Watching Willow

We took Gramps and Gramma on a whirlwind tour of the local zoo yesterday since the weather was so nice. You may remember that last time Willow wasn't so excited about feeding the giraffes. I'm not sure what lead to her change of heart, but she was so excited to feed the giraffes that she wouldn't even pay attention to me pointing out the zebras once the giraffes were in sight. We've learned now that the giraffes aren't as "hungry" at the end of the day with all the people feeding them all day, so it's best to go in the morning like we had last time. Thankfully a giraffe eventually came over to stuff down a little more food from us. Willow bravely stuck out her hand without any fear! She would've quite lay it out flat, so Daddy helped her so her little fingers didn't get eaten up (he's not forcing her, like it looks like in the picture below!).

After a couple times, though, Willow was content to just watch...

Daddy let him have the whole cup!

Before I put Willow down to bed, we talked about all the fun things we'd been able to do that day (storytime at the library, playing at the park, seeing the animals at the zoo, going out to dinner, having gramps and gramma to play with all day), to which Willow added "Happy day!" Yes, Willow, it was a happy day!

Here's an update from February, Willow's 21st month:

- Her vocabulary has exploded! I've been somewhat-patiently waiting for this to happen, but she's started saying things without being first asked "Can you say ____?" She's also starting to use some two-word phrases. Our favorite addition to her vocabulary this month is the word "yah." We'll try to get her to convert to "yes" eventually, but for now we're happy to have an affirmative answer to balance out the "no" we've heard way too often. Although she still uses some of her signs (more, all done, please, thank you, sorry), she's able to say the word instead of or while doing the sign. We're working on saying more names. The clearest name by far is her friend Lilly from school. One of her notes from school recently said that she and Lilly walked around singing songs all day. =) Anytime school is mentioned, Willow says Lilly's name.
- Willow now prefers to walk up and down the stairs holding onto a finger or onto the railing.

- Willow seems to go to "school" just enough to get the next virus that's going around the classroom. Her lungs have often had a hard time handling the congestion so she's been on a nightly nebulizer treatment since Christmas. During this 5-minute time we let Willow watch something off the DVR - her choices include Clifford, Curious George, Dora, Between the Lions, Sesame Street, and Yo Gabba Gabba. These days, anytime that medicine is mentioned, Willow says "Elmo?" Sesame Street is clearly her favorite show to watch but unfortunately the episodes only include about 15 minutes (out of 60) of "Elmo-time."

- Willow's eating hasn't been as consistent as it used to be. Our computer's screen saver goes through our folder of pictures and videos of Willow and it's hard to believe that she used to eat broccoli like it was chocolate! She hasn't touched a vegetable for quite a while! Sometimes she won't touch her dinner, while other times she'll eat as much as I do. Her favorite foods right now are sausage (nice, healthy food choice...right?), pasta with pesto sauce, crabcakes, Nutrigrain bars, and dried apricots.

- Willow had her first trip to the dentist! The appointment was for me, but the dentist mentioned 6 months ago that it'd be good to bring her in to start easing her in to the idea. We checked out some books about the dentist from the library and practiced saying "ahhhhh." She did a great job of sitting in my lap watching tv while the dental assistant cleaned my teeth, but felt a little nervous about the noise made while she brushed my teeth. Willow asked, "Bye bye?" When the dentist came in, she wasn't so crazy about it all and I think she was a little maxed out. No "ahhh" this time...

- Willow continues her love for Alli cat. Alli usually only gets treats at night when she comes home, but Willow now asks "treats?" while walking to the cabinet. She practically teases poor Alli as she gives her one at a time rather than laying them down in a pile for her.

- Willow LOVES singing songs! She's doing more motions to songs now, with her favorites being "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," "Wheels on the Bus," "I'm a Little Teapot," "If You're Happy and You Know It," and "The More We Get Together" (signs taught at storytime). We love to sing songs in the car and Willow will often put in her requests:

"up-a-bu" for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

"EEO" for Old McDonald

"e-be" for Itsy Bitsy Spider

"beep beep" for Wheels on the Bus

"head" for Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

- It's been fun to start playing more games with Willow. She got a Hungry, Hungry Hippos game for Christmas and she loves helping put the balls in their place. She can press down the lever to make the hippos move, but loses interest quickly. I taught her Duck, Duck, Goose using her stuffed animals in a circle. I think she even half-understands how to play!

A few random pictures for you...