Elizabeth at 20 months

*This post was written on February 11, 2012

The past few weeks have been about soaking up our life as it is, just the three of us. We don't do much on the weekends other than case Daddy around the house, have dance parties in our pajamas, and make pancakes, and it's been nice. While walking hand in hand with Elizabeth, I find I'm just amazed she's such a big girl now and I'm trying to relish in these moments before we are officially a family of four.

She's a sweetie. Just like any parent, I am glowing with pride every time she is friendly and charming, says please and thank you, eats her fruits and veggies without complaint, seeks me out to give a hug and kiss, sings adorable songs, and is kind to other children. I'm really liking this age, she's not too naughty yet, she makes us crack up over the funny things she says, she's able to play and explore and climb by herself, and she's developing an imagination.This is starting to come out as she plays with her toys differently or with random objects around the house.

I've heard she will go through a naughty faze with the arrival of baby boy, but oh well, we'll deal with that when it comes. Even though she points to my bulging stomach and says, "Baby brother," I don't think she knows what's coming. None of us really do. :) But it will be great! Right?

She continues to amaze with her communication. She will repeat something she hears one time, and then want to talk about it more. She is also a fan of whining, but luckily we are able to reason with her enough that she will stop and nicely ask for what she wants. She knows that a sweet tone and saying please are the way to getting what she's after. One of the best things is that she can tell me when she's hurt and where, if she's hungry, and other needs. So helpful!

Speaking of helpful, she has learned to do one chore. I ask if she'll take out the garbage and she says, "Ya!" I hand her a small bag of garbage and she takes it to the garbage in the hallway and then comes right back and closes the door to our apartment. She's also good about picking something up off the floor and putting it back if I ask her to. We're still working on cleaning up the toys. She loves to sing the clean up song, but a little too much because it distracts her from actually helping.

She loves to observe and talk about the things around her. Colors, people, bright sunshine, animals, anything. In the car, she like to have music playing or someone singing songs, and she's not shy about telling us she wants a different one, or the same one repeated. She's always loved to be tickled and climb around  and Richard has been teaching her to wrestle and become a human airplane, he's the best at being her rough housing outlet since I am only able to do gentle things like cuddle in this stage of pregnancy. We go to the park literally every day and I'm so glad she's such an active little kid! It's great to see her able to explore and play so much on her own.