21 Months Old

Samantha is 21 months old today. Within the last few weeks, her expressive language has really started to develop. I am convinced that her three most favorite words right now are "up," "waffle" and "woof-woof" (which is her word for dog). She identifies most animals by the sounds that they make: cats are referred to as "meows" and chickens are referred to as "cluck-clucks." Those are just a few examples.

Her understanding for words is much more advanced. In fact, she can identify almost anything on any page in any of her books. She also takes directives very well and has become Mommy's little helper around the house.

She has been sleeping in her "big girl bed" for a couple of months now and she consistently sleeps for about 10.5 hours at night. We have been lucky that she is does not get up in the middle of the night; rather, she freely wakes up in the morning and then comes downstairs on her own. She takes one nap in the afternoon for about 2 hours (sometimes longer) and this seems to pace out her days nicely.

She is starting to display some frustration when things don't go her way. The drama develops and she closes her eyes tightly and pouts. Sometimes, she throws herself on the floor. These little "breakdowns," as I refer to them, only last for a minute. Then she is on to the next thing.

It's hard to imagine that we will be celebrating her 2nd birthday in a couple of months. I am careful these days not to refer to her as a baby anymore; instead, I call her my big girl. Deep inside, I wish that she could stay little forever, but I also love watching and observing all of the changes that are taking place. There is always a new story to tell Daddy about something she did or something that she said, and that is exciting too.