19 Months Old

Amelia Bedelia, 

You are 19 months old!  Can we say TERRIBLE TWOS!?  Holy cow - you have shown your strong-willed, stubborn, independent, & feisty side this month.  Wow! 

"NO!" is your absolute favorite word and purposely being defiant is your favorite activity.  You swat when Mommy corrects your behavior.  You yank and sometimes pull out your sister's hair when you want her toy.  You yell, kick, scream, and bang the walls with your fist when you don't get your way.  You are a HOT MESS right now.  You are maddening, and you, my sweet, are giving this Mommy a run for her money.  However, unfortunately for you, your Mommy taught fifth grade for ten years, and as a result, your Mommy has thick skin.  Your Mommy is THE.MOST.STUBBORN. woman on the planet and will remain true to her beliefs, rules, & consequences every.single.time without fail.  Your Mommy will take a John Rosemond tip and modify it for your age in a skinny second.  Your Mommy picks a worthy battle, sticks to her guns, and always wins.  Your Mommy has been down this road before with big sister, so this too shall pass.  Ultimately, your Mommy loves you and will love you through this lovely stage even if it requires more frequent visits to the hairdresser for highlights. :)

Just look at those eyes..."I dare you to tell me "NO", Mommy."

Now, that I have outed your terrible two-ness in the opening of your post, you are an adorably funny child.  The ladies at the gym call you "Trouble", and it suits you perfectly.  You actually answer to the name "Trouble", silly girl.  You are a gem for them.  They've never seen those traits I described above.  You are into everything, and you wreck anything in your way.  You are rough and tumble, AND you are sweet and cuddly.  You love to make a mess, and you are proud of your mess.  You love music, and you love to dance.  You love to color, and your favorite part about coloring is dumping all the crayons onto the floor.  You love to run, play chase, be tickled, and you have the best belly laugh around.  You love to eat, and you make it known when you are ready to eat by shouting, "EAT!" or "Snack!" over and over loudly.  You are the messiest and fastest eater, but you eat like a champ.  Table manners is a high priority around here.  Your favorites include grilled chicken, green beans, carrots, oranges/any fruits, egg & cheese omelets, Nutella sandwiches, anything in the chip aisle, Arby's roast beef and curly fries, and anything chocolaty.  You are the thirstiest child - you love milk and ice water.  Every now and again, you'll take to lemonade, but you are a milk and water girl at heart.

To say that you ADORE your big sister is an understatement.  You cannot get enough of her.  You get VERY upset when she has to leave the room to potty.  You chase her down at the gym when I pick you up as if I were going to forget Madeline goes with us too.  You destroy whatever she is playing with even when you are not trying to be a bull in a china shop.  Sometimes you wreck her castles on purpose, and sometimes you are just trying to play too.  As hard as Madeline tries, she cannot get as furious as she should with you.  Madeline, bless her heart, just says, "Amelia, let's try to put it back together."  Whatever Madeline does, you want to do also.  While it's frustrating day-to-day, it gives me hope that some of those milestones will come easier for you because you want to do those things such as drink out of a regular cup, put on your own shoes, etc.  You are all about being independent and doing everything by yourself - walking down the stairs, putting on clothes & shoes, brushing teeth, eating & using a napkin, climbing into the car & your carseat, and the list goes on and on.  This trait will serve you well in the future, and my Dad reminded me that while this is aggravating in the moment, her independence will work in her favor as she gets older.

This wipe incident took place as I was cleaning up dinner dishes.  I was gone for 5-10 minutes, and the entire pack was everywhere in no time.

This big sister adores you too.  She cleans up your mess most of the time because she's the peacekeeper.  Madeline sees your tantrums and doesn't want you to get in trouble, so if she can pick up a mess such as 5 zillion wipes being strewn about, she will.  Madeline is your little Mama, and although there is quite a bit of bickering daily over purses, high heels, and jewels, at the end of the day, there is some serious love between my little girls.

Madeline picked up every wipe she could see before I returned.  She was so proud of herself for cleaning up Amelia's mess.

Amelia, you nap like a champ, and you sleep hard each night.  You love your little lovey and your paci.  You get awfully p-oed at me when I make you put your "stuff" in your bed each morning and after naps.  You've gotten into your Bitty Baby doll, Sophie, this month.  You love to carry around your baby.  You love to pat your baby, and you like your baby with you all the time.  You love to play on the 3rd floor playroom in the kitchen, and you are obsessed with dress up shoes.  You wander around the playroom in those dress up shoes, carrying Sophie, and talking on the bunch of bananas like you are talking to somebody on the phone.  It's hilarious!  You've gotten into TV a little bit this month.  You love Sesame Street and any show with lots of music or dancing.

Amelia, your vocabulary has bursted this month although the general population doesn't understand you at all.  Poor thing.  Most of your words are garbled, and your comprehension far outweighs your expression.  It's frustrating to all of us, especially you.  You are extremely polite with your "please", "thank you", & "bless you".  You understand manners, but you get so frustrated when someone doesn't understand your needs, so manners fly out the window quickly which then turns into some sort of tantrum experience.  You have many words, but you don't say many short phrases yet.  You are a charmer these days.  You wave hello at anyone, but you know who takes care of you.  You cling quickly to me, specific familiar ladies at the gym, our sitter, your Daddy, and your Grandma if you are in an uncomfortable situation.  Speaking of Grandma, you adore your Grandma.  I think you know Grandma = chocolate treats, so you will will go the door, look out the window, and say "Grandma" over and over even when we are not expecting Grandma to visit.  You and your sister have a special little thing with your Grandma, and it's very sweet. 

Hooray for 19 Months Old!  Amelia, you are something else, but you are near and dear to our hearts, you crazy thing!