Miss Independent

I can't believe my little girl is 20 months old! My babies are getting way too big way too fast! At 20 months old Jackie's personality is coming out more and more every day. As an infant she was always kinda quiet and laid back, but as a toddler, she is the complete opposite. She has sooo much energy that my husband and I often joke that she has to be ran outside everyday like a pitbull. If we don't she won't nap and she will stay up until 10 or 11pm! I wish I had that kind of energy!
These days it's like barely a day passes that I don't notice her learning to do something new. She can:

• Run and jump like a pro! She used to fall all over the place when trying to run; those days are long gone!
• She easily undresses herself. Yup! I have the child that has to be watched because she will strip naked. My mom proudly proclaimed that Jackie inherited this trait from her, apparently my mom did the same thing as a toddler. Thanks mom!
• She can climb anything: the kitchen table, the couch, the recliner, any stand I have in my house, any kind of stairs. I am shocked we haven't ended up in the ER yet, but so far so good! 
• She feeds herself with utensils without making a huge mess. This was a big one because we rent, so it's definitely a plus to not be putting stains in the carpet.

As far as talking goes, for awhile I was kinda worried because she would only say mama and daddy. But she always seemed like she understood what we were saying. She could always follow simple commands like come here, give me that and so on. But now just about every day she says a new word.

My favorite part about this age is how helpful she is. She loves to help mommy in any way. Some of her favorite "chores" are:

1. Cleaning up all her toys, especially if mommy sings the clean-up song!
2. Dusting! If I give her a baby wipe she will wipe down our end tables and entertainment stand.
3. Helping with baby brother in any way! From throwing away dirty diapers, to getting mommy the wipes, or handing me Levi's bottle. I love that she is like my "little mama".
4. Folding laundry. This is probably her favorite thing to help with. She loves separating all the clothes (with mommy's help), and folding everything into a big pile. 

Something I didn't expect to happen this early is that Jackie has her own sense of style! No joke! She will fuss and whine if I put something on her that she doesn't want to wear. She is especially picky about shoes! She would prefer to be barefoot, but when we are out and about she has to wear shoes. This past summer a friend of mine gave me a bunch of jelly shoes that Jackie loved! (You all know what jelly shoes are, right?) I loved seeing her wear them because it reminded me of being a kid in the 90's, and back then everybody wore jelly shoes! Now that the weather has turned chilly I'm on the search for some comfy shoes that Jackie will tolerate for the winter. Another fashion quirk she has is that she hates to wear hair bows! Back when I was pregnant with her I bought tons of pretty hair bows and flowers. I just couldn't wait to dress my daughter up in pretty dresses and big hair bows. If I put any kind of hair bow in her hair she immediately rips it out. Her hair is always in her face, and it drives me nuts. But something kinda funny happened 2 weeks ago when I got my hair cut. I bought tons of headbands trying to make my new hairstyle work, and Jackie kept watching me play with headband after headband. She finally came up to me and asked, mommy, what's that? I explained it's a headband, and I asked her if she wanted to wear one. She did...and she hasn't wanted to take the headband off since. She will stare at herself in the mirror and blow kisses to herself, so she must be pleased with her appearance! She is hilarious!

This was Jackie dressed up for my daycare's Halloween party last year, and the other picture was taken a few days ago while eating breakfast. Where did my baby go??

I can't believe Thanksgiving and Christmas are just weeks away. Before I know it Jackie will be turning 2. Where has the year 2013 gone? Time is just flying by...