20 Months

Mary Frances turned twenty months old yesterday and I can really say that the past month has been characterized by one world: independence.  Mary Frances wants to do everything herself which she expresses by saying "do it," meaning "I want to do it."  While it is fun to watch her grow and change in this area, it can also be exhausting and time consuming.  I have learned to have a lot more patience, although I probably need a lot more.  Just doing small tasks take a lot longer when an independent toddler is involved.  For example, Mary Frances wants to put on her socks and shoes herself.  She does a great job, but the majority of the time cannot get them on all the way by herself and needs help.  Sometimes, however, she doesn't want my help and I end up with a frustrated toddler with no socks or shoes on and we are running late to get out of the door (no surprise there!).  I have learned distraction works well in those instances :)  Today, though, she took her shoes and socks off in the car and when we got home, I noticed she had put her shoes back on herself!  Way to go, girl!

Look at those cute feet!

As always, we are having a lot of fun around here.  We have found some fun new activities around the house to keep us busy on the cold, wet days.  And of course we have the park to keep us busy on the pretty, sunny days.  Some of Mary Frances' new favorite activities are coloring, watching George, Curious George that is, and "driving" in my car.

Coloring with a very serious face

It's fun to drive!

Her vocabulary continues to expand and it is fun to hear her express her thoughts.  One of my favorites is when she wants to watch a show.  She tells me, in a string of words (not really making a sentence), that she would like to go snuggle on the couch under the covers and watch George or Max and Ruby.  It goes something like this:
Mary Frances: "George, tbee, couch, banket, pease!"
Me: "Mary Frances, would you like to watch George on the TV and snuggle under the blanket?"
Mary Frances: "Ok!"

Of course this dialogue takes place several times a day to which I usually say, not right now.  Every couple of days, though, we'll go snuggle up on the couch and watch a show together.  Half way through I usually notice that I am the only one watching and Mary Frances is on the floor playing with her toys.  It's probably better that way.

Love snuggling on the couch with this girl!

Mary Frances has also mastered a new skill in the eating department.  She can successfully feed herself with a spoon!  For the sake of avoiding a mess I really didn't give this a lot effort until recently.  Now, I can sit her in her highchair with apple sauce, soup, oatmeal, etc and a spoon and she can totally feed it to herself.  Sometimes she needs help getting the food out towards the end, when there is less in the bowl, but she does a great job!  It is a little messy, but not so much that it can't be cleaned up easily.

She is so proud of her feeding skills :)

Silly Goose

I think that about sums up our little girl at twenty months.  We love her very much and look forward to what the next month holds!

Love,
Katy