23 Months

According to the stats, I had 4 page views from Russia this week.  To all my comrades, Holla.

LO just turned 23 months.  This means her 2nd birthday is right around the corner.  The big dilemma is do we throw a big expensive party or just celebrate with family?  Looks like the bouncy castle will have to wait another year.  We've decided to have a small gathering with family since Gram and Gramps are in town and now my sister and brother-in-law might fly in for the occasion as well.  So instead of the bouncy castle, I'm going to enlist Uncle J to play horsey with LO until she's had her fill, which could be hours.

In the I-Don't-Know-Where-She-Gets-That department, LO has taken to telling me what to do with a vengeance.  When I tried to put her to bed, she clings to Daddy and says "Mommy go out.  See you next time!"  "Mommy food!" was the directive I got tonight.  She now calls her Yo Gabba Gabba dolls her "guys" and "everybody" and wants them to go everywhere with her.  Before we go out, she puts them in her diaper bag to bring along.  They sleep with her too.  And in the mornings, I have to carry them downstairs, of course.  She used to try to carry them all herself and scream whenever one fell out of her grasp.  Now she's wised up and just tells me to "Carry everybody, Mommy.  Bring them."  We moved her from a toddler bed to a twin bed (a mattress on the floor), and her first words when seeing it were, "It's perfect!"  And, as she pushed her little cart around the house, she said, "I help with the shopping."

The best, however, came a few days ago.  LO hugged me and declared, "I love you, Mommy."  I'm still smiling.