20 Months

Sweet Avery, you're getting so close to two, and I can't believe how much you grow from month to month! Here's what you've been up to:

• You started off the month putting three words together (i.e. thank you, Mommy; here go, Daddy), but in the last week or so you've been saying complete sentences! I need to write some of them down because they're really cute. :) 

• You said your first sentence when we were taking food to Daddy at the soccer field. We were walking by the visiting team who had just finished their game, and they were all laughing about something. You looked at me, laughed, and said, "The kids are funny!"

• Not all of your words are so cute though. You've started saying, "No way" when you don't want to do something, and you picked up on the one time I told Nutmeg to shut up, except that when you say it it sounds more like "Sup out!" And you know you're not supposed to say it because you get this mischievous grin like you're testing out our reaction. You, my dear, are going to be a handful. I can tell. :) 

• You love to say, "Okay" and "Yeah." (You know, when you're not saying, "No way.") You even phrase them as questions like, "Read one more time, okay?" 

• You've expanded your love of Elmo to include all of the Sesame Street characters (especially Telly and Bert and Ernie). You can identify pretty much all of them, and you love to read your Sesame Street books (and watch them on TV when we let you). 

• You sing your ABCs up to J on your own, and we we sing the song with you, you can sing even more.
• Speaking of singing, you can sing Jesus Loves Me (so sweet!), and you love to sing Elmo's Song, The Wheels on the Bus, and If You're Happy and You Know It before you go to sleep.
• You've been teething lately, which means that you've been sporadically cranky. You'll be really sweet one minute, then just whiny and clingy, saying, "Teeth hurt!" I hate that I can't do much to make it better, but it'll be worth it to get those teeth in so eating things like raw carrots will be much easier! 
• You're very active. You run, spin, jump, and (recently) crawl. You love to play outside where you can climb on and off the deck and run in the yard. 

• You still love the potty and seem to be aware of when you need it, but we haven't been very consistent with the whole potty training thing. We're still kinda waiting for you to show more readiness. You like to sit on the toilet, but you don't do much. You really just like to play with the toilet paper and flush it. No pressure, but we'd love it if we didn't have two kids in diapers, so if you could get the hang of it by May, that'd be great. :)
• We also still haven't switched you to your big girl bed, but Daddy almost has all your furniture ready, so you'll have your new room ready soon! I think you'll love being out of the crib (although I'm not sure Daddy and I are ready for the new freedom that will allow you!). 

Happy, cranky, silly, or tired, we love you like crazy!

Mommy and Daddy