nineteen months

Yep.  Nineteen whole months.  That is how old my baby little girl is.  For some reason it doesn't scare me as much as eighteen months did (maybe because that seems like a big milestone or something) or as much as twenty months does (because then she is WAY too close to two!).  But wow.  Nineteen months.

My little peanut has 2T clothing in her drawers.  What??  Ok so it is only some jeggings and some tight t-shirts, but when did she get so big?  And her size 5 shoes that I was so excited about last month?  Yeah, they are starting to seem a bit small (well the ones from Gap and Target.  The Toms and Pedipeds are just fine).  Apparently someone has gone through a growth spurt in the last two months!  We ran out of size four diapers, and I had a box of fives, so I opened it.  Yeah, they are still big, but they aren't leaking so maybe we will just stick with those... except they look kind of funny under leggings.  Ryann is still working on some teeth.  Man, those things look incredibly pointy and scary.  No wonder she was a huge grump for a while.  Crossing my fingers for a little break before the last set of molars starts to make their appearance.

If I had to describe Ryann's personality over the last month or so, I would say enthusiastic, hilarious, mischievous, stubborn and impatient.  In a nutshell, she has more energy than I can even fathom.  And she is too freaking smart for her own good.  We can't get away with anything in this house, she doesn't miss a beat!  As far as the impatient part goes... holy cow.  She can ask me for something nicely, "milk please mommy," I'll say ok, walk to the kitchen, and a second later while I'm pouring, "MIIILLLK!  MILLLLK!  Want MIILLLLK!"  Yes dear.  I know.  What do you think I'm doing?  Sheesh!  I do my best to talk calmly, "Yes Ryann.  I heard you and I'm getting milk.  Please wait patiently while I get it."  And then she throws herself on the floor and whines.  I don't know what to do.  It is just a phase, it will pass, right?

 

Thankfully with all of her stubborness, Ryann has been more and more affectionate lately.  She is often willing to dish out kisses and hugs.  Daddy usually gets a great big one when he comes home from work.  She still isn't a real snuggly girl, but I'll take what I can get.

Oh man, our food options are becoming SO limited.  Blueberries, the one thing that used to be a for sure item she would eat?  Yeah, apparently they are the grossest thing ever.  She won't even touch them now.  Strawberries are hit or miss.  Bananas usually end up on the floor.  Peanut butter toast, crackers, and fruit cups.  That is about it.  We did start giving her a multivitamin based on her doctor's suggestion.  It is the highlight of her day and the first thing she asks for in the morning.  Hopefully she will take an interest in trying new foods soon, because this lack of options is really getting annoying.  Oh toddlers :o).

Seriously, one of my favorite parts of the day is listening to Ryann over the monitor when she wakes up in the morning.  I think I've talked about it before, but the things she says are just ridiculous.  Really almost every time she is in her crib I hear something crazy.  This past week it was "Oh, did you pee?  Did you pee a little bit?  Yeah."  Then she proceeded to sing the itsy bitsy spider.  Also really cute, Ryann loves for us to chase her around the family room.  She'll stand in one corner and say "Play I'm uh gonna git you?"  Just the way she says it makes me smile every time.  "I'm uh gonna git you!"

Ryann has finally become interested in being mommy's little helper.  I always would hear about other people occupying their kiddos by letting them get involved with things like cleaning, cooking, etc, but Ryann had no interest.  Now she will help me pick up her toys (most of the time) and is starting to grasp the idea that we have to put something away before getting out something new.  She also likes to get things for me in the kitchen when I ask and LOVES to help unload the dishwasher.  Except I swear she is going to shatter some dishes.  She tries to get everything out with such force, I have to use ninja skills to keep her from throwing plates at me!

We've been working on sharing and taking turns.  Ryann was having a hard time waiting to use slides and such at the little play gyms we've been going to, so I've been trying to get that concept to sink in.  She frequently looks at me with big eyes and asks "Now its Ryann's turn?"  What has been hilarious/awesome is that she is applying the concept while playing with her toys.  Her Little People Zoo has some sort of slide thing on it, she'll put a toy at the top, and then say something like "Panda has to wait.  It's polar bear's turn.  Ready polar bear?  Wheee!!  Ok panda.  Now it's panda's turn."  That has been really fun to watch.

Ryann's love of books definitely picked back up over the last month.  She enjoys making me read the same one over and over and over again before moving on.  If I try to suggest a different book without reading it at least twice she throws a huge fit and yells "Again!  Again!"  I can't tell you how many times I've read the Belly Button Book and Rumble in the Jungle.  At least I really enjoy those ones.  She has also been very interested in her Sweetest Story Bible.  We can spend 20 minutes at a time reading it.  Obviously that isn't a bad thing, it just baffles me that she can be interested in it for so long!

As far as things she has learned lately, I can't think of anything specific that is new.  At 19 months she can recognize all her letters, sing the ABC's (along with several other songs), count to 20 in English, count to 10 in Spanish (most of the time), recognize 10 different shapes and all of the basic colors, point to and say all major and some minor body parts, she can recognize tons of different animals and make their noises, she can spell her name (as long as you start her off with the R) and sometimes Kansas (Chris and I have a lot of Kansas Jayhawks shirts)...  Her vocabulary continues to be more or less infinite, and when she hears a new word she instantly tries it out/tries to figure out exactly what it means.  We've been working on understanding and appropriately using yours, mine, I, you, me, etc.

I love you so much my little Ryann Elizabeth.  Bring on another month of excitement!