29/365

Snowy day! Devyn helped me shovel the driveway—until she got her gloves wet and was ready to go inside.

28/365

Sunbeams in her hair.

21 Months

Dearest Devyn,

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying you lately!  You are such a joy to me.  I love listening to you play, especially now that I understand some of the words.  As I type, you are pretending to feed a (wrapped) granola bar to your little froggy pull toy, telling him to eat his oatmeal, saying, "It's OK, frog," and telling him to take a "big step!" over the heater vent in the floor.

Our friend Jennifer from Rocky Mountain Parents as Teachers asked me to count how many words you had, and I stopped at around 80, though I'm sure you have more (she wanted to know if you had more than 50—a resounding yes!).  I'm losing track of how many songs you can sing, but they include Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, and, excitingly, your ABCs!

You are a little parrot, trying out everything we say, which is pretty cute.  Your favorite new phrases right now are "So good!" when you're eating or drinking something and "Aww, cute!" for pretty much anything. You say "I don't know," and "How 'bout..." when I ask you what you want.  And You've started saying "You're welcome," after someone says thank you.  Such a polite little girl!  Oh, and we hear "Bonky head!" and "Ouchy," a lot after you've done something that hurts.  You also ask for kisses when you have an ouchy.

You've started talking about people you like as your friends—and you certainly made Aunt Wendy's day when you told her she was your friend!

I'm really enjoying the Parents as Teachers curriculum because it gives me a good idea which toys we have that you might like best.  For example, I almost thought you were too old for pull toys, but you're really enjoying them right now.  Puzzles are another favorite.  And, of course, books as always.

Also favorites are your telephone and iPod, both of which you inherited from your dad when we got new iPhones for Christmas.  You are so adept at that iPod it's scary!  A part of me wonders if it's healthy—but the bigger part knows it would mean a lot of angst and screaming if I tried to take it away! So you are a child of the digital age, for sure, baby.  We've even caught you trying to touch the TV and the computer screen to make it move like the screen of the iPod.

I knew, from the moment you were born, that you have a certain kernel of zen that I will spend my whole life trying to learn from and emulate.  This morning, when I was frustrated to the point of tears trying to put your car seat back together, you looked at me and said, "It's OK, mama," and I knew that I needed to slow down, take a breath, and remember that it is OK.

I just hope someday you know how much more OK I am since you've come into my life.

I love you, sweet baby girl.
~Mama

18/365

Came in to find her pulling out all her clothes and saying, "Awww... Cute!" for each one. Also trying things on and trying to put the on the dog.

16/365

Devyn got a funnel out of the cupboard and has been busily fitting crayons in the small end. Look at those fine motor skills! 

14/365

The next American Idol.

13/365

You can't really tell, but she has a noodle on her finger. New way to eat pasta.

11/365

She's a pro at closing doors.

10/365

Tea party with Aunt Wendy.

9/365

Playing with PhotoBooth right before we talked to Gran and Pop on FaceTime for Pop's birthday!

8/365

Mama's shoes.

7/365

Colorado girls. Check out the Uggs from Aunt Heather.

6/365

D got to try a big girl cup AND her own napkin (green) at dinner tonight.

5/365

Went to dinner for a review tonight.

4/365

Went to the doctor today. D has an ear infection.

4/365: Minimalist and Montessori

I've been reading a lot about Montessori-style activities for toddlers and some of the concepts really resonate with me—like the idea of rotating toys so that the kiddo doesn't get bored or overwhelmed.

So, spurred on by the massive pile of STUFF that was dominating my living room once we got back from vacation, I got a little advice from online and sorted Devyn's toys.

First, I sorted ALL of Devyn's toys and put them into categories based on this blog post: moving toys (gross motor skills), thinking toys (fine motor skills), and pretend toys.  Then I used these cloth buckets I already had to make "sets" that include three of each kind of toy.  I ended up with four full sets and quite a few left over "thinking" toys, which I'll store for now and rotate into the sets.  

Some stuff will stay out all the time, like a box of dress up clothes (in the stripey box), her crayons and paper (on the table) and her new play kitchen (below).  We rearranged some furniture this week because I had begun to realize that she didn't really want to go into the other room to play without me, and I spend most of my time in the kitchen or dining room area.  So the little table now lives next to the sofa...

...And the new play kitchen lives next to the kitchen peninsula (not an island, as it is attached!). 

One set of toys will be out where she can get at it (shown next to the sofa above) and the rest are stored on the bookshelves in the living room.  The drum didn't fit, and I think we'll keep the music table a while longer.  That and her little push cart that she still plays with will stay out all the time.  She'll also have a box with a few toys upstairs.

But I feel so much more organized!  I'm hoping she'll like it.  I had everything pulled out this morning, and she got really overwhelmed and wanted to go upstairs, away from everything.  I finished all of this up while she was napping, so we'll see what she thinks when she gets up.  

These are the blogs I found most helpful today:

The Little Stories

The Minimalist Mom

3/365

Cleaning the kitchen.

Today, we went to the book store, and I opened a pop up book, and Devyn quite distinctly said, "Look at that!" We chuckled. 

She is Dr. Jekyl and Ms. Devyn lately, probably due to her cold. Here's hoping it passes along with the sniffles and cough.

2/365

Devyn saw the newspapers collected from while we were away and said "Paper!" She wanted to read some, so we gave her the comics and she sat reading happily for quite a while.

1/365

Eating breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa Renner's house before driving home New Year's Day.  She has discovered the joys of drinking milk out of her cereal bowl.