Alexia is 20 Months 01.22.10

We have ourselves a climber now. Alexia can be found scaling cribs, climbing chairs, standing on toys and boxes, and announcing to everyone, "Look!" She's big into Naiya these days, too. The first word out of her mouth when she gets up from naps is, "Naiya!" She has learned to say, "Shh!", while putting her finger to her nose (instead of her mouth), and whispers Naiya's name if we walk past her door while she's napping. Alexia is saying so many words these days, it's hard to keep track. But here are a few of the words or phrases that I hear on a daily basis:

• "Naiya" (she probably says this one the most); naming things that are Naiya's, asking for Naiya to sit down by her, saying hello to her
• "Back" - she has learned to say this whenever anyone leaves, because I'll tell her they'll be back (it's really sad when Ryan leaves for work though, and she just cries "Dada back..."
• "Papa" (with the accent on the first "a") - she has been obsessed with Grandpa ever since he did work on our house, she'll talk about him in the car, while we're out, but then gets shy when she actually gets to see him
• "Mommy" - she's been starting to say this, which is funny because Ryan and I always refer to myself as Mama. But I love that I have made the list of words! She'll actually call out to me when she gets up from naps with, "Mommyyyyyyyyyy, mommyyyyyyyyy" and I eat it up.
• "Go?" - as in, "where did {blank} go?" She'll say this about her blanket, people, cookies that we've hidden from her after her taking a bite
• "Bankie" - her beloved blanket
• "Knot" - one corner of her blanket has a knot tied and she plays with the knot while sucking her thumb to go to sleep
• "Nuck" - means "stuck", usually because she can't get up onto or out of something, or if she can't get her blanket out from between the crib bars, pretty funny to see her use it in context though
• "Me!" - she says this at the top of the stairs with her hands held out if we go downstairs or outside without her

Scary thing is she is definitely watching us. It's really made me be accountable for my reaction to certain things throughout the day. As well as making me feel ashamed for my lack of self control, when my reaction is the very thing that Ryan and I discipline Alexia for. (Am I too old for a timeout?)

One of the first things Alexia does when she gets up and out of the crib, is sprints to the dining room table and pulls herself up onto a chair. I think she sprints in order to avoid me putting her in the high chair. I haven't quite figured out where "her" seat at the table is in this new phase, because she is a little too short to eat at the table directly, and tends to eat better when she's in the highchair. But she LOVES being seated at the table like the adults. Her standing at the table combined with the temptation for her to climb onto the table starts to stress me out after a {short} while though.

Alexia has still been taking two naps a day, though this last week they have been at different lengths or not at all. The time in between the naps has been a lot more demanding, too. She definitely gets bored much quicker at home. So I've started to get out once a day, or have a structured activity for her. A recent visit to a montessori school open house also motivated me to be more intentional with my time with her during the day. I feel much more responsible for her learning process. And was able to get some ideas from the montessori visit.

Alexia's personality has revealed itself as very emotional. Dramatic really. Ryan and I are trying to walk the fine line of allowing her to express her feelings of sadness or disappointment if it is in a controlled manner (not throwing things or kicking us), while also making sure she is not manipulating us. But the girl has got one big cry for such a little body. It's funny that she still cries exactly the way she did when she was a newborn. It's this drawn out wail, her lips turn purple and it is just plain loud. A while back, she cried so hard and held her breath so long, that Ryan witnessed her pass out for a second. She has also recently learned to furrow her brows. I can't help but laugh every time, because she just seems too young to be able to have that kind of facial expression.

She seems to enjoy being around people, and large crowds don't really intimidate her. She just sort of does her own thing and plays. She's not afraid to grab a book and crawl into anyone's lap. She cries every time someone leaves our house. And when we have people over in the evenings, we usually cave and let her stay up late. (The alternative is having her cry in her crib, which she ends up staying up just as late.)

She's accepted her role as big sister well. She's pretty good about making sure Naiya has a toy to play with, or if Naiya drops something, Alexia is quick to give it back to Naiya. Alexia seems to be saying "no" less and less. We are trying to encourage her to not tell other people "no", unless it's an answer of preference or her limit of feeling safe. On the topic of safety, she is a pretty cautious girl. She takes after her Mama.

Some of my favorite things about Alexia right now: she literally sprints everywhere, she LOVES "no" (snow) - she'll grab handfuls of it and eat it 'til her fingers are blue, she'll sit down with a book or a toy and point down to the ground next to her and say "Mama?" for me to sit with her, she gets up in Naiya's face and says "Hiiiii, Naiiiiiiiiya!", she makes Naiya laugh (they now make each other laugh in the back of the van - I think this is my favorite!), she prefers Daddy, she HATES getting her diaper changed right after waking up, she refers to her lovey as "bankie" (her beloved blanket that she sleeps with and ALWAYS goes in the car with us), she waves goodbye to "pee-pee" being flushed, I've caught her doing construction-type things (like sanding the walls) around the house since PaPa (her coined version of grandpa) has been helping with remodeling, blueberries are the cure-all, she loves coffee (I can't count how many times I've turned around and she's chugging my coffee), she has chocolate radar, she still takes two naps during the day and sleeps 12 hours at night, she's wearing 18-24 months clothing, I love her big brown eyes and eyebrows full of expression, she loves to draw and prefers Sharpie permanent pens (go figure), she holds my hand in public places, and I really should stop now. There's just so much going on at this age! I love it!

Below is her recent sledding experience with Grandma at our neighborhood high school: