Growing Up

Goodness, why does time have to move so quickly?

I swear sometimes Jordyn ages 2 months overnight. She has been doing very well with her communication lately. We have been trying to make sure we don't just talk to her, we talk with her. Like asking her if she would like a snack, or asking her to help us pick up her toys. She loves to sit and tell us stories, and we always try to figure out what she is saying. You can usually pick out a few words among all the jibber jabber. For example, the other day our cat was startled and ran away quickly. It made Jordyn laugh and she came up to me with an entire story full of made up words and laughter. But I could pick out the words "kitty" and "where did he go?" She can tell us when she has filled her diaper, if she wants a hug, or snacks, or milk. She will ask for her book, and she will ask us to go for a walk.  Yesterday, Chris's Dad laid on the floor near the fireplace, and Jordyn quickly started warning him that it was hot. 

She has also started to really figure out the fun of "pretend play." She has a few baby dolls that she loves to play with. She will try to change their clothes, she will rock them, burp them, and put them to bed. She will lay them in the cradle, place the blanket over them, kiss them on the forehead, whisper "night night" and leave the room. If we are in there with her, she will even shush us and tell us "Baby nigh-night." She loves her play kitchen too. The other day she put her goldfish crackers in a toy pie pan and put them in the oven before eating them. She loves to feed us the imaginary food from the bowls too. It's adorable.

All of this has been so exciting to see, but she really shocked me today. We were walking through the grocery store, and something prompted her to pretend she was a wolf. She kept stretching her head out and howling. Then she would burst out laughing before doing it again. It was a little embarrassing at first, but she is so darn cute, I couldn't bear to stop her. On the way home from the store, I had a small baggie of crackers in my lap. I was reaching behind me to hand them to her a few at a time. We were halfway home when she said, "Mommy! More Please!" This was the first time I've heard her actually combine "Please" with another word. So that was pretty exciting for me. But then she dropped a cracker and said, "Oh! Sorry!" and when I handed her another one she quickly said, "Thank You!" She has never combined so many words together. I was shocked, and also proud of course. But then I was a little sad. How could she be growing up so fast? 

She absolutely loves coloring. She asks us to color several times a day. So when we were at the craft store this weekend, I bought her a watercolor set. You know, the one we all had in gradeschool? I was a little nervous at first, but she absolutely loved it. I couldn't get her to stop. Haha. She has asked me every day since, "Paint? Color?" I guess I should buy some of that white butcher paper on a big roll. We will be needing a lot. Haha.