21 Months Old

Well, the holiday season is officially over and I can truly say that Harlow enjoyed every minute of it. With so many friends and family members around we usually throw our regular schedule and bedtime out the window. This probably wasn't the smartest thing to do because Harlow thrives on a schedule. When it is disrupted, life is chaos and pretty much a complete melt down. Unless, someone is giving her their complete attention. Which thankfully happened a lot since some many people wanted to hold her, play with her, feed her and spoil her. The month of December went by so fast, and now here we are at 21 months. I actually had to scroll back through my blog to check out all the things we did in the month of December. It was a complete blur.

Lately I have noticed Harlow is starting to show sympathy and empathy towards others. When she drops her baby doll, she bends to pick her up and says, "You ok baby?". If Buddha or Gus Gus are whimpering, she immediately says, "Why you cry? You ok?". And the best was when the SPCA commercial came on with all of the sad animals in cages. You know the one, with the Sara McLachlan song playing in the back ground. Well, Harlow marched right over to the TV and said, "Oh puppy, oh Kitty, so sad". And when there are crying babies in the grocery store, she always say, "oh baby, no more cry".

While on vacation this past month we were surprised to learn that Harlow knew the sounds of the alphabet, EVERY letter and their correct sound! And she can do it out of order too! I figure she learned most of these from play and movies. I can't take credit for it. On our fridge we have a magnetic alphabet toy that plays the letter and its sound as well as sings the ABC's. And I also let her watch a Leap Frog movie called The Letter Factory that teaches all the sounds of the alphabet. I highly recommend it for your little ones! Its about 35 minutes long, just enough time for me to get dinner ready. Santa brought her a new one too, to learn her numbers!

Lately I have been describing Harlow as sassy. Or bossy. But I finally figured out she is neither of those, (well, ok maybe a little) she is just a really determined little girl. She wants to try things on her own, she doesn't want help anymore with a lot of things, and when she has her mind set on something, I throw my hands up and retreat because there is no changing her mind. I usually leave the situation and come back to it a few minutes later. I've decided to embrace it a little more because determination is a good thing. And a little bit of sass never hurt anymore. Harlow, if you ever read this, I hope you keep your sass, determination and drive. You'll need it to be a strong individual and I'd bet you $100 your dad will say you got it from me anyway.

Harlow's newest words/sentences:
(I was really bad at recording these this month so I'm missing A LOT!)

Needs salt
She's not here
I got you
Big one
Little one
Mail
Don't touch it
Castle
Tangled
Ocean
Play (with) kids
Chips
Presents
Olivia
Hey, that's mine (I have no clue where she got that one!)
Me, Harlow
I come with you
Get it
I have fun
That's ok
You ok?
What you doing?
Awww
My friend
Stay right there
We did it!
My names Bruce! (from Finding Nemo)
Nemo touch the butt
Go baby, go baby
Kitchen
Merry Christmas
Snow angel
Yogurt
Goodnight
Highchair
I don't like it
I'm glad
So happy
Happy new year
I fixed it
Who's that?
She's sad
Oh puppy, oh kitty, so sad
I go shopping
Throw away
I have booger
I play kitchen
I'm ok
Help mommy, help!
I go upside down
Beautiful
Grandpa ride horsy
Santa brings presents
Nice girl
Cheerios
Chocolate muffin
I come too
It's broken
Trash
I go home


Harlow's 21 Month Photo Shoot