Thinking back, several months ago, I posted milestones Meredith hit. I should probably update that list now:
- Her vocabulary now includes "hi", "mom" (also, "momma"), and "dadda (also, "da"). Everything else is just speculation on our part, but we think we have heard her say "keys", "nana" (for banana), and "more". She isn't much for vocabulary in English, but has been talking up a storm (especially over the past week) in Meredith speak which sounds eerily familiar to Chinese.
- She can go up the stairs unassisted. Well, she thinks she can at least. We still follow two steps behind her, but let her climb the stairs for good practice.
- I cannot even tell you how smart she is with her word identification. Speaking from a third party perspective, not a mom (yeah, right!). She blows my mind. For instance, over the past month, when you get her one of her picture books that has large pictures and a single identifying word under it and ask her where a particular object is, she will point correctly to it 90% of the time. This is also a great tool to use to teach her words she hasn't learned yet that are in the books. If she had her way (and I had my way as well), we could just cut out all toys and only "play" with books. That's why we already have a relatively large library of books for her. Also, while we are on this point of word identification, she is amazing when it comes to following requests. Ask her to bring you her baby lion and she will do it. Ask her to bring you her "Jesus Book" and she will bring you the Jesus Easter story book. Ask her to bring you shoes, and no telling whose shoes she may bring you. Chad got a kick out of how she identified the word "more" - He was listening to Mark Levin on the radio and he said the word more. Chad looks over and Meredith is using more in sign language.
- Mommy's little helper - She is doing a great job of helping me help her get dressed in the mornings or when we need to put a coat on her before heading out. She knows to put her arm out and help it through the slot and even tries to put her socks on. Of course, she does a great job of taking her shoes off, just usually in the van as I'm driving. Also, she helps bring me things (which is great since my belly is getting bigger by the minute), sort laundry and sweep the kitchen floor (well, kind of).
- Meredith has developed a great love for playing with her stuffed animals. This is good, since she has already amassed tons of them. We were in the basement yesterday looking through old stuff and I came across some like-new stuffed animals in my yard sale bin. I pulled them out (a lion, lobster, and monkey) and added to the collection, and she was like a kid at Christmas. She loves to take her animals on rides atop her caterpillar toy, chauffeuring them across the living room. And, she loves to give them hugs, kisses, and talk to them.
- Her sense of balance has improved tremendously. She's still not the best at walking along uneven surfaces, such as grass, gravel, or sidewalks, and tends to get clumsy and trip. But, she is really close to being able to climb up on our couch and just recently has taken rides on her tricycle in the house, without needing assistance on or off the bike.
- She is so cuddly! I'm kind of regretting teaching her to kiss every object she sees. It was so cute and I couldn't stop myself, but now I'm wondering what she may do at the playground when she sees a boy! :) She loves to back up her little bottom and plop right on us to read a story. Having your child sit in your lap like that is one of the greatest feelings in the world.
- Going down the slide at the park is a much more enjoyable experience now. She is now better with holding her head up and can go down the small slides without us holding onto her the entire way down. She loves swings and now slides.
- This one is a bummer for me, because I love having a little free time...we are slowly moving to one nap a day. She still takes a morning and afternoon nap several days of the week, but I know it's just a matter of time before the morning nap will go. It's been going on this way since she hit 15 months. I need to find another time to get ready in the morning, because now I usually rely on her morning nap to do that!
- Of course, can't forget the milestone we are not fond of...ATTITUDE. She's got it bad. If she doesn't want to do something, she will let you know it. She's still amazing with nap/bed time and runs to the stairs to go up to her room when I ask her if she is ready for a nap. So, no problems there so far. However, almost anything else is a challenge with her demeanor. I realized early that spanking, slapping her hand, or yelling gets me (and her) nowhere. She doesn't even react when I spank her, even though I think I did it fairly hard. So, my new approach is prayer, listening to the Holy Spirit's prompting, and a soft voice. She loves to go through all of our cabinets, turn the dishwasher knob which starts a load that was already finished, and bang on the TV. I'm trying to take Michelle Duggar's advice from a conference I attended in the Spring and simply get down to her level, make eye contact, and explain why that was bad behavior. Is it working better than my former approach? Not necessarily. But, it's not doing any worse and my blood pressure stays under control this way. For laughs, here is a picture of Meredith that can be summed up by one word, "Attitude":
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| I think I just told her "no" in this one. |
