I know that I seem to say this about every age Katy hits, but 20 months is so much fun! I love how smart and funny Katy is becoming. I love that she is putting concepts and words and ideas together to formulate a thought, a sentence, an act of rebellion against her parents (well, maybe not liking that last one so much).
Funny Katy store from the other day; We went to the Harris Teeter by us that has little mini shopping carts- just Katy's size. When we first walked into the store I said, "We need carrots and beans, Katy Girl." Katy looked around, pushed her cart over to the carrots, picked up a bag of whole carrots and plopped them into her cart. Then, when we were in the bean aisle, she grabbed a can of baked beans, put her finger to her cheek (as if in deep thought), studied the label (as if to read the ingredients) and then decided to put it into her cart. You can't tell me kids don't watch their parents- this is a PRIME example!
Let's talk about names and relationships. Once Katy meets a family, she's so good at putting correct family members with the correct family. For example, never once has she put my niece, Molly with my brother, Josh (Molly's uncle). She always knows who is who's brother, sister, daughter, father, mother, etc.
I know that every parent thinks that their child is the smartest and I am no exception. Katy really is very intelligent! Most nights while Ted gets home from work, I ask Katy to, "Tell Daddy what we did today." Usually, Katy will use one word sentences to describe what we did and where we went, "Park!" "Puppy!" "Books!" "Dancing!" Typically, Katy is spot on when she tells her Daddy about our day's activities. The other day, while talking on the phone with my mother, I told Katy to, "Tell Grandma what we did today." Katy proceeded to "Neigh!" and she was right- we had gone on a stagecoach wagon ride pulled by horses.
"Big Girl! Big Girl!" is the phrase of this phase. Katy wants to do EVERYTHING all by herself, just like a big girl. If she wants to get something off the shelf by herself, it's "Big Girl!" If she wants to pick out her own shoes, it's "Big Girl, Big Girl!" If she wants to walk to the car (instead of being carried), it's "Big Girl, Big Girl!" Just as Katy is learning to do things herself by doing, I am learning to be patient with Katy's spills, messes and streak of independence when things take longer/messier/not as smoothly as if I did it myself. Just this morning, Katy INSISTED on taking her almost-done cereal bowl to the sink. Of course, she spilled the remaining soggy cereal flakes and milk all over the playroom floor- the same floor I had just cleaned in preparation for our pseudo-Halloween dinner/party, tonight.
We are in a very big "Brock, brock!" stage, right now. "Brock, brock!" for those of you who don't know, is Katy's term for chicken- see, I told you she was smart- she put together the concept of "What does a chicken say?" with the sound, "Brock, brock!" It doesn't matter what form- Katy always seems to want "Brock, brock!" for dinner. Steamed, nuggets, fingers, patties, sandwiches, dipped- Katy loves her chicken!
Veggies, on the other hand, are not liked near as much. We are making some progress, though- she will eat some mixed veggies mixed into mac and cheese or with rice and ham and she will eat carrot sticks. We had some really good corn at my parents' house while visiting, and I've never seen Katy eat a whole portion of corn, before that! It's not that I don't offer veggies- I do!- it's just that Katy doesn't like them and (once again, little smarty pants!) seems to find them, pick them out of her meal and discard them.
Ever since Katy was an infant, I knew that she would be a talker. First of all, she has me as her mom (hahaha), but also because even as a baby, she would babble constantly as if she were talking. Katy's language skills right now are amazing (I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter)! They way she puts together words and concepts amazes me! While walking past some Halloween costumes the other day at the store, Katy said, "Pretty dresses." While pouring her a glass of milk, this morning, I asked her, "Where does milk come from?" Katy replied, "Moo cow." Elizabeth, the girl I take care of during the week, was reading a book. I asked Katy, "What is Elizabeth doing?" Katy replied, "Reading book." I followed up and asked, "Where did she get that book?" Katy answered, "Library" (which was 100% correct).
On the topic of language, Katy now knows both of our first names. When she really wants our attention, or we aren't giving her what she wants, she'll usually resort to yelling, "Header!" or "Ted!" instead of "Mommy/Mama" or "Daddy/Dada."
Katy is a little parrot, these days, repeating anything and everything that she hears. Our friend, Bethany, was describing one of her friends as a bachelor and Katy immediately repeated the word, "bachelor"- Katy doesn't even know what it means, yet she can say the word. Good thing Ted and I don't usually say or listen to things things that we wouldn't want Katy repeating!
Oh, the messes we get into these days. It seems that the older she gets, the more complex, the more intricate, the more MASSIVE the mess, pile of toys, crumpled up papers strewn across the floor.
Sleeping is still (STILL?!?) an issue- as in nobody around here gets enough. You would think that at 20 months old Katy would get the hang of it, but, alas, that is not to be. Katy still wakes up periodically every night and it's a rare occasion to get a full night of uninterrupted sleep. *Sigh*
Potty training is going pretty well. For the most part, we only need to worry about when we go outside of our house. Public toilets and automatic flushers tend to scare Katy so she's not as good as using them.
Katy wears mostly 24 month clothing. She still has some 18 month outfits, but it's mostly 24 months/2T by now. Katy has definite ideas about what she does and does not want to wear and how to look presentable. The other day, she woke up from her nap with her hair going this way and that and she pointed to the brush and said, "Hair messy." Her feet have finally started to grow. For the longest time, she was still wearing infant socks (as in the socks that usually come with the little layette outfits in the store). Now, she can finally fit into more toddler-sized socks (12 months and up). Her current shoe size is a five/five and a half.
Katy is getting very smart about routines and what comes next. For example, she knows that our bedtime routine consists of story, prayer, cuddle time with Mommy and then bed. Sometimes, Katy balks at story time because she knows that is the beginning of the bedtime routine and she doesn't want to go to bed. Another example is how Katy understands that you need shoes in order to go outside. Whenever she wants to go for a "Walkie" she'll get her shoes on, insist you get yours on and then drag you to the door to go out.
It's fun to see Katy grow and develop. I feel like I can actually talk with her and not at her. I can even have very short conversations with her and it's fun to see what she has to say and what is going on in that little head of her's.
