Phoebe at 22 Months

The other day, someone asked me how old Phoebe was. My response?

"Almost two."

Yikes! I can't believe we're almost to two! And yet, these are the most fun days yet; it literally gets better every day. Phoebe is such a delightful little person, and she really bounds through each day with so much energy and excitement.



It's literally impossible to capture all of the things Phoebe does in one little blog post. Instead, I think I'm just going to try and give an all-around snapshot.

Phoebe...

• has officially experienced a verbal explosion. She talks. All the time. All of that energy she's always had? Totally directed to talking a lot of the time. I literally cannot list all of her words... she repeats almost everything that we say if prompted, and most of the things we don't prompt. She also strings two and three words together: "ouch foot", "Mama hug", "Dada work"... etc.
  
• loves to read, and is still really fascinated with print. She'll sit still for almost anything that interests her, even if it's long. We've started having some marathon storytimes here lately.
• is demonstrating increasing awareness of spiritual things. She reminds us to pray before meals especially, and will say "amen" at the end of prayers. She also is really into carrying around a Bible, and I've found her sitting on little perches reading it during the day. We praise the Lord that He is already developing in her a love for His Word!
• responds really well to boundaries. She has a scheduled "quiet time" in her crib every morning, and often will take one in the late afternoon, too. Her behavior after these times is noticeably better... it's a good break for her. We've also started blanket time for her, and I can't tell you the immediate change I noticed in her attention span. Phoebe is more content and more focused when she has physical boundaries (a blanket) that she can understand.
  
• loves to pretend. She makes me pretend plates of food, pretends to change diapers, etc. It's becoming more obvious that she has a vivid imagination, and I love it.
• is incredibly perceptive. She loves to point out things that are the same/matching... one of her favorite games is to find a picture in a book that matches the cover. Matching is definitely one of her favorite things to do!
• loves Mamas and Babies. Anything that is big is a mama, and anything that is little is a baby: pairs of animals, different size shoes, and she even notices Mama and Baby letters. Occasionally, it will be Dada and Baby.
  
• loves to listen to music, and for Mommy to sing. She listens to music during her quiet times, and we often listen while doing chores around the house. If anyone has recommendations for some good children's music, I'd love to hear them! (We already love Cedarmont Kids.)
• falls more in love with Nora every day. She loves to dress like her (no surprise - she loves things that are the same) and loves to be with her. She tries to play with Nora often, and will shake toys, touch her body parts and name them, and pet her head. She also really likes to help change her diaper.

I'm cutting myself off here, because honestly... this is getting excessive. Life with Phoebe is wonderful. She challenges me all the time, and the Lord is really using her to grow me; I'm so thankful that He chose to use her! I can't imagine a more delightful firstborn to have in our house.


And that almost two thing? I think they're going to be terrific twos.