Now we are three

A few weeks ago my mom brought over a stuffed bear wearing a sweatsuit. The bear, which has articulating arms, legs and head, was mine when I was young. When he arrived he was wearing a sweatsuit that originally belonged to a cabbage patch doll. In the past week or so, Amelia has taken to carrying this bear around with her, dressing and undressing him (or trying to), and saying “beeaar” whenever she is hugging him to her chest.

This afternoon when I went in to get Amelia from her nap, she was sitting in the crib surrounded by diapers. It’s not the first time that she’s figured out how to pull the diaper bag over the side of the crib and empty it of diapers. (And for the second day in a row, she has also managed to unzip herself entirely from her sleep sack). I walked in the room and she said “dia-per” as she handed me a diaper. Once I had put them all away but one, she asked to be taken out of the crib. She then picked up the bear, picked up a diaper and looked at me and said “beeaar, dia-per.” So we took off the bear’s sweatsuit and gave him a diaper to wear. She was so pleased that someone ELSE had to wear a diaper too.

Amelia has taken to calling herself “mimi,” I guess because saying “Amelia” is too tough for a 16-month old. She’ll point to herself and say “mimi” when asked what her name is, or when she is trying to say that she wants to do something on her own. This week for the first time at Petit Gym she said her own name when the teacher went around the circle and asked all the kids what their names were. She was so proud to be able to say it.

Mimi is a pretty cute nickname. We’ll see if it sticks.

Amelia has been getting her molars over the past week. She has had the same symptoms as when she was getting her front teeth (stuffed nose, copious snot during the day, a tougher time napping and a loss of appetite). This time around she also got red cheeks, poor thing. But overall she remained her happy self and only needed the occasional extra cuddle or hug. Not sure how many teeth she is getting because she won’t really let me look in her mouth. But, it is a safe bet that at least one is coming on each side (on the top) as I’ve managed to catch a glimpse of them.

She’s down to one nap a day that takes place usually between about 1-3:30 pm. It is generally about an hour and a half, but can be longer depending on how much energy she expends in the morning. Amelia is also constantly chatting to herself. It’s hilarious to hear her at night after we put her to bed. She practices saying her words to herself as a lullaby of sorts. She has so many new words it is hard to keep track. Today, for example, she had some of my chicken pita and when I asked her if she liked the tzatziki she said “ziki” right back at me. Over and over and over.

Amelia loves saying “no.” But she is also good at saying “yes” if she actually wants something. Most of the time she doesn’t say “no” unless she really means it, although she does test her boundaries once in a while. And she is very good at saying “please” and “thank you” without prompting.

At naptime she prefers having a book in her crib so she can read herself to sleep. These days the go-to book is Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. She prefers it almost every other. And she always says “Babu” when we get to the page with the cows, because she knows my Dad has cows in Vermont. In other animal-related news, if you ask her who lives with Uncle Dan, she will say “wwwooodeee” for “Rudy,” my brother’s dog.

Meanwhile, at the grocery store this morning I saw a young woman with a two-year old (in the cart) and a newborn (in a sling), and a huge cart filled with groceries. I was hoping she was going to have them delivered, but as I was leaving I saw her pushing the cart out to her car. I can’t really believe that’s going to be me in a couple of months. Of course I try my best not to take Amelia shopping unless it’s just to the local fruit/veg store or bakery. And I’m very lucky that Ian actually likes doing groceries (whereas I merely tolerate it). I hope she had someone to help her haul them into the house and put them away!