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Your independence continues to grow. You feed yourself for almost every meal, and you’ve finally started eating meat again after a long stretch where we thought you might be going vegetarian. You take your pants off whenever possible. Socks? We probably shouldn’t even try to put them on your feet. You’ve been walking to and from the car holding Mommy or Daddy’s hand. You walk upstairs by yourself with no trouble, and you can walk downstairs (instead of just sliding down) while holding a hand as well.
Talking is coming along rather nicely. There’s still a whole lot we’re waiting for you to say, but it’s amazing what you can say. Words you say a lot: go, gentle, uh-oh, thank you, this, doggy, woof, meow, moo, click, and Diego. We’ve heard you say a few more words only once or twice: backpack, rescue, (Rice) Krispie, blue, TJ, and a few more that have slipped my mind right now. You can count to ten, although not always in the proper order. You’ve even started singing the alphabet song. A-G are recognizable, as is Z. You get most of the vowel sounds right for everything else in between. We’re so proud of you. When you want something and you don’t know how to say it, you’ve taken up hissing when you point at things.
You love having your teeth brushed. I don’t know if it tickles or if you just like the taste of your Koala Pals training tooth gel, but you never give us a problem when it’s time to brush your teeth, and you usually end up laughing. We let you brush your own teeth after we do it so you can get the practice.
Daddy has moved you to the big tub for bath time. No more baby tub for you! You love splashing around in there.
Sleep has thankfully started to normalize. You sleep from 8:00 or 8:30 each night to 7:30 or 8:00 the next morning. We leave a cup in your crib so you can take a drink overnight when you need it. You rarely need us to come in during the night anymore. You’ve been napping for two to three hours each afternoon. Sometimes you’ll play in your crib for an hour or so before falling asleep for your nap, and it’s a wonder, because you’re always so busy that you should be exhausted!
As far as food goes, you are getting all of your food groups in on most days now. You love chicken fingers, corn, pickles, mandarin oranges, cheese, cereal, apple slices, and graham crackers. For a treat, you enjoy Rice Krispie Treats, sugar cookies, and ice cream. You eat almost anything that Grandma Debbie makes for Sunday dinner. You ate a whole hamburger and some apple slices this week at Grandma’s house. And you finished a whole Happy Meal last week at McDonald’s… all four Chicken McNuggets and your Apple Dippers. You must be growing again! A lot of food ends up in your hair, but when you aren’t intentionally dumping it or throwing it on the floor, you’re much neater than you used to be.
You are obsessed with hair. Especially Mommy’s hair. The doctor says it’s normal, but I wish you would stop trying to eat my hair. You’ve had to sit a few times for not listening when you’re told to stop eating it. The problem is that you sneak up behind Mommy and start by just playing with the hair before putting it in your mouth. And since you’re standing behind me, it’s hard for me to get you to stop, unless Daddy’s home.
You love to stack and organize things. You can spend half an hour just stacking blocks or refill packs of your baby wipes, then moving them one by one to a new location and rearranging them. Grandma Debbie has some interlocking plastic fish that you especially like to carry into the other room and arrange meticulously on the floor so that none of them touch each other.
It’s hard to believe you’ll be two years old in just four short months. I can only wonder what other changes will happen before then!
That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.
