20 months

Sophia wakes up smiling.  I love that about her.  When I walk into her room in the morning or after her nap, I usually say, “hi, baby” and as she lays in her crib, she responds by saying, “hi, mommy” and giving me a big smile.  It’s a great way to start my day.

Sophia is definitely a toddler now, although I still call her baby.  She knows many words and invents many more everyday.  She’s good at communicating what she wants by using her words, her hands and fingers (there’s a lot of pointing going on), or her cries.  She says these a lot: “no, no, no”, “mine”, and “stop, mommy, stop” (this when I am getting her to do/eat  something she doesn’t like).  She has a clear sense of what she likes and dislikes, and for the dislikes, there is no changing her mind.  We just have to wait for her to change her mind on her own. 

She loves shoes.  She’s fascinated by them and spends time sitting and playing with the laces or putting the shoes on and off her feet.  She is still a bit of a picky eater - nothing orange or yellow, for example - but eats a good amount when it is a dish that she likes.  She’s very good with music and rhythm, and spends a good portion of her day singing.  She’s  a climber (they call her Knievel in daycare) and loves to play and run around.  She’s very good with the iPad, too.  It’s amazing to watch her use it and figure it out.  She knows the icon for Videos and she finds the Dora and Little Einsteins videos, no problem.  She’s also pretty good at the memory game where you open two cards and try to find the matching ones.  You can see her pause as she tries to recall where the matching card is and she usually gets it right. I tried playing this with her with real cards and that didn’t work out too well.  I guess we’ll stick with the iPad until she’s a little older.

She’s starting to put her shirt and pants on by herself, however, I still have to assist her put her arms through or pull up her pants completely.  And since we practiced “elimination communication” with her beginning at 3 months, she’s quite comfortable using the toilet.  She reads while sitting on the toilet and will sit there until she’s had enough reading done.  Yes, our toilet time can take a while.  She has started to say “poo poo” when she has to go.  There are days when I don’t even have to change her diaper at all because she manages to do her business on the toilet.  I now take along a portable toilet seat when we go out.  Yikes, using the public washroom is a whole new experience!

Our happy little baby is now a little toddler.  She’s growing so fast!  We get so much joy watching her learn and explore and perform new tricks.  It’s funny how proud I feel when she can sing a new song or say a new word.  I now understand how parents can go on and on about their kids!  hahaha

Here are some recent photos:

S eating her siopao

Reading/potty time

Playing with Froggie in her "spaceship"

Checking out the new backpack in the mirror

Watching Dora on the iPad

With braids on.  Cutie.