This post is about Thea, I love her dearly and she is clearly getting smarter all the time. She understands so much, but just for a moment consider going back and reading Ryann's 19 month post. Goodness that kid was/is smart! I never really understood why people were so impressed with Ryann, always asking me how I taught her, etc, because at the time she was all I knew. Now that I've followed it up with two normal (but equally amazing of course!) kiddos I totally get it. And for the record, that was all Ryann. She was just freak of nature smart all on her own. :)
Back to Thea! I'm assuming she has grown since last month, but nothing has changed as far as shoe and clothing sizes are concerned. And I didn't weigh or measure her. But still, she is probably growing. 18-24month and 2T clothing, size 5 or 6 shoes, size 5 diapers. Her final bottom canine tooth is working its way in. Man these last teeth have been pretty rough. At least that is our best guess for her regular whining and overall pathetic attitude. Don't get me wrong, she is still hilarious and a ton of fun, but so whiny. She also throws the biggest fits when she doesn't get her way. Which most of the time is her getting pulled off of something she climbed on top of. Little daredevil. Thankfully her sleep hasn't been affected.
Thea is still a super picky eater. Unless it's sugar, there are no guarantees. The things she eats most often are Annie's Mac n Cheese, peanut butter and jelly, hot ham and cheese, deli meat, blueberries, grapes, apples and pears. She also likes cheese quesadillas, pizza and popcorn shrimp. And squeeze pouches. The kid would live off of squeeze pouches and m&ms, which she calls num nums, if I let her. She loves m&ms so much. The other day I was offering her all sorts of sweet treats... "Would you like a cookie?" "No. Num nums!" "Maybe some marshmallows?" "No. Num nums!" "Perhaps ice cream?" "No. NUM NUMS." Like come on mom, get it through your head, m&ms woman!
Her vocabulary continues to grow and grow. She certainly understands more than she can say. And really I think she believes she is saying a ton of words. But her articulation isn't all that great. The other day her and Elsie were in the playroom and she was definitely asking and telling Elsie all sorts of things. But the only real word I could catch was 'El-eee' (Elsie). Haha. There is a lot of whining until I figure out what she is trying to tell me. And really she often just starts with the whining, but if I remind her to ask nicely she turns off the whine and asks with a please. Thea is also really great at saying thank you and sorry when it is appropriate.
Lately I hear a lot of "Thea do!" That kid is stubborn and wants to do EVERYTHING by herself. I'm not allowed to carry her down the stairs or help her get dressed or open food packages or put on shoes or anything without her at least attempting it on her own. Which as most moms of toddlers know, makes everything move oh so quickly. But I'll give her credit, she is getting much better at getting dressed by herself. I hate when she won't even hold my hand going down the stairs, because the punk feels the need to try and walk down them like the big girls most of the time. Ryann and Elsie are pretty good about scooting down on their bums with her though, just so she'll do it too.
Can you smile at mama? Oh uh, that's nice... :)
She may not know the alphabet or how to count to 20, but Thea definitely has body parts down. The only major one she gets confused on sometimes is knee. She is also great with animals and animal sounds. We probably sound like crazy people going through most stores, because any animal she sees she has to make the sound. You'd be surprised how many different places have lots of animals. Even the grocery store has things like cows and chickens and stuff on the packaging. She still thinks almost anything with a word on it (such as a contigo bottle or the shopping cart where it says thank you) says 'Thea Lorraine'. She constantly points at her water bottle and says "Eee-uh Or-Raine!" It's cute.
Thea still keeps enjoying books more and more. We read two or three before nap and bedtime, and then several more here and there throughout the day. This month she has loved The Wonderful Things You Will Be, Night Night Little Pookie (when she wants us to read that one she says 'Oh Pooooo-pee!' it is so cute), Dinosaurs Love Underpants, Plant a Kiss and Llama Llama I Love You. She also requests The Little Mermaid from Les Petits Fairytales all the time. I really don't know why. It was a book I bought just because I thought it was cute (I would never judge a book by it's cover, NEVER :), but she picks it a lot. It surprises me just because the words in it aren't all that engaging, prince and palace and rescue. Unless you make them more interesting they aren't real relate-able for a toddler. But whatever. It is cute.
Sometimes I feel guilty admitting it, but Thea is pretty dang good about sitting in front of the TV for a show or a movie. I try not to let it happen all the time, but I do appreciate the fact that I can turn the TV on if I need to try and keep her from performing dangerous stunts on the furniture while I'm getting something done. Her favorites are Paw Patrol, Mickey Mouse, Finding Dory, and of course, Moana. The girls have watched at least a portion of that movie every night since the digital version was released. It really is one of the better kids movies I've seen, I don't mind watching it! For once there isn't a character that I can't stand. No one I don't feel the kids can learn from. And the music! I love the songs and don't mind playing them over and over. Thea LOVES How Far I'll Go. Dare I say it has replaced Let it Go as her obsession? She still loves her some Frozen, but Moana has moved into first place. She is so cute singing and dancing to the song.
Thea's least favorite things are getting her diaper changed, and getting in the car seat. I try to be sweet and kind and use positive reinforcement. I try to bribe her. Sometimes I threaten her (in a toddler friendly way). And sometimes I just have to use brute force. Seriously Thea, it is ridiculous. As in I have to hold her down with my leg to get her diaper changed or pin her down in the car seat to get her strapped in. You'd think I was beating her with the way she screams (I'm not, for the record). I'm so incredibly over it. I know we went through the whole car seat drama with Elsie at this age, because this is about when we turned her around thinking it would help (it didn't). But with the law now being at age two, we've still got at least another five months. She often also fights me on getting dressed, to the point where I walk into the garage and close the door, telling her I'm leaving without her because her clothes aren't on. It usually works, but I wish she would just get over herself and put her dang clothes on! I look forward to warmer weather when we don't have to wrestle with jackets. Oh she has also become a punk about staying in the stroller or shopping carts. She can hoodini her way right out of the buckles. Makes shopping a heck of a lot less fun!
We've had yet another month with baby dolls still being the preferred toy. She regularly sleeps with her Bitty Baby and 'purple baby' (maybe eventually they'll get real names?). Sometimes she sneaks more babies ("mo babies!") in with her, but she has to have the other two. What I find interesting, is that she absolutely LOVES baby dolls, and is obsessed with pictures and videos of babies, but shows little to no interest when she sees a real baby in person. I'm curious if that will change or not. Either way I love how much she loves her baby dolls. I need to find some more awesome baby doll accessories to get her along the way. Other things Thea enjoys are stickers, playdoh, being outside, climbing as high as she can get, jumping off of things and wearing tutus :).
Oh my littlest miss, I love you so!
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