More Moments: 20 Months Old

Mikaela is now 20 months old. It's hard to believe sometimes. These were her 18 month stats:

Weight: 23.8 (45%)
Length: 33.25 (90%)
Head: 19 1/8 (91%)

I know that she weighs about 25 lbs now and I think she was about 34 inches when we measured her at Graemma's house.

She is still quite chatty. She has about 35 recognizable words. There may be a couple more Spanish ones than I realize but 35 that I know:

English: stuck (or "I stuck"), help, up, this, uh-oh, mama, dada, papa, amy, coca, please (peeze), book, ball, hot, purple, circle, puppy, cheese, by, bite, eat, thank you (tanku), apple, baby, duck, hat, where

Spanish: abba (arriba), aqua, pan (bread), papos (shoes), abre (open)

She consistently uses about 8-10 signs (where, please, more, hat, hot, dad, duck, eat and probably a couple more I am forgetting.)

Yesterday when looking at her milk cup at the restaurant, she recognized the letter Y. So she knows two letters - y and o

She has also become accustomed to talking to you in full sentences that are obviously meaningful to her, though we don't understand her baby babble. Sometimes she will have these conversations on a phone. She has a couple of play phones as well as if ever she gets a hold of Mommy and Daddy's. We try to capture these moments on film, but of course, she stops the minute the camera comes out. Here's a fun one of her talking into a toilet paper roll.

She is a horrible eater, but we keep offering her healthy choices, a daily vitamin and hope she is getting enough. She does like fruit so I am thankful for that.

She loves to dance, even if there is no music. At home, she will often ask to turn on the radio so she can dance along with her kids CDs. Her favorite song is "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes" but she is learning motions to others as well.

She loves Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues. She calls both by name and has hand motions when saying "Blue's Clues." She can also do the motions to the Blue's Clues song. She gets to watch these at breakfast and sometimes after nap. She can also point out Disney Princess items in stores.

watching Blue's Clues from her toy box

She is still in a crib and so far (knock on wood) she hasn't shown any signs of climbing out. We are in the process of getting her "big girl room" ready so that when it is time to move her out of a crib she'll be ready for her new room. We'll have pictures when we get it done.

She has started shaking people's hands. When she sees one of us do it, then she does. This started in Athens when Graempa was introducing Mikaela and I to people. She was quite the charmer with that one. We got a picture of it (sorry for the lighting issues) when Ms. Ritchie came over for our 4th of July picnic.

She can tell you that a dog says "woof-woof", a cow says "moo" and a duck "quack" only she doesn't say "quack". She makes a quacking sound just like her dad and Papa Bill. She usually signs "duck" while making that sound.

Here are other pictures from the daily activities of Mikaela: