20 Months (tomorrow)

In honor of Leah, who is now closer to two than one, I thought I'd update you with some of her habits, quirks, and the like. Yes, that means that any Halloween update will be postponed even further, but a 20-month post will help you know her all that much better.

*Vocabulary: This has improved greatly since her questionable 18-month appointment. Some of her new words include Grover, Elmo, please, thank you, help, and Cheerios. The last two she learned in about a day. (Funny moment: Last night after dinner, Scott was making his lunch, which includes packing up trail mix-- made with Cheerios. Leah came racing over for some, which, of course, Scott gave her. He left the room to do something, and when Leah finished her Cheerios, she RAN across the room to the pantry, patted the door, and said, "Cheerios." Silly girl. I don't remember the last time I saw her run THAT fast!)

*Seats: Leah loves sitting in baskets, trays, well, just about anything. She even tipped over the puzzle rack and sat in that last night! Sometimes she's not as successful as others, like when she tried sitting in the little tray that holds my face wash and lotion. It really doesn't matter what size the container is; Leah will empty it out and then crawl in. She's even been known to watch her show (Blue's Clues) while sitting in a basket. (Apparently this can be advantageous; last week, at a friend's house, Leah climbed into a toy wagon that's used to hold giant Legos. Her little friend Morgan (who is 10 days younger than Leah) then pulled her around the kitchen.)

*Doxology: Leah has a book of prayers that Scott's parents gave him when he was two. Among the various prayers is the Doxology, so I sang it to Leah one day. Ever since then, she will deliberately pull out that book and turn to that page so that I'll sing. She points emphatically to the picture, as if that gesture is sign for "sing". If I'm not in the room but she's reading the book with Scott, she'll point to the kitchen, as if telling him that I'm supposed to sing. (And yes, I usually comply. I never knew my daughter's favorite song would be the Doxology!)

*Pretend: A couple weeks ago, I was lying on the floor, and Leah was sitting on my stomach reading a book. When Scott told her it was time to clean-up, she immediately dropped to my chest and pretended to sleep. (She'd never done this before.) When she picked her head up, Scott or I would say again, "Time to clean-up", and again, just as quickly, she'd drop her head to my chest. I almost cried I was laughing so hard! This happened a few more times, before I finally picked her up and pointed her in the direction of some wayward toys. But oh, how funny to watch her!