Moments of Mitchell: 21 months

LOTS OF MOMMY RAMBLING BELOW!

Lofton turned 21 months on 2/19/12. She continues to amaze us as she grows and changes right before our eyes. The biggest thing continues to be her speech. She may be tiny and just barely able to squeeze a pigtail out of her sparse 'do (see below!), but she talks like a 3 year old. A few of my favs that I don't want to ever forget.

1. Polk-a-dots: Lofton calls them "freckles" or sometimes "polk-a-LOTS"

2. On valentine's day I said to Lofton "Mommy and Daddy love Lofton SO much!". Her response..."Lofton so much too!" thanks little love. melt my heart.

3. Lofton loves to play pretend and one of the things she does is pseudo hide a stuffed animal and then ask where it is. she is a great actress. that bodes well for teenage years.... the funny thing is that she leaves out the word "where." so it goes something like this. "are you doggie?" "are you bunny?" "are you daddy?" the entire time she does this she spins in circles with a big grin on her face.

4. We taught Lofton to count to 5 over the past month. Occasionally she'll throw in the number 6. Earlier this week she counted to 13! and then she did it again! It was out of nowhere. No one claims to have taught her, so my thanks goes to Sesame Street. No tv before 2. Come on AAP, my daughter knows so much more than she would without Big Bird!

5. The evening after she counted to 13, she said her ABC's by herself. She had never even started to say them and then she just did it-start to finish. The next morning she sang "Jesus Loves Me". It was a busy 24hrs for my little one's brain. A little too much growing up in 1 day for this mommy!

6. L still LOVES books. We read them sporadically throughout the day and several before nap and bedtime. Starting to get a bit independent, grab a book, and say "Lofton read it." Which reminds me. EVERYTHING is Lofton's. The other day she grabbed my leg and said "Lofton's leg". Really?! Pretty sure you can't claim that one...

Motor Skills:

1. L has never been advanced in the gross motor department, and may have been a bit hindered by her small size, but she's doing well. She can now jump with both feet instead of the gallop she used to do. However, she NEVER jumps alone. She jumps and then says, "Lofton jump. Mommy jump!" She is climbing a lot more and I often find her sitting on the ottoman or on the couch. She still needs help with the stairs and since ours are hardwood, I'll be sticking close for a while. The other day she went and sat on the bottom step after I asked her to help me clean up. I went to talk to her about being a helper and as soon as I started speaking...she closed her eyes!! totally shutting me out. times like that make it so hard to continue the discipline and not laugh.

2. L still loves to color. She draws circles (sort of), pseudo-straight lines, and lot of scribbles. She usually tells me it's a dog, or a flower, or whatever she decides it is. She does great with a fork and spoon and really has since about her first birthday. Now if we could only get her to eat...

Eating:

L still eats most things, but not everyday. One day she'll love bananas, and the next she'll toss them across the room if you give her one. Earlier this week she ate 3 bowls of baby oatmeal with milk for dinner. Whatever. You win some; you lose some. She still weighs about 22lbs :)