Life with a 20-Month Old

It’s only been two months since our last update on Miss Arielle Marie but I can’t get over how much has changed! I’ve been sharing updates on her new skills every few months (check out “Life with a One-Year-Old” and “Life with a 16-Month-Old”) and I keep thinking it can’t get any better – but it does. Here are just a few awesome developments that we’re enjoying as we learn to navigate life with a 20-month old.

She’s Blowing Kisses …

… and my heart stops each and every time she does! Seriously, this is my favorite thing ever. She only does it every once and a while, so you have to get her when she’s in the mood. But if you’re lucky, when you blow her a kiss she’ll place her palm up to her mouth, give it a big smooch, and then sticks her hand out as if she’s throwing it at you. Just thinking about it makes me tear up!

She Never Stops Talking …

… And I love it! With the last update I shared that she can now say and understand “Uh-oh,” “Book” (pronounced “Boo”), “More” (“A-Maaa”), and “Go.” Since then we’ve moved on to sentences. It started with “Bye bye, Dada.” But just the other day when I asked her why she decided to spit her milk out all down her front (her favorite parlor trick of the moment), she looked at me and said, “I dunno.” I stood there dumbfounded. Had she really just said that? 

Then a little later in the day when I informed her that I was taking her toys away because she had been throwing them, she said, “I know.” That’s on top of the added words of “Bird” and “Block” and many, many more. She seems to be learning a new word or phrase each and every day!

She is climbing everything …

… and it’s driving me insane. I don’t mind her climbing the stairs because she still asks for my hand. And when she gets up on the couch, it’s absolutely adorable. But the other day she actually climbed out of the playpen and hit her head on the way down. You’d think that would put her off but no. In fact, I think she sees it as a challenge and now she tries to escape a few dozen times a day. We can’t leave her in the playpen alone. She has to come with us everywhere! 

We have our own little Picasso …

… but when she gets hungry, she will still eat her crayons. She’s also been known to stick them in her ears! Needless to say, she is exploring everything and has become quite the frustrated artist. I just love how she requests her colors by pointing at them in the box. And god help you if you try to take away her artwork before it is complete!

It has been an amazing 20 months and as her development is speeding up I can only be grateful that I am able to witness it.