Helena at 22 months

I want to try and document as much of this month as possible.  Mainly because this is Helena's last full month as an only child.  I specifically remembering after I had her that if I were to have any more babies, she would be the oldest.  She would have us as her parents the longest.  It's weird knowing how drastically her role in our family is about to change, and that at the same time she doesn't even really know it.  She of course knows of baby brother and there are times he kicks her while she is in my lap, and she just ignores it.  She knows where the babies room is and that mommy has a baby in her belly.  She's fascinated by his pictures on the refrigerator and likes to kiss and hug the baby.  I know that she'll be a great big sister.  I am concerned about her listening and how she'll react to the crying.  But we'll all be making adjustments.

I'm hoping that within the next two weeks to do a "day in the life" post just so I can remember all the details of only having one child.  It's crazy how things are about to double.  Like at the end of my pregnancy with Helena I find myself doing things right now because I know I can do them now much easier than what life will be like post baby.  I suppose that is what nesting is all about. Doing things now while I still can.  Without having to get two kids in and out of the car, without splitting my attention, taking my time with Helena.

Helena is changing daily.  It's amazing how quickly she picks things up.  Mainly in the world of her vocabulary.  She can carry on a full conversation.  She'll come into a room and say "hi" or "how are you doing today?", I'll respond with "good" and she says "good day today".  Or in the morning or after nap, I'll ask her how she slept.  And she'll say "sleep good".  You ask her to do something and she'll respond "oh sure".  Not too sure where she got that, because neither Chris or I say "sure".  She says "I love you too, Mommy or Daddy".  Or just "I love you too".  She loves to give hugs and kisses, by saying "mommy hugs or mommy kisses".  ...she's usually all about the kisses when she is doing something she knows she's not suppose to be doing.  She says "sorry" instead of "stop".  Like if we're washing her hair in the bathtub she'll go "sorry sorry sorry".  She loves that she can make anything into a hat, by putting it onto her head.  If you are reading a book and you ask her "where is the apple?" she'll respond and say "looking" while looking over the page and then pointing to the apple, or whatever it is you asked her to find.  She says "delicious" and it's the cutest thing you ever did hear.  Although she's been doing this for some time now I've never documented it, she pushes her hair back.  For the longest time she would just let her hair be in her face.  I think shortly before we moved she finally figured out she could use her hands to get her hair out of her face.  When I let her know she's going to the daycare at either church or MOPs she'll say "play with friends" or "toys".  In the bath she'll go swimming and make bubbles.  She knows all of her body party, animals and animals sounds.  Can count to 3.  Knows her ABC's with prompting, but will sometimes say 3 or 4 letters by herself.  She loves lotion.  She's sprouting two more teeth, her bottom canines.  Teething was really rough last week.  She hardly ate and was super clingly.  One big transition we're in the process of is eliminating the rocking chair before nap and bedtime.  Mainly because it's getting uncomfortable with me, and we need to move the rocking chair into baby brother's room.  I know the chair won't be used right away, but I would love to be able and just put Helena down without rocking.  Although truth be told this transition is taking a lot longer because I do know I will miss it.  When we do go down for a nap or are leaving the house to run some errands she'll say "bye toys".  Or specifically "bye owl" if we aren't taking him with us.  Everything is on repeat, so we have started to really watch what comes out of our mouths.  She's great at saying "please" and "thank you".  When we pull into the garage she'll say "here" or "home".  She's confused by up and down.  She knows what up is, but often if she wants down, she'll say "up" so usually she'll just say both until she gets what she wants.  She also definitely has her own language.  There are times she's talking complete gibberish and she knows what she is saying, but I don't have a clue.  There are also times where she's saying something and I should know what it is, but I don't.  But thankfully I'm learning how quickly her vocabulary is growing and changing, so I hope there aren't too many language challenges, especially with baby brother coming in the next few weeks.  She really is awesome.  And I pray that her little brother will be a nice laid back easy baby!