The kids: Angelfish

She is at the most fun, fabulous age!  She's 21 months old today.  She's starting to stretch and thin out a little, but its all relative because she still has a budda belly and my stocky little legs. I can't keep up with her words -- she adds new ones all the time. She says the names of her cousins and grandparents. There have been many wonderful moments when she has just spontaneously said a family member's name in association with something -- like when Bullshark's dad came to a Clownfish soccer game, at the next soccer game, AF asked "Where Pito?"  She's obsessed with her cousin Claire, who is four.

Play? Play outside? Outside raining. Outside go nigh nigh.

She was terrified of airplanes, motorcycles and anything that made loud noises from far away. We would point to the source and name it and tell it to "go nigh nigh" to help her get over it. So now its....

Airplane! I see it. I see it. Go nigh nigh! Airplane go nigh nigh!

She enjoys her daycare. She likes to play with her "friends."  She is the oldest kid in her room, so she the room's little mommy. She walks around checking diapers for poopy and pats crying younger toddlers on the back when they cry. She is built like a small tank who can take you out at the knees, but she's so gentle. Clownfish is into the Pokemon cartoon these days. We think of AF as like Tepig, if that helps anyone.

She loves her books. Big truck! Tractor! Dinosaur Rawwr! Goodnight Moon. Picture books are fun -- now she points to the pictures when I say the item, or sometimes she points and tells me what it is.

We've been working on patience. She loves frozen toaster waffles for breakfast, but didn't love that I wouldn't let her eat them right out of the freezer. So I taught her to talk to the toaster. While waiting for breakfast now, you'll hear her exclaim repeatedly...

Waffle... COOK! See-up? (Yes, you can have syrup.) Waaaaafffffflllllle..... COOK!

She is like all toddlers in that, when her frustration level gets high, or she can't make herself understood, she doesn't know what to do with those feelings. We've had many "throw my body around and yell" tantrums. But I swear, sometimes, halfway through she'll say "nigh nigh?" Like she recognizes this as a sign of being tired. On day, in the car she through an epic one, and suddenly stopped. She said nigh nigh, popped her thumb in her mouth (she sucks her thumb to sleep) and calmed down.

She couldn't say Clownfish's name for the longest time, so she called him Buddy. (Which contains two key consonants in CF's real name). She's closer to getting it right now, which is sad, because CF really liked being called Buddy.  Every morning she asks where Papa? Where (AF)? Where Buddy? She likes to check in on everyone as I change her diaper. She also announces no poopies pee pee if she's just wet.

Whenever she goes through her drawers, she picks something out, declares it to be "pretty" and wants to wear it. I'm doing my best to keep appropriate choices at her level, because how do you say no when she is holding a shirt saying, Mommy! AF pretty!

Gotta get ready for work, but I just had to get some thoughts out on my funny, fabulous, loving, active, silly, pretty little girl.