She is her daddy's girl. I was the same way so I'm not surprised but, man, that girl loves her dad. There was a long while, when she was teeny, where she pretty much only wanted me and it definitely bothered him. He said he only kept her (barely) entertained long enough for me to do whatever it was I couldn't do while holding her. She still likes to hang with her mama but she thinks her dad is a fun guy and I can't help but agree. She likes to hang out with him while he works on the Jeep (she loves the Jeep) and he's had the majority of bedtime duty lately, too.
New words are coming, basically, daily and some of the phrases really crack us up. She'll get tripped up (on toys or dogs) and fall; I'll ask if she's ok and she'll respond, "Iiiii ooookaaay." She will take the keys (to anything) and say "bye" as she walks to the front door. "Bye-bye, Dogs," is a daily thing now. She can sort of say their names, but also calls them "good girl" and "good boy." Her "dogs" is also more like "dowgs." Really cute. She knows most body parts, lots of animals (and their noises), other objects, and is learning colors.
She's very independent and wants to not only do things herself but can get really upset (especially if also tired or hungry) if we don't know what it is she wants right away. We've been working on talking about how she feels and why she's mad or upset... trying to help her get to the point of using her words (or anything, really) to cope. She'll flail her arms occasionally and has actually bitten me a couple of times. The other morning she said, "I mad," after DH held her still long enough for me to get her hair in a ponytail and out of her face.
She doesn't like to go to sleep and talks in her sleep. She might even sleep walk, although she doesn't get far in the crib. Unfortunately, all her sleep habits are just. like. me. Which means, I guess, this is payback for whatever I put my parents through. I, still being the light sleeper, am the one who is up to settle her back down at 4am when she's standing in her crib and talking (but not awake, not even a little). Even if I wasn't 35 weeks pregnant, I'd be exhausted. Some nights are better than others, between teething and other developmental milestones that can contribute to a crappy night's sleep. She'll sleep for 5 or even 7 hours, uninterrupted, some nights and then there are the nights she wakes up for no reason at 2am and it takes 2.5 hours to get her back to sleep. She's been intermittently dropping her afternoon nap, also, and then she is melting down right after dinner. This is not for wimps.
I'm not complaining, these things are just reality. We roll with it as best we can, try to tag team different activities, and mostly try to let her be her. She's always interested in what we're doing, so we try to let DD "help" by holding something (and hopefully not losing it), or just get her occupied nearby while we talk about what we're doing. We did a quick landscaping project a couple of weekends ago and she helped DH replant some bulbs (another funny word for her to repeat) and we just let her cover herself in dirt and mulch. She was happy and we got something done in a timely fashion. DH did a couple of things to our Jeep one night and so I'd take her to find some random tool he realized he needed and let her carry it back to him. Did I mention that she loves the Jeep.
She's actually been working on using the potty for almost three weeks now. She will say "pee pee" and we'll either hold her on the toilet or let her sit on the little kiddie one some friends passed down. No where near done with diapers, and it is a whole new thing to deal with when we're traveling or doing anything else, but we cheer and clap when she does it and she grins really big, so that's fun.
To be sure I end on a positive note, I'll say again that my girl is an awesome kid. Smart, sweet, and super observant. She studies people, smiles easily, and has a great laugh. She likes to give hugs and kisses, she likes when we wrestle and tickle her, and she love it when we jump out at her and say "boo!" She is always on the move, walking, running, and climbing. She likes to pull things apart and empty out boxes, bags, shelves, and kitchen drawers. Sounds exhausting, just reading it.
We have about 5-7 weeks until she's a big sister and, although I don't think she understands it, I think DD will be great with the new baby. She loves kids, we're working on 'gentle,' and we will just have to hope this little one is a bulletproof tiger like DD.
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