Day~~

So after a good night's sleep and a mini photo shoot in the garden, we're back to finish up this post. However, Babybear decided to fall asleep on me so I'm attempting this update completely left handed!

At 8 months she has...

gained almost a pound since last month and is just shy of 19lbs

started babbling even more, never thought consonants could be so adorable!

worked out how to stand!! she can balance for almost 10 seconds completely unsupported

figured out how to throw a tantrum and has a completely new "I'm angry" cry

started chasing the cat and giggling when Leeloo comes to her

developed even more of a personality

gotten a bit less freaked by strangers, still doesn't like it if they try to touch her though!

She's crawling like a pro and climb the stairs faster than you'd think possible. She's an absolute joy and I thank God everyday for such an amazing blessing. I also pray for the strength and wisdom to do right by her and for the alertness required to catch her before she tries to eat power cables!