23 Months

Today Sabine turned 23 months old. She has also contracted her first cold of the season. There's been a lot of tissues and practicing nose-blowing around here, recently. But otherwise she's been perky. Sleep has definitely been better this month, and while not perfect, she's mostly sleeping through the night and able to get back to sleep fairly easily when she does wake up. She's also been going to bed later, closer to 8:00-8:30 most nights, but she has been sleeping past 6:00 in the morning as well, which we feel is a worthwhile trade-off!

Sabine has done a lot of reading this month, books have always been a favorite pastime, but she's definitely showing more and more interest in the ones with actual plots. She'll even read to her babies and bears (and Elmo) from time to time, reciting as much of a book as possible from memory.

We've managed to see cousin E at least once a week, and Sabine adores him. She talks about him all the time, and always asks to hold him when we're together. She's actually been quite gentle and caring towards him when we have put them together. It's heart-melting to watch.

Diet-wise, Sabine is a very picky eater these days. Cottage cheese and mac & cheese are our go-to foods, when all else fails. She does usually like zucchini, which is great because we've had lots of friends give us fresh ones from their gardens, so we've had a lot of zucchini this summer. Just this week, Sabine's become re-interested in oatmeal, or hot cereal, as she calls it. She's had it for both breakfast and lunch several days.

Her vocabulary continues to grow, and we've noticed her enunciation has gotten a lot better. Most strangers seem to be able to mostly understand her now. (That's if she opens up enough to talk, she's become more shy around strangers recently, especially if there's a large crowd. Usually with enough time she warms up and acts like everyone's old friends.) Sabine's also singing a lot, and likes to entertain us, especially at meals or in the cars. She's even started making up little songs, this morning she was singing about her friend S while we were in the shower. (Just S's name over and over.) It was really cute.

Dance classes have started again, and Sabine looks forward to them all week. She's gotten quite good at the welcome "Step and Curtsey" song, both singing and dancing.

To anyone we haven't told yet, we're planning on making this blog private once Sabine turns two. (Hard to believe that's coming up in just a month!) The plan is to make this blog password-accessible only, so that friends and family can still check it, but random strangers can't access it. We'll mention it again before we do it, and we'll send out a password in an email, but if you think we might miss you for some reason, please let us know! We're thrilled that so many friends and family have followed our adventures, and we don't want to lose any readers.

Daddy's Office

Over the weekend, we took an impromptu trip to see where Daddy works. Daddy just got a new office, so we helped him hang his pictures and Sabine made sure his computer and phone were in working order.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard, clickityclickityclickity, and she was highly annoyed when we would interrupt her work.

Sabine had multiple phone conversations while we were there. Daddy's office phone is a lot fancier than anything we've got at home. Result: Sabine officially approves of Daddy's office. No wonder he likes to go play there every day, Sabine would too, if she got that phone!

Cousins

Michigan

We had a wonderful trip to Michigan this weekend.

We started with another private escort by Uncle Jay through the airport. Getting to skip the long lines is a fantastic way to start any trip. Thank you, Uncle Jay.

We got to Michigan, and Sabine settled in quickly. She had a lot of fun at Aunt Vicki and Uncle Pat's house, and she giggled endlessly while playing with Great Grandma Pat.

Aunt Vicki prepared a feast on Saturday, and Sabine was happy to partake. She had her first corn on the cob, and it was a huge success.

Sabine also made a new friend. We really enjoyed all of Uncle Pat's extended family, but little G was a favorite.

PEEK!

We got Sabine some new books for the trip, and Corduroy has quickly become a new favorite. She had everyone read it to her at least once.

Thank you guys so much for such a lovely time. We miss you already, and are looking forward to seeing you again to next year! (Sabine is STILL talking about Uncle Pat shucking the corn.)

ABCs of Summertime

We had a lovely picnic up at Aunt Diane and Uncle Nat's house today. I took this picture on my phone because I forgot my camera, but there really wasn't much time to take pictures since Sabine was really too busy running around smelling the gorgeous flowers, talking with family members, kicking the soccer ball, and playing with the neighbor's puppy. We all had a really fun time, and Sabine is still talking about Uncle Nat's (homemade!) ice cream.

She was even in a good enough mood to serenade us on the drive home. This is approximately round 27 of 64.

Happy Special Day, Grandmom

We love you very much.

22 Months

A day late, but better rested! Sabine's canine teeth have been giving us a run for our sanity these past few weeks. Last night was better than most, but she still woke up a couple of times. Fortunately it looks like the last tooth is about to break through the gum, so hopefully we should have a reprieve soon.

Otherwise, though, we've been having a great time recently, between playing with friends, checking out the new Ikea, watching hot air balloons in the mornings, and reading new books...among other things.

Sabine even got to hold her new cousin for the first time today.

Sabine is now wearing size 18 month clothing. She speaks in small sentences regularly and her vocabulary is always growing. She's become very interested in dinosaurs, unicorns, and dragons. It's interesting to me that none of those things exist now, there's no way she could know that. But she went through a phase where she kept asking to go see the unicorn outside, so we've gone on many walks around the block looking for the oon-i-cawn. At least there's usually a bulldozer as a distraction. (Bulldozers and trains are still favorites, as well.)

Sabine's also more interested in books these days. It's not just about flipping the pages, she's starting to care about the content. Heaven forbid you miss a word or page in one of her favorites. You will get corrected. Current favorites include Goodnight Moon, Hop on Pop, Go Dog Go!, Snug House Bug House, and Show Me a Dragon. Sabine will very explicitly tell you that the purple dragon at the end is SABINE'S DRAGON. Occasionally she will bequeath you a smaller one, but it's subject to change. The purple one is always hers.

We also seem to be entering the terrible twos, Sabine's most-used word is "NO." Usually at full volume. Time-out gets a lot more use these days, although interestingly Sabine actually puts herself in time-out more than we do. I think she finds some sort of comfort in having a place to go when she's upset. She also can recognize when she's tired and ask to go "night-night," although actually falling asleep once she's there (and then staying asleep) is another story entirely.

Sabine's developed a bit of a phobia with bugs; she's particularly scared of flies and spiders. Unfortunately, Sabine's also very fond of the outdoors, so it is a constant source of irritation to find bugs in her way when she's trying to play.

All in all, though, this is a fun age. Sabine figured out how to climb the ladder and go down the slide all by herself at the playground today. She likes to watch daddy play volleyball at the park, and shouts "Go Daddy!" and asks "You o.k.?" every time someone falls down/dives for a ball. She likes to draw clouds with her crayons, the circular motion is fairly new, so it's opened up a new range of options. She can tell daddy what happened during the day when he gets home, she's usually able to communicate who she saw and where we went without any help from me. She's got more dance moves, and can gallop. (Skipping is still a little tricky.) She likes to pretend to put on sunscreen and lotion, and can sometimes put her shoes on by herself.

Sabine has become a fairly picky eater recently, she has mac & cheese for dinner more nights than not, because she'll happily go without food if there's nothing she likes. And when she's teething she doesn't have much of an appetite anyway. Although there always seems to be room for chocolate. That's genetic.

It's exciting to see the little girl she's becoming, with more preferences, opinions, energy, and hair every day. We're always looking forward to what the next month will bring! (Just oh please let this next one include sleep.)