Nineteen Months!

Today's the day Annie is 19 months old. So big! Here are some highlights of the last month:

--She will try to repeat almost anything you say. She's gone from her own vocabulary to a mimic-monster. Some funny new words in recent weeks: soup (sout), amen, and sorry (sah-he).

--She strings lots of words together. She went from "milk" in the morning to "milk beep" (meaning we need to microwave the milk first). She's very good at saying "please" and only needs occasional reminders of "what do you say?" She also says "I have/got ____" as in "I have fruit" or "I got bunnies" One of our favorites is "I hit balls!" which refers to her plastic golf clubs.

--She has more "concept" words, like "yucky" and understands when you say "We need to do ___ first, then we'll do ____."

--She has spent 1 whole week in her bed! She spent a few mornings standing on the bed yelling for me, and now somehow she figured out how to get out of bed. Around 7 each morning we hear her thumping around and then she magically appears in our bedroom! It is too freakin' cute to see her open the door and come toddling in. Cute more because it is 7 am, not 3 am...

--She pretends now. She will pretend to feed her babies or pretend to feed me from her little dishes. Sidenote: it is impossible to find plastic play dishes in our town. I had to settle for a tiny tea set because it was the only plastic dish set available. My sister and I had dishes out our ears as little girls, and my mom still uses them. But now, nothing but porcelain cups/saucers or sets with "real metal utensils!" Why the $#&* would I want those?

--She knows things are silly. Putting her teacups over her toes resulted in 20 minutes of smiles and laughter.

--She is figuring out how to move. Sam showed her how to sit down and scoot down the steps from our house to our deck to the ground (they are wide and shallow) and she did it all by herself yesterday. She also climbed two of the steps up to her slide. Slowly, slowly, we'll get this kid mobile :)

--She's outgoing. I found myself very proud of her last night at the playground when she walked right up to a group of kids and said "Hi!" I hope that is a trait she hangs on to--it is no fun being shy and clinging to your mom's legs. Be more like your daddy, little girl! She also shouts "Hi!" to random people at Target and the grocery store. She's charmed many adults and dumb-struck several children.

--She's pushing the limits. She runs away from us occasionally, then laughs when we scold her. She hits sometimes (this is why she knows how to say "sorry"). She's had a few time-outs in the crib and a few hand-slaps from Daddy. I've gotta say, when she's been scolded it is very cute when she strokes my hair and says "Sah-he, Mommy. Nice." Melts my heart every time!

We love you, Annie-Bell!