To the feistiest, yet most adorable pre-two year old I’ve ever met,
For starters, you are precious and we love you. And lastly,
you are a hot mess anywhere and everywhere you go. =) End of letter. Just
kidding sweet girl! You are simply precious and adorable and make us laugh in
so many ways. However, we definitely will singlehandedly give you the award for
being our most challenging one at this age! We often hear from nursery workers
and others, “boy is she vocal and she sure does know what she wants…” Why yes
you do little one. Not sure if it stems from the fact that you desperately want
to keep up with your big sisters and you have a constant fear of not being
included in the fun or if this is your new disposition but either way, you are
quite the challenge and keep us mighty humble in this parenting gig. You live
out loud and you live big. And the second part we LOVE! It’s the first part we
are learning how to deal with and praying God will shape it for something good
and purposeful! Knowing what you want and following hard after it is not
necessarily a bad thing when channeled in the right direction. So that is our
prayer for you little one-that the Lord would take your extremely determined,
not giving in until you get that which you desire, and your boldness for His
glory and your good in this precious life you’ve been granted. You are much
loved Miss Ashton Kate and your big sisters STILL can’t get enough of you.
Smothered, but definitely cherished in this house! We love you little one and
can’t believe how big you are getting! You are turning into a little girl right
before our very eyes…love you pumpkin!
Love, Mama and Dada
Milestones and Memories from 21-22mo:
-As far as appetite goes, it seems to have slowed
down this month. You don’t seem as hungry as you once were and you’re not
finishing what’s on your plate by any means. You are picky, picky, picky and
have started tossing things overboard that don’t appeal to you. That or making
one big mess of it all and playing with it while you squish it between your
hands. Oh the life of a toddler. You won’t touch a single vegetable except via
a squeeze pack. Some parents might choose to let you forego veggies, but this
mama just can’t. You’ll outgrow it eventually just like any other phase! Still
a big fan of fruits, yogurt, applesauce, hummus, carbs for breakfast, hot dogs,
grilled cheese, chicken nuggets from CFA, and well that might round our your
likes in the food department!
-Still a fantastic sleeper, 99.9% of the time and we
are so, so thankful! If we’re at home you are usually down for naps around
12:30 and still sleep 2-3 hours and then you go to bed around 7:30-8 generally
and sleep 11-12hrs most of the time! So fun to see your sweet face after a good
night’s rest! You patiently wait for us most mornings until we come retrieve
you-the only time of day you are that chill! =)
-Not kidding at all, I have never met a child who
screams more than you do. Does it change our love for you? Absolutely not! Do
we wish you didn’t do it? Absolutely! It’s a challenge anytime we’re in public
to manage you. You scream your head off when you don’t get what you want or
when something is taken away from you that you can’t have. You don’t handle no
very well, and disappointment doesn’t set well with you. On the flip side, you
are also loud when things excite you and you belly laugh when something is
funny. Those usually send everyone around you into a laughing fit as well just
from watching you. You keep joy in our hearts for the precious stage you’re in,
that’s for sure! Mama just now chooses wisely when to take you in a store or
over to someone’s house because it certainly won’t be relaxing and there’s a
high probability there will be a decent amount of embarrassment involved. =)
-You are quite the little talker. You are extremely
verbal still for your age and amaze us in the full sentences that you are
saying and how well you communicate with us! Occasionally, mama turns to “Tenzie”
to decipher what you are saying, but most of the time we can all understand
what you’re trying to say! You also use lots of gestures/head motions when
talking to us. It’s hilarious watching you shake your head emphatically for
emphasis. One of the funniest things is when you interject and respond
appropriately in the middle of a conversation we are having. Guess we have to
be careful what your little ears hear! =) You love to use the word NO
regularly, you love to make your opinions known, but BEST of all, you love to
give lots of “wove you mamas” each day and that makes me melt! We hear a lot of
“I too, I too” instead of “me too” and tons of “hold you’s” instead of “hold me”…
neither of which I plan to correct. They are just too cute! Lastly, the two
biggest phrases we hear constantly are “I don’t like it, I don’t like it” at
mealtime while you shake your head frantically and scrunch your eyes shut and “Stop
it mommy, stop it!”…you are hilarious AK! A handful times ten, but hysterical
nonetheless! And it keeps us laughing all day long!
-Favorite things to do: play with your baby doll and
tote them around with you everywhere, love to play pretend with the twins
(house, store, church, zoo), play hide and seek (you love love love to hide!), play
outside/take walks, help mommy bake by adding things to the mixer, you love to
color but you want the whole box of crayons or whole pack of markers (just a
few won’t do!), play with shoes (you are content for quite a while playing in the
basket of shoes and trying to get them on all by yourself), you want to do
everything ALL BY YOURSELF (buckles, dressing yourself, etc), and you LOVE to
go to the cup drawer and pick out one, move the chair to the refrigerator,
& fill it up with water all by yourself!
-A few more things that come to mind this month about you: fiercely
and I mean fiercely independent in all areas, you hyperventilate whenever we
drop you off in the nursery but are fine in less than a minute-we have to peel
you off of us sadly, understand discipline-you might not obey consistently but
you will respond when we “talk” to you with yes mam, no mam, sorry mama and you
even do it in the “whimpery” voice your twin sisters taught you, extremely
territorial when friends your age come over and play with your toys (super embarrassing
!), want so badly to keep up and do whatever the “big girls” are doing and are
devastated if you get left out (you become frantic if you see them leaving to
go do something you can’t do), and lastly, you put your lovey to your nose to
sniff which is adorable.
-THE CUTEST AND NEWEST thing this month is that you now liked to be
rocked at nap and bedtime….probably not a good thing to start since up until
this point you have been a breeze to put to bed, but how can we resist?! It’s
seriously one of the biggest highlights of the day, especially with you! You
are so still and snuggly and beyond precious. And it feels like it is seriously
the only time you allow us to hold you without squirming and scrambling to get
down! Again, it won’t last so we will soak up the sweetness while we can!
-Important dates this month: 8/11-fell down four stairs
again and got a nasty goose egg =( 8/14-you cut
your bottom right incisor 8/22-went on your first jet-ski ride at the lake!
We're thankful for your energetic, keep us on our toes, precious life Ashton Kate! Every day with you is a gift-handful or not! =)
