The Past Months Developmentally

Her 18-month advancements were downright shocking to me - tackling 3-syllable words and 3-word sentences - I'm forcing myself to write this down so that I don't forget the wonderment of this time in our lives. I often think there is no way I can forget the amazing things she does or how old she was when she did them, but I do.

At 18 months
It seems like she started forming sentences overnight. As my neighbor reminds me (a father of two grown girls), she's been working on this stuff for a long time. But it's like she does it once and then forever. For instance, she said "applesauce" one day out of the blue, and that was it - she knew how to say it from then on. And not long after that, we were in the store and I sneezed and she said, Bless you...Mama. A sentence. And even more shocking to me is that she does these things unprompted. Another example, I usually bring something to her and will remind her to say thank you. But then one day I brought something to her and didn't ask, and as I walked away she said, Thank you...Mama. The best is when she thanks herself for doing something for her dolls. Thank you...Steya (how she pronounces "Stella"). And not too long ago I was mopping around her, and she shouted, Watch out, Stella!

Something I must remember about this stage is how she would yell these things out in her sleep as she struggled to learn and digest them. When she first started learning 3 syllables, she would scream out, Other side! Which meant the other boob. And then she started to yell out, Applesauce! She literally bolts up in her sleep and yells these things while fully asleep. It's just like when they're learning to crawl and walk, and they imitate it in their sleep - I've never seen such craziness! Little people are so fun and fascinating.

Now a couple of months later, she can say to me, Sock back on, Mama (as in, Put your sock on). Other cute phrases to mark this point include, Mama, sit down! Mama, hold you (as in, Pick me up). She has finally figured out the difference between "hi" and "high". Once upon a time if you had said, "Up high", Stella would wave "hi" to you. She has also figured out that only one playground in Austin is called Central Market (not all of them). We would pass playgrounds and she would say, Market?

For me, every accomplishment of hers is accompanied by pure joy, and then followed by immediate sadness because I'm losing the baby part of my baby. She is growing faster than I can cope. I've always loved how we could talk to each other without language, but now there are so many words. I, of course, love it but it's oh so bittersweet.

Things she likes most: her babies (LOVES them), kitties, chickens, pretend driving, playgrounds, gardening, playing in the water and with ice, cooking in her little kitchen for all of us, washing/cleaning anything, bathtime, playing in the backyard. Her babies are an entirely separate category. She loves to dress, feed, nurse and bathe them, sing to them and other things. And she loves people. So much. I love that she loves people.

Oh, I can't forget to mention (for myself) that she has also developed fears that she never had before. I think it's normal and common for this age, but it can be sad (and sometimes frustrating) when it comes out of the blue. She calls things that move (like leaves in the wind), "bees". If it's moving and it scares her, she'll say, Bee? Bee? Also, she now regularly completely loses it when we approach the check-out line at the market (started a few weeks ago). And now, she won't even get in the cart - scares the crap out of her. I am at a complete loss. There was no incident that prompted any of this - it just happened one day. Kind of like her talking happened. Overnight. Funny girl.