20 months + Kamdyn =

What's Kamdyn doing now at 20 months?

Well, I'm glad you asked.....

Let's let the cat out of the bag first, and say what she is not doing.  She is not walking, and other than Dada (which she's been doing forever - shut up, Brad.  Don't mean nothin'!) and Mama (which she just started doing consistently in the last couple of weeks), she's not really talking.  About the Mama, she would say "Mama" when she was crying or upset, but a couple of weeks ago, she reached her arms out and whined, "Mama".  Talk about melting your heart.  I didn't cry, but I did look around and "Did you hear that?  Did you hear that?!"  It was cool.

So how do I feel about her not walking or talking.  Well, to be perfectly honest, today, I don't care.  There are moments when I may get bummed, but it doesn't last.

So what is she doing?

***She gives hugs.  And sister gives good ones too.

A week or so ago, the kids were watching one of the new movies that got for Christmas, probably Cars 2.  Austin plopped down on the floor next to Kamdyn, shoulder to shoulder.  Kamdyn looked over at him, and placed her tiny, chubby arm around his back.  Her arm only goes halfway across his back, mind you, but it was the dearest thing I have ever seen. 

The dearest thing until the next dearest thing, at least.  Anyway, I was all, "Awww, that's so sweet!", and then sister leaned in and gave her first real unprompted, genuine hug.  I could have melted.  So what's the favorite game of the week?  It's the "Let's give Kamdyn a hug game."  The kind of funny thing about it is that Austin is definitely her preferred recipient of hugs.  Maybe she's been bear hugged and choke hold hugged so many times by him that she just sees it as more appropriately geared toward him.

Exhibit A- the choke hug:

Exhibits B,C, and D:

 Either way, it's adorable.

*** She crawls on hands and knees. 

She's been doing this for a couple of months now.  It started out small, just being on hands and knees for a brief second while transitioning from laying to sitting.  Then, she would see something that is up off of the floor, and she would go into hands and knees to try to get it.  Now, she will crawl a short distance on hands and knees, but still only for objects that are off of the floor, or if she wants to sit in my lap.  The army crawl is still her preferred method of transportation.

*** She pulls up into a kneeling position. 

She will crawl on hands and knees to a toy that is off the floor or the couch, and she will pull up into kneeling.  For a typical child, this stage of development might last a week, and I don't ever remember even noticing it with my other kids.  It is cool to see each step of development broken down.  I'm sure that one day, I'll walk around the corner or go to get her out of her crib, and she'll be standing.  In preparation for this, we did move her crib mattress down, just in case.

*** She wears sure steps.

She got her sure steps a few weeks ago.  I'll give sure steps their own post in the near future.  With the sure steps, also came the need for new shoes.  Kamdyn wears a 2, but with the added width and bulk of the sure steps, she needs a 3 and a wide.  Sister's feet are anything but wide, but the regular ones just don't fit over the sure steps right.  We tried on several different pairs of shoes, but I just didn't like any of them.  Any kind of Velcro shoe was not going to stay latched.  The low top sneakers seemed like they were so stretched out, because they end right at the widest part of the sure step.  I felt like it looked awkward, and made the sure step stand out more.  For about 10 seconds, I sat on the shoe store floor and started to feel sorry for myself and for Kamdyn.  She can't wear her sure steps with any cute shoes.  This is a pain.  etc, etc, etc.  And while I realize that these moments are completely natural, and I'm sure I will have many more in the years to come, I find myself feeling more and more silly when I find myself in one.  In just a few seconds, my mind kicks in and reminds me:  Hello!  Even though it is delayed, you have a daughter who will walk.  That is a blessing.  You have things, like sure steps, that can help her achieve that goal.  This is like a blip on the radar of life, as far as significance goes.  And if I want her to wear her cute church shoes, then she'll just wear them without her sure steps.  There's no rule that says she must wear her sure steps at all times.  I make the rules.  And poof, I'm over it. 

So back to the shoes.  I heard someone mention Payless, so that's where we went next.  And wouldn't ya' know:  wide, high top sneakers, that resemble the old Stride Rites, and remind me an awful lot of Cabbage Patch Kid shoes.  She pulls them off, and she looks adorable.

***  She opens and empties any drawer in sight.

It's like they call her.  Open me!  Throw everything on the floor!  And then crawl away and find another one!  Oh, the joys of toddler hood. 

*** She lets us know when she doesn't want to do something.

Kamdyn

Little Miss Attitude.

***She signs:

Kamdyn can sign(in the order she learned them):
dog
more
all done
fish
baby
book
Daddy
thank you
Mommy
milk
sleep
duck
please
cookie
and she blows kisses

We don't count it as an official sign until she can do it on her own, without having to imitate.  She can imitate many more.  I looked up how many words a one and a half year old can say, and according to BabyCenter.com, it's about a dozen.  So I think, Kamdyn is pretty on target in that area. 

So there you have it.