Team Taylor: 20 Months!

Dear Monkey,
Your personality is shining more and more each day. You are such a happy, silly, and strong willed girl. You are wanting to be more and more independent each day - wanting to do things on your own with little help from us (which sometimes leads to a tantrum). You are testing us more and more each day - trying to see what you can and cannot get away with (i.e., standing on the couch, etc.). You have recently entered a phase where you like to take your clothes off (and sometimes your diaper too) - it's usually after you've woken up from your nap and are laying in your crib. When we go to get you up, you greet us with your clothes in hand. You like to try to put your clothes back on, but it doesn't usually go too well (often both legs shoved in one pant leg and your shirt draped around your neck).

We're still letting you take the lead with potty training and you are doing better at using the potty, asking to go at least once or twice a day (usually with success); you always want to go before going night-night - often it's so that you can delay going to bed, so we usually sit there before bath (with nothing happening), after bath (again, with nothing happening), and then after we read books (success!). You like to give high fives or fist bumps to celebrate a successful potty trip (it's so cute when you ask to do fist bumps, saying "bump, bump").

We took a trip to North Carolina last week to visit your Nana, Granddaddy, aunts, uncles, and cousins. You had a blast and quickly warmed up to everyone (we had been looking at a lot of pictures and practicing names). For some reason you kept calling your Uncle Brian, Uncle Mark, but otherwise you have gotten pretty good at saying everyone's names. While we were there, Daddy and I had our first weekend away from you so that we could go to a friend's wedding. You stayed with Nana and Granddaddy and did so well.

Some of the new things you're doing now:

Crossing your arms - you'll watch Daddy or me cross our arms and then try to do it yourself; you mainly just lay one arm on top of the other, but it is so cute!
Panting like a dog - whenever you see a dog or we ask you what a dog says, you'll open your mouth, stick out your tongue and start panting! You have 2 stuffed puppies that you love and have named "Fifi" and "Fufu" (you interchange the names constantly).
Counting - I've been going through numbers 1-10 with you and wasn't sure that you were really listening, but a few days ago I randomly asked you if you wanted to count and without any prompting from me, you counted from 1 to 6! I couldn't believe it!!
Manners - we've been working with you on saying please, thank you, no thank you, and you're welcome and I think you're really starting to understand what the words mean. You say "peaz", "tank tu", and "welcome" all the time now and always with a smile.
Singing - you love to have me sing to you and will say "sing, sing" over and over until I sing to you (you especially like me to sign to you before nap or bedtime). You're favorite songs right now are "I Love You" (Barney), "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".
Back Rubs - Daddy rubs your back every night before bed and you've now started asking us to rub your back, saying "back" until we start rubbing.
Foods - you love crackers right now and if we would let you eat them for every meal, you would; you also love to drink "milp" (milk) and "waer" (water)
Fears - you are afraid of Daddy anytime he wears a long sleeved shirt or gets dressed up; you won't look him in the eye and will often start to wimper and cry. It is so pitiful and Daddy has to rush to put a t-shirt on (as soon as he changes back to a normal t-shirt, you are fine).
Hair - your hair is so long now and I put it in pig tails, a pony tail and even a side braid. You constantly fidget with your hair and don't usually let it stay up for long - always pulling your hair bows out.
Barney - you love to watch "Batie" (Barney) every day before lunch. You get so excited and will sit and watch so intently.
I love you - you have gotten so good at saying "I wuv you" and often will say "I, too" (I love you, too) after we tell you we love you.
Shoes - you love shoes - your own shoes or Mama or Daddy's shoes. You love to try on new shoes or walk around in big shoes.
Buckets and towels - you have somewhat of an obsession with buckets and towels. Buckets you love to carry around and put your toys in - or, often, we'll see you running around with an empty bucket on your head (you think it's hilarious - and so do we). You have recently developed an obsession with towels or blankets and want to have one every chance you get. It doesn't matter what towel or blanket you have (it could be a full bath towel, a hand towel, a fuzzy blanket, a thin blanket), but you always want it over your head or around your shoulders. We assume it is some sort of comfort thing (this developed while Daddy and I were out of town and you were with Nana and Granddaddy). You now have to sleep with a blanket (along with elephant ("elfie"), dolphin ("dolphie"), monkey, and lamb) - the crib is getting a little crowded!