Omnivorous, ping-pong playing, question asker & 21 month old

Dear Nathan, 

I can't express how happy I am that you are starting to eat some solid veggies. We've been giving the blender a run for its money over the past 2 years and hopefully it can rest a bit before we need it to prepare food for Hannah. 

It all began with green beans. 

 Like we do every meal, we place a piece of veggie on your plate. It was getting towards the end of the meal and like always, you hadn't touched it. Hannah was getting quite interested in what we were eating, so I licked off the sauce and popped a green bean into her mouth. Immediately, she started sucking and gnawing at it. Daddy and I both started to cheer.

Then we heard some noise from your end and looked over. You had a green bean sticking out of your mouth. We anxiously waited as you chewed and swallowed the goods and we also cheered for you. You got excited and asked for more. Hannah wins "Daughter of the Year"

 The next night, I made a dish that had sugar snap peas. You opened each pod and gingerly took out each pea. After awhile, I decided to give you some frozen peas to see if you would eat them. As you can see from the picture below, after trying a few, we couldn't get them out of the bag fast enough.

 And then you gobbled them up quickly.

 The next day, I decided to try frozen broccoli. Right before dinner, you were asking for a snack, so I gave you a little piece of frozen broccoli. You ate it and asked for more!

Next time I go to the grocery store, I'm going to pick up more frozen veggies for you to try. Perhaps you'll like frozen bell peppers, or squash, or even water chestnuts! I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.

Your language is developing at lightning speed. This past week, you started asking us questions beyond "can I do this?" or "try?" You've started asking "[Insert name] are you?" (Where are you?) and "[Insert name] doing?]" (What are you doing?) And after we explain things to you, it's reassuring when you laugh an "I got it" laugh. You haven't started asking "why" yet, but I'm sure that is coming soon.

Another thing you ask almost every day is whether or not you can drive the car. Whenever I mention that you are such a big boy, you ask, "Nathan drive car?" and boy, do you have the most hopeful look on your face. I always have to explain to you that you are too small and when you are big like Mommy and Daddy, that's when you can drive. You seem to be satiated by that response and reply with an "OK, Mommy."

This past weekend, we went to a friend's birthday party. The party was at a jumpy house and you actually did pretty well. You stayed mostly on the jungle gym and avoided most of the blow up areas. Nonetheless, you had a blast.

Last week, one of the girls in your class invited you to a birthday party as well. (According to the teachers, she is one of the 2 girls who are extra special to you). Ever since you received the invitation, you've been asking, "Noelle, party?"  We can only respond with a "wait" since your concept of time is pretty much non-existent.

We've also had a few chinese play dates and often someone brings a cake, so you can call it a party. You get pretty excited about parties. You have the cutest "party!" dance that you do.

You are slowly getting the hang of a modified ping-pong game. Daddy rolls different sized balls towards you and you have to hit them.

 Your forehand shots pretty much send the ball shooting sideways, but you have a pretty good back hand. The ball usually will fly straight back when you hit it with your back hand.

Hannah is doing pretty good. She's rolled over from tummy to back only once and she no longer is babbling as many sounds as she used to do. Most of the sounds that come out of her mouth are more like grunts and "mmm's"

She really enjoys playing with toys and very interested in the food that we are eating. She pretty much protests every night at dinner when we are all eating and she has to sit in the chair and watch us. I usually take pitty on her and will have her drink some milk. I've also stuck some raw veggies in her mouth and she will gum or suck on them for quite awhile. She is a happy baby!

As far as sleep goes, Hannah is starting to fall into a pretty good routine. Her awake time is no more than 2 hours. When she starts to rub her eyes and get a bit fussy, I can easily put her down for a nap without tears.

Usually, she will take 2 shorter naps in the morning and then one long one in the afternoon. We've moved bed time a bit earlier (7:30) and she seems to be sleeping until 7ish in the morning. When I pull her into bed with me and nurse her lying down, we can sneak an extra hour or so of sleep in.

That's it for now. 

Love, 

Mommy