A post dedicated to Susannah is long over-due. I feel badly for not recording more about this year of her life and all the little things she says, does and milestones reached. She is currently 22 months (and some days) old. It is hard to believe that it's been almost 2 years since she was born!
Her speaking vocabulary is increasing by leaps and bounds these days. She still uses one word at a time (though once she did say "Go bye!"), but she is learning new words probably on a weekly basis. Instead of signing "more" she now says "more" most of the time. She says it very slowly and drawn out: "mooooooore". She has also started saying "please" instead of signing it. I usually have to prompt her to verbalize it, but she can say it. Her S's are said at the back of her mouth, so more of the "sh" sound than "s" but it's a long step from not saying "s" at all :)
For Christmas we gave her two wooden puzzles, one is of the alphabet and one is the numbers 0 - 9. She LOVES her "puffle" and most days we spend some time on the couch together dumping them out and putting them together. I usually hand her the letters or numbers one at a time and have her find the right place for the piece to go. I also tell her the letter and ask her to say it. I think this has really helped her with learning how to make some of the consonant sounds, and I think she is also learning the alphabet even though she doesn't verbalize it yet.
One thing I especially want to remember is her translation of the letter "R". If you show her the letter R and ask her "what does R say?" or "can you say R?", she says "hop!" Everything for the letter R is "hop!" I think this comes from trying to get her to "say Rrrrr... like rrrrrabbit!" And if she sees a rabbit (stuffed or in a book), she refers to it as "hop!" She doesn't really say the R sound yet, which is why we are trying to get her to say "R". It is very cute, though, to hear her say that "R" says "hop!" I'm sure one day she will say "R" and not "hop!", and that specific cuteness will become a thing of the past.
Getting rides from my aunt
with her 2nd cousin.
She still enjoys reading and being read to. Her favorite books right now are "Go Dog. Go!" (P. D. Eastman) and "I'm A Big Sister". Her request to read is saying "wee?" or "book!" and she often asks for "Go!", the Go Dog. Go! book.
Singing :) She has always liked music. She still doesn't sing very much herself, but she sure does like us to sing to her! We have recently started singing before her bedtime, and now it is a must. Her current favorites are "This Little Light of Mine" ("Miiiee") and "The Wise Man (Built His House...)". Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man is not too far down on the list. Some others that she likes are Joy To The World, Jingle Bells, Ho-Ho-Ho-Hosannah, and usually not requested but one she enjoys is Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
It is very sweet to snuggle her in the rocking chair and sing to her. Some nights she doesn't want us to stop. If Daniel is holding her, it is very sweet for me to sit in the other chair and watch her snuggle on her Daddy. Upon request, she willingly gives us each a hug and kiss after we finish singing and before we put her in her bed. Sometimes we can get her to give the baby a kiss, too.
I think she is somewhat aware that there is a baby inside my belly. Lately if we are sitting together and the baby starts to move a lot, I help her feel the baby move. This afternoon I was putting her down for her nap and she wanted to sing a little bit first. While I was singing, the baby gave some big moves. Susannah was snuggled on me, and when that happened she sat upright and her eyes got big and she smiled :) I asked her if she felt the baby wiggle and her smile got bigger. She finally has the correct "bump" on the front me identified as the baby in my belly.
Recently I heard "hep! hep!" coming from the kitchen.
I found her stuck, sitting on the step-stool
that she had backed up against the cupboards :)
For the past couple months she has been thoroughly fascinated with the toilet. When her fascination first began, I thought maybe she was ready to potty-train. After doing some reading and observing, I realized that being fascinated with it was the only "indicator" and that she really wasn't ready yet. Lately her fascination has resumed, so on bath nights while I draw her bath water, she sits on the potty (with a reducer seat). This is the first time she'll sit there for more than 5 seconds, but she is still usually ready to get down long before her bath is ready :)
I am not pushing potty training at this point, especially being so close to the new baby being born, but I figure this exposure (no pun intended) to sitting on the potty certainly won't hurt anything, and if she figures out how to go potty, well, I won't mind that either!
Up until tonight, she had never done anything on the potty. But sometimes as soon as her feet hit the bathwater she would start to pee (and it would surprise her). That told me that she really wasn't controlling her bladder yet, so she wasn't sitting on the potty purposely not going. Tonight, though... tonight she PEED ON THE POTTY!! I hadn't even started the water yet, I was getting a towel out of the closet when I heard her going. I think my excitement and her surprise cut things short, though. After she finished, she wiped herself (I was going to, but she took the paper and did it herself!) and then we had an impromptu, short lesson on "no, we do not pick the toilet paper back out of the potty! That is eww!" Then we went to the kitchen to celebrate with a very special treat of a few mini-marshmallows. I also called Daniel in from the addition to help celebrate the special occasion.
I don't know if she made the connection between the "very special treat", all the happy cheering and hugs, and what she had just done on the potty, but it was fun :) After the marshmallows, we went back into the bathroom to get in the tub (I should move some of the marshmallows closer to the bathroom...), and as soon as her feet hit the water she went some more. My guess is that her going on the potty was more a random occurrence, but it's a start.
Before it gets much later, I need to wind this post up. I'll close by saying that this week Susannah has had the worst cold she's had in a long time. Usually our colds don't go beyond a day or two of sniffles, but the poor little dear had a full-blown, several miserable days, plenty of nose-running and lots of coughing cold. As she never ran a fever or showed any signs of being seriously ill, I just put on my Dr. Mama hat and helped her the best way I could. We realized she was sick Saturday night when she woke up several times coughing and crying, and Thursday morning was the first time she was acting somewhat like her usual bubbly self again. Yesterday and today she's acted and looked herself and has been sleeping much, much better (for which I am VERY grateful!!). But last night and this evening she has fussed about her one ear. Still no fever, so I'm guessing it's just an ear-ache and treating it with ear drops. She has had enough coughing and nose-running/blowing that it does not surprise me that her ears might be bothering her. I am hoping this clears up quickly and doesn't get worse.
Right now I am eager to be able to go to church again tomorrow after having to stay home last week! I know Susannah will be happy to see her friends again, too :)
