22 months

As of yesterday this little girl is only 2 months away from being a 2 year old! And she's still far from terrible.

I know i'm biased about her brains and beauty, but as far as temperament goes I'm certain she's as pleasant as a toddler can be. She's helpful and quick to share. She's (almost) never messy or destructive. And she remembers to says please and thank you and excuse me more than I do.

Being a mom to this little girl has got to be the best job in the world!

Some things we love about Lilly right now:

• The way she spontaneously says "I luff you." 
• And the way she says it about random things (like rice and clouds) and sounds just like Steve Carell on Anchorman. ("I love lamp! I love lamp.")
• The ways she hangs and swings from anything she can hold onto.
• Hearing her talk all the time!
• The way she says "ostrich."
• The way she grabs me when I'm carrying her and says "I got you!"
• The way she gets really hyper in the evening and screams "I run in circles!" while doing just that. Other favorites are: "I spinning!" "I dancing!" "I rolling!" and "I jumping!"
• That she'll draw what looks like a circular scribble and then point and insist "I draw mama!" or "I draw dada!"
• That she says "a-men" at the end of every book.
• That she loves to "play with fwends."
• That she's obsessed with "Super Why!" and it's the only show she asks to watch.
• That her favorite books right now are Madeline and Curious George. And that she loves books.
• That when she reads books to herself she always tries to find "the mama," "the dada," and "the baby" or "Lilly." (She also likes to decide if the people look "happy" or "sad.")
• How she can put her pajamas on at night with minimal assistance! And when she's trying to get her arm through the sleeve and it accidentally goes through the neck hole she screams "No! Nope!" until she gets it.
• How she screams "dada home!" as soon as she hears the garage door open and runs to meet him.
• How she still believes that a kiss makes everything better.
• How she names every body part for daddy to dry off after her bath, including eyebrows and cheeks.
• How she asks orders me to sing "stars" (twinkle twinkle) and "ABCs" every single night, and then makes Drew sing them, too. (One night Drew tried to sing a 3rd song and she said "no. all done.")
• How she won't fall asleep unless there is a cup of water in her room for when she wakes up in the morning. "I need wa-wa!"
• How she loves Indian curry and rice, but she won't touch a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 
• That sometimes I still find her sleeping with her arms above her head like she did when she was a little baby.
• That she refuses to count past two. "1,2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 . . ."
• That she knows all her colors and shapes.
• That she suddenly started calling us "mommy" and "daddy" instead of mama and dada.
• That she likes the potty again.
• That she can finally open doorknobs by herself.