23 months!

Phew...I have finally found some reprieve from Nolan's second growth spurt earlier this week. Don't ask...it's been tiring with short 30 min naps and 1.5 hrs stretches at night plus very frequent feedings! But fingers crossed, we have survived this round and both kids are asleep at 11pm so it's mommy time =)

Our little girl is almost two. Although she still looks like a baby but wow have the developments been rich the past few weeks which make our job as parents even more enjoyable and memorable.

Mobility: This gal can run and she's fast. We are pretty comfortable with her walking alongside us when out so it helps since we opted to not get a double stroller. I do not recommend letting a toddler walk on their own at Daiso like we did today. They have tons of knick knacks in perfect reach for a child of every size =) She loves to dance and sway her body to her favorite songs and it's so cute but unfortunately I have yet to capture it on video.

Verbal: What huge developments these two weeks with her beginning to mimic our words and taking an interest in the things around her. Her vocabulary has exploded and I love hearing her cute voice. She can count 1-10 (minus 1 & 7) and say the alphabet (except W). Words that have a 's' sound at the end like mouse, bus and fish, she saids it like an old lady with dentures haha. She is stringing two words together but still mainly points at things to get her point across.

Favorite things: watching kai-lan and elmo, song: if your happy and you know it. She has increased her screen time since the baby's arrival with watching tv, videos on the computer and games on the ipod touch. She can scroll her way around the touch with such ease and comfort that it is just baffling to me.

Fear: When she was younger, she was fearless but now is a different story. Some animals scare her and she was hesitant in getting too close to the display glasses at the aquarium. If something scares her, she would pat her chest and say 'pah pah' (scared in chinese)

Socializing: I would say she is pretty friendly and loves to have fun with the older kids. She is good with sharing most of her things. There is still the initial shy and standoffish behaviour around new people but soon enough, she will reveal her silly, fun side. She likes to hold hands with other kids and if you are the chosen one, she will come up to you and grab your hand to take you to where she wants you to go or if there's something she wants you to do for her.

Lack of patience: When she wants it, she wants it NOW or else the tantrums begin. We have taught her to hold her hands together while waiting for something. Sometimes we even ask her to count to ten while holding her hands to wait and it works really well. I think that the action of holding the hands helps focus her attention and she forgets that she wants that thing right away. Now we need to find a solution to helping her cope with sudden outbursts of tears and crying at any sort of thing that may upset her (sensitive gal). We find it hard to get her out of that moment so hopefully we'll figure out something similar to controlling her impatience.

Ok I'm tired...there's so much I want to blog about but this is all I have the energy for tonight. Lots of things to look forward to as we near the end of 2010! That's a crazy thought eh?

Congrats to Lena and James with her new baby girl, Lucie!