The Hutchins Family: 23 Months Tomorrow

Well, my baby turns 2 in just one month. I haven't posted updates on her growth and development for a while and thought I would take this time to document it.....even though I will likely do it in a month too.

Jesstine is such an intelligent and inquisitive little girl! She is just starting to really understand stuff and you can almost see the wheels turning in her head. She knows every uppercase letter in the alphabet. She knows at least one sound for each. She knows most of the main colors and shapes. She can tell you when a traffic light is red and you need to stop. She can also tell you when the light turns green and you need to go, or as she says "Go dog! Go!" She also knows a few "sight" words like Stop, Up, Hot, Zoo, and sometimes Cat. She can even recognize her name. Gone are the days that we can spell stuff outloud. A few months ago, our Saturday plans were freed up at the last min. I was talking to Stephen and asking what we should do. I asked him if he would like to go to the Z-O-O (spelled outloud). Jesstine came running in the room yelling, "ZOOOOOOOOO!"

Lately she has taken to saying, "Um..." before she answers a question. I think it is cute. Daddy is sure we will need to break her of the habit. She is mostly all-girl. She LOVES to play! She likes her Dollhouse a lot, especially when there are others to play with it with her. Her other favorite toys are the usual suspects like her egg pillow doll Dumpty (as seen a LOT on this blog) and her "geen bankie!!!" (green blankie). She has also recently latched on to one of the toys that I used to have growing up, my Bright Heart Raccoon. If you are of my generation or earlier you may remember Care Bears. The Care Bears had cousins. One was a purple raccoon with a heart shaped lightbulb on the tummy. Perhaps the thing that she plays with most and takes everywhere though is the little soft plastic animals (pictured below) that she gets from the doctor's office! They are little ducks and bugs. We usually have to have one in her bag that goes with us when we go out. She LOVES to go to the zoo. She is starting to be able to sit through most of a full length movie. She is especially interested in the Toy Story movies. Her favorite is Buzz "Yitehear." She is also still interested in Sesame Street and Elmo, but not obsessed as she was earlier.

Dumpty and green blankie.

All of her "ducks" in a row!

Physically, she is pretty capable. Still not climbing out of her crib yet (of which I am thankful because the big girl bed was a flop). Just last night Daddy found her up on the table downstairs playing with the chess set. She can walk up and down the stairs using the hand rail. She just went up to size 6 toddler in shoes (which seems small compared to other kids her same height and age). She is about 34 inches tall and weighs about 26 lbs. She can jump and get her feet off of the ground just slightly. She has 16 teeth. The two K9 teeth on the top are just barely poking through, but they are their...FINALLY! She only teethed with those teeth for what seems like MONTHS! Perhaps the coolest physical thing she can do is swim without help from another person. She uses a life vest, but loves to try it without one. She is quite the fish! It has to be one of her favorite things to do!

Food-I know this is a tough subject for a lot of parents of toddlers. It seems like as soon as they turn one, they should be able to eat everything like an adult right? Oh, and kids are notorious for being picky, right? I remember not long ago it was SO hard to figure out what to feed her because she couldn't quite eat what most kids eat. She was eating cheerios for breakfast and a little bit of fruit. Then she would have a snack that was basically the same. Then it was turkey lunch meat pulled apart into tiny pieces with a side of cheese and.....you guessed it, Cheerios! Well, the Cheerios part hasn't changed much! She is a creature of habit for breakfast. She ALWAYS wants cheerios which I pair with some fruit or yogurt. Other than that she eats just about anything including a lot of veggies and fruits. She generally won't eat beef. She has an occasional hot dog or some smoked brisket at a bbq place. She LOVES chicken (like her momma!) She also really likes turkey. We are still having trouble with traditional chips, but she can eat Cheetos without choking. I get the baked kind so I don't feel as guilty about her eating them. Her FAVORITE of course is McDonald's chicken nuggets and fries. And at our weekly trip to Freddy's, she is now getting her own custard. She eats pretty well for her age (not just quality but quantity).My girl is growing up!

Sloppy Joes has NEVER been a thing that she would eat...Umm, until this night at least!

So, we only have a month until she turns two. Our little girl is growing up! She is still a sweet girl. She still (for the most part) is a good sleeper (although it usually takes a lot of talking and playing in her bed for her to finally go to sleep). She is laid back and really just goes where ever we go whether it's on a vacation or to the grocery store. She does like her "routine" (hence the cheerios every morning). She surprises us each day with how smart she is! She seems to learn things quite quickly and has a pretty good memory. She can even tell us where we are going if we take a certain familiar route somewhere like church or the Y. Still can't believe that she will be two. So here is my 23 month-old and some of her favorite things.