17 Months and Feisty

Okay, so I started this post two weeks ago, but I apparently am incapable of taking my camera and plugging it into my computer. So no pictures that were taken with a real camera will ever be posted. I'm annotating this post because two weeks actually makes a difference in the lives of toddlers. Things have changed since I first wrote this post.

Phoebe is 17 (and a half) months old today, and wow, she is a fireball.

When she doesn't like something, ooh boy, does she ever let you know it. For example, she absolutely hates getting her diaper changed. I think this stems from being forced to lie still - she twists and turns and tries to squirm off the changing table. I try to tell her, as I'm physically forcing her down, that it would be much quicker if she'd just let me do the 5 second diaper change. I have basically given up on changing her clothes on the changing table and instead run around trying to get the shirt over her head and her pants on her legs. She's suddenly much more relaxed with diaper changes two weeks later. As long as she's holding onto a book, she's okay.

In general, the girl does not like being held anymore. She has discovered this entire world and she wants to explore all of it. Her climbing acumen has only improved. Phoebe now can climb on to the bathroom vanity. She uses her toes to wedge herself up and the next thing you know, she's in the sink laughing diabolically as she turns the water on. Suffice it to say, Charlotte never climbed onto the vanity (or the kitchen table, or the couch, or the fireplace) - that is, until she saw Phoebe do it. Now, when Phoebe manages to climb on to the bathroom vanity before I pull her down, Charlotte will too. Sibling rivalry at its weirdest.

Last Friday (three weeks ago), we went to Charlotte's daycare for a luau and there was a big bounce house set up, one with a slide. There was also a smaller one for the younger kids, but Phoebe wanted no part of that one. She immediately dove into the big bounce house, tried climbing the ladder up to the top of the slide, and created a huge line behind her when she couldn't quite climb the last rung - Chris had to push past the kids and heave her up to the top. Phoebe wasted no time sliding straight down. Her daycare lady, Susan, reported the same thing when she took the kids to the local bounce house place. The girl has no fear.

We have pretty much resigned ourselves to being a takeout-only family when it comes to restaurants. Phoebe is okay in her high chair for a little while, but then she's wriggling herself out of the strap (it only goes around her waist, so she's figured out how to get out), or loudly shrieking until we pull her out. This has not changed, and in fact, has gotten worse. Now she hates being in her booster seat at dinner time. I'd really like to eat dinner without Phoebe screaming to get down.

Have I mentioned we're going to Orlando in four weeks (two weeks)? Yes, we're super excited and yes, Charlotte is going to have the best time ever, but we are emphatically not excited about traveling with Phoebe on the plane. We didn't purchase a ticket for her because we only have seven (six and a half) precious months left before we're forced to buy one for her, and three tickets is already a lot, thank you very much. So yeah, holding on to a squirming toddler for several hours is going to be torture for everyone involved. In fact, it's kind of keeping us up at nights. Chris even joked about cancelling, but no, we're not going to do that. His family is going to be there, and I know that once we arrive, it will be fine. Plus, she is kind of obsessed with my iPad, so I hope that ends up being a distraction that takes up a little time. (she is now even more obsessed with the iPad and iPhone and loves watching the 15 second videos on Instagram - we watch the same videos about 20 times. She also loves looking at photos of people. I think if we download a few videos to the iPad, this might keep her entertained).

Okay, so it sounds like I'm whining a lot about Phoebe. She is definitely in the throes of tantrums, but she's also super cute and has learned so many new words this month! I don't think it's a true language spurt, but it's definitely encouraging. She now says up very clearly (and loves to say it in connection with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Itsy Bitsy Spider), yes, no, milk, all done/all gone, ball, book, bye-bye, bear, dog, cat, quack, duck, bubble, cookie and nigh-night (for going to bed), along with the words she was already saying (more, uh oh, hi, and Dada). Bubble and cookie are both very clear. She also signs please and all done. Yesterday, she said Hi Charlotte (our other daughter's name) for the first time. She looked at a picture at Susan's house of her son and said Connor. She can also say shoes and cheese, but I think she believes that cheese and please are the same thing because when she asks for cheese she always signs please at the same time. I'm pretty sure she's not that polite. Oh, and did I mention that when I sing the ABC Song and pause after G, Phoebe pipes in with "H,I, muffled sounds?" Pretty awesome! We're getting her re-evaluated on September 9 because I think she probably no longer qualifies for speech therapy. I think the red flag number of words at 18 months is 6 and you can obviously tell that she has at least three times the number of words. What progress!

Here's Phoebe saying "Bye-bye Dada," when he went to go pick up something to eat. She said it spontaneously after he went out through the garage and repeated it about 50 times, including when she was watching the video. Okay, so no video. But her bye-bye is much, much clearer today than it was a month ago when the video was taken. I promise, it's a super cute video.

Phoebe is also obsessed with all things Thomas the Tank Engine. Her daycare friend, Johnny, loves Thomas, so they sometimes watch the videos (did you know Alec Baldwin plays the conductors on the old videos? His greatest role ever.). Johnny and Phoebe also fight over the Thomas train toys. We have a few Thomas trains (although not Thomas himself) and Phoebe loves playing with them. She is also utterly entranced by our one Thomas book. I think I "read" it to her about five times a day (it's not much of a story, just some lift-the-flap). It's where she learned the word helicopter, which for the record, is more like heh-cop.

Phoebe's obsession with the Thomas book has waned somewhat, but now she just loves books so much. I think I read her about 10 stories every night before bed, and if it were up to her, I'd read double that number. In fact, she's so into books that she requires at least three books left in bed with her. I'm actually pretty amazed by her attention span for stories. It makes me pretty happy.

In sum, it's been quite a month (er, six weeks). She's really progressing and quickly turning into her own person with very distinct likes and dislikes. Susan remarked to Chris the other day: "Phoebe is getting cuter each day, as if that were even possible." I can't say that I disagree.