Approaching Two

Keira is one and a half. At 32 inches tall and 24 pounds, she is at 75 percentile for her height, 50 percentile for her weight, and 200 percentile for her energy! She is absolutely loaded with it. This is one little girl who can't sit still to save her life. She is on a regular schedule with bedtime being at 10:00. She wakes up around 8:00 then takes a nap from 1:00-3:00. She just hits the ground running from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep and leaves a tornado-like path of destruction everywhere she goes. No mother likes when their child gets sick, but I do cherish when she is because it's the only time she is slowed down enough to get her to sit in my lap and cuddle with me. Keira is a very sweet girl who loves to give us big hugs and kisses, which helps make up for the lack of cuddling.

Taking her to the store is especially challenging since she won't sit in the front of the cart and only lasts about 5-10 minutes if you put her down in the main basket. Then she is either climbing out, pulling things off the shelves, or opening everything in the cart. She also won't stay in a stroller for more than 5-10 minutes. Then if I take her out, she isn't content being held- she has to be on her own two feet. This wouldn't be so bad if she would stay near me, but usually she gives me the slip at her first opportunity and gleefully dashes down the aisles, squealing all the way. I try not to notice all of the other babies her age who are sitting quietly in their carts or at church, as it just accentuates my frustration. She has no ill intention or bad attitude, but she just CANNOT physically stay still. It goes against her very nature.

Keira is very bright and interactive and, therefore, isn't satisfied playing with toys by herself or watching TV quietly- she requires lots of interaction. She is always very happy, smart, and well behaved, but about as bossy as they come. When she wants something, she takes you by the hand and pulls you to what she wants and places your hand on it (such as a door knob) so that she can gain access. When I am trying to do something, like clean, she isn't content to watch or even to help. She has to be the only one doing it. So if I am trying to dust, I can't just hand her a rag and have her help- she wants both our rags AND the Windex. When I am trying to vacuum, she wants to be on the floor pushing it. If I am loading the dishwasher, she is either unloading everything as I put it in, climbing the shelves, or unhappily swinging from my legs. She has to be absolutely the center of whatever I am doing, which makes it next to impossible to get anything done. I sure love her to pieces, but she is definitely more challenging than your average toddler.

On request, Keira can point at her nose, ears, eyes, hair, teeth, elbow, fingers, knees, and toes. When looking at her animal book, she can point out most of the animals that you ask her. She has said and recognized several alphabet letters, although she is still far from reciting it. It seems like she is learning new words every day and has recently taken to babbling, which is quite entertaining. Here is a list of all the words she says on a regular basis that I can remember at the moment.

Bun Bun (Bunny)
Bark Bark
Kitty (Sounds like a spit-filled "gee")
Drink
Juice
Done
Dada
Mou Mou (Vivian's dog's name.)
Grandma
Baby
Bye Bye
Hi
Mama
That (Like, "Who's that?" and "I want that.")
Bo Bo (Used for hippo and elbow.)
Yeah
Book
Keys
Pink
More
I Love You
Night Night
Ball
Go Go Go!
Cuckoo
Pop!
Bath
Hello
No
Go? (As in, "Where did it go?")
Bite (As in, "I want a bite of that.")
Pee Pee
Diapie (Our word for diaper.)

Here are some pictures of Keira at 18 months old.

E. T. Sullivan once wrote, "When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn't stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother's heart, and she puts it into the baby's mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies."