at 21 months...

Just to document what our precocious little toddler is up to these days, I must mention...

She sings. Not just made-up songs like "Daddy song" that I mentioned before. Now she sings "Twinkle Twinkle," "Ring Around the Rosie," and my own version of "Rock-a-Bye" that I made up in the hospital when she and I were alone for the first time ("Rock-a-bye Charlotte in my arms. We love you and all of your charms. You're the best girl that we ever knew. We love you Charlotte. Yes, we do."). She has attempted the alphabet, and occasionally makes it through all the syllables with the tune, but not all are pronounced correctly. She also starts "Frosty the Snowman" and "Jingle Bells," but hasn't learned all the words yet.

She can count to thirteen, but when she's counting something she likes to go back and count certain items more than once so she can end on one of her preferred numbers... usually 5 or 10. She can correctly identify numerals 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 0. She gets 2 & 5 and 6 & 9 mixed up, possibly because they so closely resemble each other upside-down.

She can put her shoes and socks on all by herself. The shoes are often on the wrong feet, but she'd rather keep them that way than suffer the indignity of someone correcting her efforts.

She can put her legs into her pants, but doesn't yet know how to pull them up. Sometimes both of her legs end up in one pant leg.

Given a letter of the alphabet and a word or two that begin with that letter, she can name additional words that also begin with it. She can do that for several letters, not all or even half yet. But wow, what a start. Some of her favorites are "D-d-d-DADDY!" and "M-m-m-Mommy!"

She understands that she is more likely to get what she asks for, and to get it more quickly, if she asks nicely for it. "Watch Elmo NOW" has been replaced with, "Please, Mommy, watch Elmo TV?"

Some days, if I haven't gotten a shower before she wakes up in the morning, she takes a shower with me. She doesn't mind the water splashing all over at all, even in her face and eyes.

Given the choice between wearing a dress or jeans, she chooses the dress every time.

She fearlessly slides down any slide at any playground we've been to, all by herself, even when no one is there to catch her at the bottom. Then she shouts, "Do it again! (her absolute favorite phrase)" and runs back to the ladder or stairs to climb up and slide again.

She usually waits to poop until she has a fresh, clean diaper on. Then she announces that she has a poopy diaper and needs to be changed again.

Nap and bedtimes are a breeze. She loves to snuggle down with her babies (she sleeps with 3 dolls and several stuffed animals) at bedtime, and looks forward to afternoon "quiet time" when she can take a couple of books to bed with her to read while listening to a BST CD. She sleeps from 7:30 until 7 every night, and naps for 2-3 hours every afternoon, starting at around noon.

Charlotte has mastered most of the signs from the three Signing Time DVDs we've watched so far, in addition to all the Baby Signing Time signs. She usually speaks the word as she signs it, so signing has really become a tool to reinforce her spoken words. When I can't understand what she's saying, I ask if she knows the signs for her words. Misunderstandings don't last long.

She climbs and descends the stairs holding just one hand while her other leans on the wall or holds the railing. The rail is still a little high for her, but she doesn't like two-handed help any more.

She drinks water out of a big girl plastic cup without any sippy or straw attached. When she's had enough to drink, she takes a big swig and lets it dribble down her chin.

She loves to talk to and poke at the baby. She knows that the baby will drink milk from mommy when she's born, that the baby will come out on the baby's birthday, which we don't know yet, and that babies sleep a lot. She wants to teach the baby to roll a ball.

Charlotte loves trains and Elmo and Abby Cadabby and her baby dolls. She is an avid "reader." She reminds me often that we should go to the library for more new books.