Fiddle Dee Dee: Come What May, I Will Love You Until My Dying Day

Today (technically in about an hour), Lydia turned 21 months! Can you believe it?! How does she get older so fast? Part of me wishes she stays young, while the other part can't wait to watch her grow up.

I meant to weigh her today, but forgot...I'm guessing around 22 or 23 pounds (maybe bigger - she sure seems heavy to me!). And she's definitely getting tall - her little skirts and dresses are getting too short for her to wear. She fits in the 12 month dresses and skirts, but now they're super short. She's got a skinny waist and long legs. I went through her closet, trying to get rid of clothes she doesn't fit in anymore to give to Adah. But, her 6-9 month dresses can still be t-shirts, as can her 12 month dresses. But, I need to go through the clothes again, since I just went through the clothes a friend gave us for Lydia a few months ago. Lydia is totally set for the summer! There are so many super cute summer dresses and shorts! They may be a tad big right now, but she'll for sure fit in them come June and July! (And, summer lasts so long here). We do need to get her some summer sandals and another pair of sneakers - she outgrew one pair. I'm excited that at the April Rummage Sale at Concordia, I can just concentrate on getting Lydia winter clothes.

Lydia has grown so much since last week - in her verbal skills, cognitive skills, and her motor skills. I am so excited for her! She learns things so fast - just soaks everything in and is constantly amazing us. She has several new words this month, and I'm hoping that her vocabulary just explodes over the next few months. She still has the habit of screaming at people instead of saying "no"....which I'm trying to break with very little success. She has a very clear "no" that she's good a using (when she's not upset), and says "yeah". She can say "Elmo" and can recognize him on TV, on clothes, backpacks, toys, etc. She says "bubbles", since those are her favorite things. She says "hi" and "bye" (which sound pretty similar). She says some version of "bless you" when you sneeze, and can say "thank you" when she wants to. She still signs for "please", but says "more". She has started saying "more milk" when she wants something to drink (not necessarily milk). We played with her doll house this week and she suddenly said "baby" when she held the baby doll. And she called the daddy doll "dada"...but also called the mommy doll "dada". She still doesn't call me "mama", but definitely knows that Brian is "dada". She says "all done" when she's finished with something, or thinks you're finished with something. She recently started saying "blankie" for her blankets that she now likes to carry around. And she says "baba" for Yo Gabba Gabba. And, of course, she is still babbling like crazy and really seems to think she is telling you something important.

Lydia's favorite show is still Yo Gabba Gabba, although she will also watch Curious George and Thomas the Tank Engine. She also watches the morning cartoons (Curious George, The Cat in the Hat, Dinosaur Train, and Sesame Street). She really likes Elmo now, but only wants to watch Elmo's World, instead of all of Sesame Street. She loves to sit on the couch in Daddy's lap with her blankets and sippy cup, watching TV. And Daddy loves it, too.

Lydia is still very much an "adventures" girl. She hates being cooped up in the house all day and can't wait to go out exploring. She still loves going on walks with either her babydoll stroller or Duckie. She also loves going to the park. We found one only a 20 minute walk from our house that she absolutely loves (although she doesn't like riding in the stroller all the way there - she wants to walk). We go to Story Time whenever we can, even though she still won't sit still during the stories or songs. (I think she has become overwhelmed and overstimulated when we go there - the group is larger and the room is larger....to much to look at and do.) She enjoys going to HEB on Thursdays with me - especially when she gets HEBuddy bucks to "spend". Brian and I have been good at doing fun things on Saturdays and Sundays with her. When we're at home, I've been limiting the amount of TV she can watch and have been encouraging independent play and doing special circle time activities and crafts with her. TV is for the early mornings and the late afternoons (while I cook dinner)...this way, she actually enjoys the TV and doesn't just use it as background noise. I love watching her play independently. She'll end up in her bedroom, hiding in a closet, reading books, sitting in her car, doing puzzles, playing with baby....all kinds of things. She also likes playing in the sink and reorganizing my tupperware cupboard.

We've been having a rough time during dinners with Lydia. At first, if she didn't eat anything I just figured that she'd go to bed hungry. But then, she just didn't eat anything - even things I knew she liked! I've cut out snacking at 5:00 (no snacks after 4:00), which means she should be hungry at 6:00. Then I made her take two bites of food. This caused a lot of problems, at first, and then she decided that if she just took one or two bites, she was done. Now I try to get her to eat everything I serve (or at least most of it). Which means, we have lots of crying fits at the table. Brian is getting quite frustrated with these fits, while I'm pretty good at ignoring them. Lydia eventually comes around and eats what I want her to eat (sometimes in only 10 minutes, other times in an hour). Brian is missing the nice dinners where we could chat without talking over screams. We'll eventually get there again, I'm sure. I just wish Lydia liked food as much as she liked snacks.

I'm not taking this for granted, but Lydia has been sleeping straight through the night pretty consistently. Last night, she did wake up once (probably because her milk from her sippy cup leaked on her), but she mostly doesn't ever wake up! This is sort of a problem, though. Her bedtime is 7:30, but she'll wake up around 5:30 when she sleeps straight through the night. I have taken to just turning off the monitor, and then back on again when I get up at 6:00....sometimes she's still making noise, sometimes she's fallen back to sleep. Putting her to bed later doesn't work, though. We've put her to bed at 8:00 or 8:30 and she'll still wake up around 6:00. This morning, she slept in until 6:30, which was great. We're trying to train her to sleep until at least 6:30 or 7:00. Maybe this summer, when we no longer have to get up early, she'll start sleeping in (and it will be a little darker in the mornings).

I could go on and on and on about my precious little girl! She is such a joy, even when she's screaming at the dinner table. I just love her hugs and kisses, love watching her grow and learn, and love being her Mommy!