Nineteen Months Old

Pearl has learned so many new words this month and I've been so busy that I haven't been able to jot them down when she learns a new one, but here are some highlights: In the beginning part of this month she made up a game, where she would say about whatever she was eating: "Ittttttttttttt's spaghetti! No, itsnot spaghetti, it's x!" Then she'd laugh and I'd laugh too. She's also been saying, "I found x" (particularly sweet when she says, "I found Ma!"). And she has learned the names of our cats, Timmie and Left Eye (pronounced Nest Eye, or rather, "Nessst EYE!").

She has been very cheerful and happy lately. Her nose has been stopped up since before Thanksgiving but she has learned to nurse efficiently with the gulp-gulp-gasp method and will do so without crying now. She has been nursing like there's no tomorrow lately and some of the nights this month have been really rough but as soon as they get so bad that I don't think I can handle anymore, they get better... and then the cycle repeats. Right now, several times a night she goes through periods where she won't sleep unless she is either latched on or half on top of me, and it's driving me kind of bonkers.

Pearl loves to climb onto the furniture and stand and plop herself back down on it. She gets all staticky and her hair goes all crazy:



She also has been enjoying playing with containers and their lids, blowing kisses, and cooking on the floor while I cook in kitchen. Anytime she's in the kitchen now she goes over to the pantry door (where the oats, main ingredients and star of the show in the dishes she prepares, are stored) and says, "Cookcook!"



She remembers and recognizes those extended family members whom she sees semi-regularity, and greets them with a cheery "Hi!" and will be held willingly pretty much right away. My teenage sister is a big hit with her. I told Pearl we were going to see her on Christmas Eve, and every ten minutes or so throughout the drive there she'd pipe up and say, "Ali! Let's go!"



Her second Christmas was fun for us all. Taking her to see the lights on the square was great, and by Christmas morning she understood the concept of unwrapping presents... at least that she was supposed to be ripping the paper, which she did wholeheartedly! She got some good gifts of varying sorts but here favorites are of course the books! Besides being big on books themselves, our families pretty much know that's what she likes bests and purchased some new ones for her accordingly and we've been enjoying having new stories like Olivia and The Big, Big Sea in the house.

She seems like such a big girl now that she is nineteen months old that I can hardly believe she was once curled inside my womb. But she still shakes her fists around like a newborn when she wakes and cries for me in the night, and every once in a while I am lucky to catch her lightly sleeping and see a dream-smile, and hear that same laugh that delighted me so much when she was just a few weeks old, and I am reminded of her beginnings. It is amazing that we created such a sweet and enchanting creature.