21 Months

I am 21 months old! And my hair is long enough to wear piggytails! Yay!

• Talking: It's hard to keep track of my new words now because I talk so much and repeat everything I hear. Lately some of my favorite phrases to repeat have been "I love you Mommy/Daddy" and "Hasta mañana." I still speak a lot of gibberish but there's always a familiar word or two mixed in there. I'm also starting to ask questions, including "what's that?" and asking where specific things are.
• I can count! I can count to three in English and to five in Spanish (and then skip ahead to nueve).
• New animal sounds: I've added a few more animal sounds to my list, including camel (spitting sound), snake, frog, and rooster ("cock-a-doo!")
• Obsession of the month: iPad! I love playing games and watching books on that thing. I even figured out how to push the button to turn it on, unlock it, swipe through the pages and tap the icons to open my favorite apps. Daddy bought the book The Monster at the End of the Tunnel, and I loved it so much that he also bought the sequel The Other Monster at the End of the Tunnel. For awhile it was the first thing I asked for when I woke up in the morning, and I still ask for it as soon as I get home from day care. I love reading along with Grover and Elmo and have practically memorized every page from both books.
• Singing and dancing: I've learned a lot of new moves lately and am constantly practicing them at home. I will roll my hands and jump up and down to Wheels on the Bus, and especially love doing the spin at the end of each line. I also like to follow along to If You're Happy and You Know It. And I still love doing that hot dog dance at the end of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse only now, I also insist on dragging my step stool over to the TV and standing on it, just like how the characters all dance on their own little platforms.
• Swimming: After almost two months of classes I am much more comfortable in the pool and actually enjoy myself. I may finally be ready to move on to the toddler class. The only thing I refuse to do is back floats, or anything that requires leaning backward into the water. I hate back floats!
• Getting around: Although I still hate sitting in my stroller, I like riding in anything else that has wheels. Oh, except for shopping carts. For some reason I hate sitting in shopping carts unless I get to face forward. Trips to Target are a nightmare because I refuse to sit in the cart!

Taking my new (used) car out for a spin!

At home, I love to entertain myself by trying on as many shoes as I can.

Just three short months until I'm two!

ABC Fun

Kaitlyn loves this iPad app called The ABC Song. Watch and listen as she tries to sing along. :)

There's also a balloon pop game that she's gotten pretty good at. Pretty impressive for a 20 month old!

Cheesy Whole Wheat Crackers

If there is one snack that Kaitlyn absolutely loves, it's goldfish crackers. I can't help but love them either, and ever since I saw this recipe for whole wheat goldfish crackers awhile back, I have been dying to make them. It's hard to resist those little bites of cheesy goodness and by making them at home, I feel like it's a less junky, lower sodium, less processed, more adult-friendly version.

These crackers were super easy to make, They only require six ingredients (five if you use just one type of flour), all of which are staples that we always have on hand. I didn't have a mini goldfish shaped cookie cutter, so made mini stars and hearts instead.

The smiley faces are optional. I made the first batch using a wooden skewer for the eyes and the tip of a plastic spoon for the smile (which sometimes resulted in a straight non-smile). Then I got lazy and did without the smiley faces for the next batch.

The result? Cheesy, yummy crackers that Kaityn loved. Simple and delicious!

Weekend Fun

Pajama Party!
This weekend Burlingame Mothers' Club hosted a pajama party at the nearby elementary school. I dressed in my cozy PJ's and we enjoyed some food, milk and cookies, crafts, and the movie Curious George. Daddy helped me make a door sign for my room.

Sunday at the park:
On Sunday morning we met up with my friends at the park. As soon as we hit the playground we all scattered and made the daddies chase us around while the mommies hung out and caught up.

Racing Kira down the slide.

Santana Row:
We took advantage of the perfect weekend weather and stayed outdoors, enjoying live music, shopping, and people watching (and a game of chess).

Grandma and Grandpa's house:
Since Daddy had a hockey game in Cupertino, we made our usual stop at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I love visiting them and picking oranges from their tree!

Yay for weekends!

Story Time!

Mommy took a day off work today and took me to story time at our local library. We had gone a few weeks ago and I seemed to really enjoy it. I even remembered the elephant sign from our last visit and ran right up to it.

There was a nice lady there who read several books to us, then led us in some songs. Afterward, I made my way to the kids' section and played for a bit.

Since Mommy took the day off work, you might think that we spent the rest of the day spending quality mother-daughter time together. She actually just dropped me off at daycare afterward and spent the rest of the day at the spa. I guess Mommies need a break too sometimes!

20 Months

Happy Leap Day! I am 20 months old today! Every month just seems to whiz by, and it's amazing how much I pick up in such a short amount of time.

• ¡Yo hablo español! At this point I probably know just as many Spanish words as I do English, if not more. Apparently I speak short sentences in Spanish at daycare, although Mommy and Daddy would never know. We do end up using a lot of Spanish words at home, since that's what I know. I can also use words interchangeably, for example, boca and mouth to refer to the same thing. I guess I'm officially bilingual.
• "De plane! De plane!" I suddenly love to point out airplanes in the sky and declare "a-pin!" It's always the first thing I look for when I go outside now, and I can even spot the tiny ones way high up in the sky. I also like to point out birdies, stars, and the moon and am often heard calling them out from the carseat. Amazingly I'm able to distinguish between airplanes and stars in the night sky. Mommy and Daddy have no idea how I was able to figure out that those moving lights are actually airplanes. 
• I am obsessed with the ABC song. I love hearing the alphabet song and trying to sing along to it. We recently discovered an iPad app The ABC Song which I love to play over and over. 
• My sleep is back to normal. After a rough month last month, I finally reverted to my normal sleeping schedule. I now sleep straight from 7:30pm to 6-6:30am, with no middle-of-the-night wake-ups.
• Potty training has begun! I was showing an interest in using the potty at daycare since all the bigger kids were using it, so Johanna thought that now's a good time to start potty training. She tells us that she has all her kids potty trained before they turn 2. We're starting out slowly. At daycare I spend a few minutes sitting on the potty every day and a few times I have even peed in it (and got goldfish crackers as a reward)! We need to figure out what to do on weekends though. Mommy bought a potty for me but I have way less interest in sitting on it than I do at daycare.

Here are some more highlights of the month in pictures.

** Warning - naked baby pic ahead!

I never really cared much for baths, but given my recent obsession with the alphabet, Mommy bought me these foam letters for the bath. I love them! I now play happily and get my hair washed without a complaint.

We took a quick trip to OC earlier in the month. Here I am sippin on Starbucks while waiting for our flight (it's actually the melted ice flavored with whatever was left of Mommy's iced chai). I always insist on drinking from Mommy's cup whenever I see that green straw.

This is what happens when you put blueberries IN my yogurt - I try to dig them out with my hands. Now we know to serve the blueberries on the side.

Hanging out with my besties. That is my new cat Gato on the left, a gift from Uncle Andrew. Since Gato has joined our family, the three of us have been inseparable!

A Doggy Video

A silly video of what happens when Kaitlyn sees doggies on TV. :-)