Learning & Growing

Layla loves to throw things away. She actually gets mad (nearing quite a fit) when I throw something away and not her. Most any paper item that she can get her hands on gets crumpled up and then she looks up to me and says, "away!" Dirty diapers are now her responsibility - an undertaking she has voluntarily taken upon herself. I have to admit, it is quite cute hearing her walk around saying, "away - away" :-)

She has also takin' a liking to the word yellow. If you ask her what color something is, her response is always "yellow" - putting the emphasis on "-ow". She gets her mouth so cute and round :-) She is also very good at saying "purple" - the ladies at day care even commented on it. She doesn't put the endings on other colors such as red and green. My guess is it's a consonant thing. It's interesting that the words she prefers are seemingly harder words. I think she just enjoys making the "l" sound.

We have added some new animal sounds to the list as well. Elephant, monkey, frog, owl, and bee are the ones I can think of at the moment. The elephant is the cutest to witness, but I think the frog is the cutest to hear.

Kisses are abundant! She puckers out her bottom lip and leans forward. Too cute!! She especially loves to give them before going to bed or down for a nap - I think it's a bit of a stall tactic :-)

Climbing is a favorite past time. She is often sitting on the back of the couch, much like a cat. Just today I found her on the bench in the dining room. I am a bit perplexed at how she got up there b/c it's higher than other things she's gotten on to and there was nothing around to assist her.

She enjoys pointing out things that are mine ("momma") or Jeremy's ("dadda"). She will repeat our names over and over and over until we acknowledge that we have heard her. She also says her name surprisingly well.

In response to the question "How old are you?" she holds up her right pointer finger - but it's always right next to her nose and angled just slightly. I'll have to get a picture and post it.

She pats my belly and says "baby." However, I don't truly think she understands. She clearly says both "baby" and "belly" so it's not an issue of miscommunication. It's interesting to hear...I wish I could know what's going on in her mind. She sometimes pats too hard and I tell her to "be nice" and she she'll then start rubbing my belly. :-) Hopefully I'm not confusing her by saying "there's a baby in my belly"...maybe she's beginning to associate all bellies with babies - or thinking she's had the word wrong in the past and now only calls it "baby." Yikes! That'd be embarrassing...have her walk up to someone, touch their belly and say "baby" - haha!

We transitioned her to big-girl baths over the summer rather than sitting in her infant/toddler tub. At first she refused to sit...but she got over that and loves bath time even more than she did before! I bought a skid-resistant mat that's a piece of junk!! It's got no fewer than 20 little suction cups (**update: I just counted 50!!!)that won't stay down...so the mat is constantly floating up. I'm so annoyed!!! However, I'll hold out until we get into a new house and she has a bathroom of her own that we can put down some of those more permanent skid-sticker things on the bottom of the tub.

*Update: I forgot to mention that one of her canine teeth has officially poked through...just waiting on the other 3 to follow suit. It won't be long until my baby girl has 16 teeth!

Things aren't all mushy and happy, though. She still throws tantrums...mostly when I won't pick her up (b/c I'm busy attempting to clean, cook dinner or do something other than giver her all my attention). She learned quickly that she must say "up" and "please" before I will stop what I'm doing to hold her. Of course the words now come through crying...we'll have to work on her calming down before being picked up, but for now I'm happy that she's using her words.

She's also still into hitting. It hasn't seemed to be an issue at daycare, though - so that's a plus. Time-outs haven't been as effective. I have simply been restraining her hands and holding her in my lap. The last few times she actually seemed to enjoy being in my lap. I've tried out a corner in the house the last 2 times - the first time was a success (in that she did not enjoy it at all)...but just today she sat there almost happy - maybe b/c I sit right there in front of her making sure she doesn't get up. But the interesting thing is, after time was up and she said sorry, she walked right to the mirror and hit herself via the mirror. I asked her if she needed another time out and she walked right to the corner and sat!! Apparently this isn't that effective, either. It's going to remain our time-out spot until I can think of another option. She has learned that hitting mom & dad is usually what ends her up in time-out...so she has resorted to hitting herself. Ugh! I can't wait until she comes up with better ways to vent her frustrations.

Looking mom in the eyes while I tell her that a specific action is a no-no is becoming more and more difficult for her to do. It's amazing how quickly kids learn that it's not easy to look mom in the eyes and admit you were wrong. We have had time-outs last longer than they should simply b/c she refuses to say "sorry." Oiy!