22 Months Old!

Today Rhea turns 22 months old. Two short months from her second birthday. I'm already starting to think about how we will celebrate her big day. But before we go there, here's some quick thoughts on Rhea at 22 months old:

• Rhea continues to amaze me with her ever-growing vocabulary. This morning she said "Mommy floor minute." While still missing a few words in that sentence, I realize how amazing it is that she can tell me she wants me to sit on the floor with her for a few minutes!
  
• We know when Rhea is awake because we hear her talking on the monitor. She literally spends a half hour or so talking to her stuffed animals before she requests "out." This morning she was saying "Emo, no. No, Emo." I couldn't help but laugh - I wonder what Elmo was doing that was so bad!


• When she's not talking, I feel like Rhea is singing. She loves to sing and more and more she can sing along. She is really starting to know some of the words of her favorite songs. Her favorites? ABCs (which she now calls "ABCD"), The Ittsy Bittsy Spider (known to Rhea as "spider") Found a Peanut (called simply "Peanut") and Baby Bumble Bee (otherwise known as "Bumba Bee"). We could be sitting at the table eating, driving in the car or playing outside and suddenly, she'll say "ABCD" and then start singing!


• I can no longer choose Rhea's breakfast without checking with her first. Gone are the days of grabbing whatever is closest/easiest/already out. Now, we go through a check list until we get what Rhea wants. Me: "How about waffles?" Rhea: "no, yogurt."

While all of these cute behaviors make this age so much fun, I can't talk about Rhea at 22 months without talking about the rebellious side that is coming out. It's still a very small occurrence, but there are times, especially when Rhea is tired, when I'll ask her to pick something up and she'll say "no." Or yesterday when she suddenly started hitting me. It's these moments where I wonder who has taken over the body of my sweet, loving daughter? And how do I get her back? But, like yesterday after she repeatedly ignored my "stop hitting" command, Rhea spent some time in time out and then eventually said sorry and suddenly, my happy perfect little girl was back. The one I really enjoy!