17 Months

K-Cakes,
You are 17 whole months today and each month gets more lovely than the next EXCEPT this month. There were a few days I flopped on the couch and said, exasperated, to your father, "I am not having fun as a mommy at the moment." Don't get me wrong because you are my light, my heart, my soul, my life. But this past month was very challenging. The melt downs, the I do it myself when you clearly couldn't attitude. the tantrum, sigh!! Well, little one I really can't complain because I had it so much easier than you did, you got 4 molars all within the same two days and then with almost no break at all you got the top eye teeth. 6 teeth in one month just isn't fair, little bug. So you had every right to pout and whine and be grumpy!

Things You Like: Doing it yourself even when you can't. You want to be independent and grown up so badly. but you still have a ways to go. You want to dress yourself (when you are not on a clothes strike), you want to change your own diaper, you want to buckle your own car seat, wash your own hair, but you really don;t have the capability of doing any of these tings. It makes for slow moving days, but it is pretty cute watching you try to do everything yourself unless we have a deadline. When we have to be somewhere it is really frustrating.

Things You Dislike: You don't like certain strangers coming up to you and being too friendly. You will often decide to become "friends" with strangers (90% of the time it is men), but you want to be the one to choose who talks to you. You aren't necessarily shy because if you "like" someone you are super outgoing, but if the wrong stranger comes to talk you don't appreciate it.

What I Like About This Age: The other day your found a piece of paper on the ground in the living room. You ran up to me to show me what you found. I looked at it and said, "basura" (garbage in Spanish) and went about my business. I hardly noticed you run out of the room, but I absolutely heard the kitchen cabinet open. I decided to spy on you to see what you were up to. You were opening the cabinet where our garbage is and you you were throwing the basura in the basura! I had no idea you even knew what basura meant. You understand so much and you are a great helper. I love asking you to do or get things for me just because I am amazed and how much you understand. 


"Get your gub gubs (shoes)!" You run and get them.
"Can you get my phone?" She does
"Put your clothes in the hamper" She does.

There are little mis-communications though. The other day you were playing with my pot while I prepared the veggies for soup. When I asked for you to bring my pot back you ran from the room went into my bedroom and came back with a pair of my underwear from my dresser. Not so helpful when making soup.

New Words: You know all the animal sounds in Spanish (which are different than English. Who knew a rooster says, "kikiriki!" and not cockadoodledoo) She also says all the names of my immediate family. She is repeating everything now. She doesn't necessarily know what it means, but she has a great ear for repeating words in both English and Spanish. Although, we have noticed she sticks her tongue out a lot more when attempting Spanish words.