to our girl who's almost 2 years old!!

so in this past month you learned to jump....both feet off the floor, jump. this was a big feat and a long time coming! you have also learned the names of all the letters of the alphabet, as well as the sounds of about 7 or 8 letters. this is truly amazing to me....i never put much stock in those refridgerator alphabet toys, but i really think that is where you learned a good amount of the letter names. well, that and the fact that you also like to read alphabet books and would ask "what's that letter?" almost anytime you saw anything in print. you really truly are a sponge, soaking up all this knowledge. now you've started to ask "what's that say?" ANYTIME there are words on something. ANYTIME. you want to know what the words on the title page of a book say. ("that says copyright 2001, greta"). you want to know what the word printed on your fork at dinner says. ("that says gerber. can you say gerber, greta?"). it's so neat to see your understanding of the fact that words have meaning and that words are everywhere.
you continue to love to look at books, as well as play with your dolls and kitchen toys. you named one of your babies "baby catherine" after your cousin cassie. you like to get your toys "all lined up", and you love to play outside. you like going to the playground or even just walking around the block. you continue to enjoy emptying the clothes out of your dresser drawers or otto's dresser drawers and trying them on. the other night at dinner you had on two pairs of bloomers and one pair of velvet pants in addition to your regular clothes. and trying on shoes....again, a favorite past time. no matter whose shoes. at a party labor day weekend, a little boy you had just met took his crocs off and you swiped them and wore them around the party.

you also have started notices likenesses in things, and you will say "that looks like....". like when you said, "what's that?" about something in the fridge. when i said it was turkey bacon, you said, "it looks like ham." or when you said "number 2 looks like 5". or that blueberries "look like little balls". it is pretty neat to have real conversations with you now. you can give opinions and share about your day, and you can remember things and events from one day to the next. and you can pretend things....like when you were holding up noodles from your soup and said they were birthday candles and then you proceeded to blow them out. or when we were outside and you took a stick and started scratching it back and forth on the ground and said, "i'm sweeping the floor".
you still love to sing songs and will say "what should we sing now?" when you want to sing. lately you like to sing "she'll be coming round the mountain" and "happy birthday", and it's fun to have duets with you when you sing along. you like to wrestle and "ride the pony" with papa, bouncing up and down on his outstretched legs.
you really are such a fun, calm, happy girl. you enjoy people, even your brother otto, and even though you say "mine" you are most often happy to bring him a toy or a bib or give him a kiss. and you still oblige your mama and papa with kisses and hugs, which we take as often as we can get.