Letters to Sylvie: 21 Months

Dear Sylvie,

I can't believe two more months have gone by. Soon enough you'll be TWO!

I always marvel at the things you pick up on your own. You'll start to do one thing or another and I'll wonder where you came up with it. You've become more amenable to sitting down to watch a movie and depending on your mood you'll usually watch for 30 minutes or so. We've been starting in on the Disney movies which you seem to really like. One evening we made some popcorn and gathered on the couch to watch Cinderella. You sat there on the couch with Daddy and me and watched the movie while blindly reaching for  popcorn in the bowl. It was like you'd done it a million times! So funny.

Having fun in the photo booth. The dynamics in the last pic kill me. 

At the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum... You loved it!

Your first ice cream cone (which was promptly devoured)

We recently put in a big sandbox for you and you love to sit out there and play with your buckets and shovels. The other day I was playing with you and made a sand castle out of one of your molds. When I lifted the mold off to reveal the sand castle underneath, your eyes went huge with amazement and awe at this "magic" I'd just performed.

Playing in your sandbox

A couple months ago on a rainy day I gave you some dry beans to play with. Since then you play with them almost every day and enjoy putting them in your pots and pans. You pretend to feed them to the kitty or your teddy bear or Mom and Daddy. We give you different reactions each time you feed them to us, one of which is telling you the beans need more salt. You've started to mime adding salt to the beans and it's the cutest thing ever. You also pretend to eat things as well. Which doesn't work out so well when I want you to actually taste your food, not pretend to taste it!

You're getting big enough now that you can play on playgrounds and walk a bit during our walks. Whenever we walk on a path you constantly stop to investigate rocks and sticks (both of which you'll hand to Mommy or Daddy to carry). You do your penguin walk or your little shuffley walk or run as fast as you can. You can actually walk pretty far now without getting tired. When we go to the playground you mainly like the slides. It usually takes you a little while to go up and down the stairs though because you have to brush off all the wood chips or rocks you find there before moving up to the next step. You're not quite big enough to go down the slides yourself so you sit on my lap or I hold your hands. You always get so excited when you see the playground and I think you get a little frustrated when you see bigger kids running around and climbing things that you can't. All in due time.

Playing with giant abacus at the park.

You are getting to be quite the good little helper. You help put away your clothes into their drawers when I do the laundry and you empty your forks and spoons out of the dishwasher and put them in their spot in the drawer when Daddy does the dishes. When he empties the garbage cans you'll go put the bathroom trash can back in its place. You're pretty consistent at putting things away when we ask you to, or fetching one object or another if we need it.

First trip to the zoo. You loved this little otter as well as the giraffes.

Showing off your little top-notches.

You're still not talking too much (at least that we can understand), but you are picking up a few words here and there. You say Mama and Dada (though Mama isn't necessarily directed at me), up and down, this, and right there. You have a lot more signs and actions you make. You will do a fish gulping noise when you see or hear mention of a fish, you'll flap your arms like a chicken, make the little chick "cheap" movement with your hands, point to your ear when you hear a loud noise like an airplane or truck (I've never realized how many planes fly over our house), and raise your hands above your head for something big. You did this when you saw the giraffe at the zoo. You definitely have a way of getting your point across.

You love to smell the flowers in the yard.

 Grandma Denise sharing her potato chips with you at the weenie roast. She knows how to win you over!

Sylvie I am just amazed everyday at what a good little girl you are. You're so smart and sweet and happy, and it's unbelievably fun to watch you grow and learn. You are a bright light in our lives and we're so happy to have you.

Love, Mommy