Marissa 20-24 months, Talking

Marissa finally grew hair long enough to see...and it is so soft and curly.

These two pictures courtesy of Grammy Susan,
who likes her look of concentration in the 2nd one.

Silly Marissy...thought she needed TWO paci's.  Very cute in two ponies, even with the nick out of her forehead from falling down the outside trailer steps the prior weekend.

I let her climb the changing table when supervised.  I had to teach her to wait and "dumpf" (jump) only when mommy is ready.

At 20-21 months, she learned how to open our freezer, stopped giving kisses, and sneaks her "pac" (pacifier) out of bed.  She loves her puppies (bed time stuffed animals), likes wearing goggles, and loves hanging from a bar like her sisters at gymnastics.  On the playground, she still enjoys her "baby" swing but usually prefers the big girl swing now.

At 22-24 months, even with just 20min/day, she has now watched enough episodes of her favorite TV show Wallykazam to name all the characters: "Waa-ee" (Wally), "O-dug" (Ogre Doug), "Godgodin" (Bobgoblin), and "Libvy" (Libby).  She also enjoys watching Cat in the Hat and Peppa Pig with her sisters.  Cognitively, she associates things that go together without seeing them together--as in, says "Summer" when she sees Alli G., or recognizing that her furry jacket matches Addisyn's.  She can finally reach the go-pedal on the Jeep, but doesn't know how to steer.  Marissa is quite self sufficient and likes to keep a small chair in the kitchen so she can reach things (we had to put the step stool away because of her).

Look how proud she is!          

Look mommy, I found and got into the Red Vines

that you were trying to hide from me!  Yum Yum!

Thanksgiving weekend, Grandma Joyce wonders when Marissa will start driving the Jeep herself...she can if she sits on the front edge of her seat.  An adult has to follow her around to assist with steering.

TALKING:  Just as I tracked her sisters spoken vocabulary at this same age, I kept a running list of words and as I heard new ones, I'd keep writing them down.  If she says it on her own and I can understand her, it counts.  Marissa's list is a long one.  By November Marissa had a vocabulary of about 150 words.  I was relieved on her birthday to stop writing them down, because I don't think I could keep it up much longer--I have counted 230 words by Dec. 4th. (Just a fun comparison: Addisyn had 110 words at 26 months; Piper had 130 at 24 months.)

She does not pronounce certain hard consonant sounds such as K or B, does not pronounce consonant blends, and "v/d/b/e" sounds are hard to distinguish.  For a couple months she added an -a to the end of nearly all her words, such as: "mommy-a" "O's-a" and "puppy-a".  When requesting her favorite TV show, she says: "Mommya, Waleea, showa" (mommy, Wally show).  I think the strangest word was calling a hairbrush an "owie", probably because her sisters say "ow" every time we brush their hair.

Some funny pronunciations:
   "fe" fish
   "pace" toothpaste
   "sowel" towel
   "ponan" pumpkin
   "fon-a" phone
   "wap" wipe
   "wad" ride
   "day-dub" Jacob
   "mer" more
   "eep" Jeep
   "Awie" Alli G.

Some expressions / word combinations:
   "I did it"
   "I got it"
   "I'll get it"
   "Have a nice day"
   "oh yes"
   "not working"
   "NOT funny!!"
   "NO way"
   "peeka-baa-doo" (peek-a-boo)
   "I sorry, ma"
   "mommy you help me"
   "I'm okay" (after falling down)
   "push me" (on the swing)
   "I need...."
and my favorite: "I la you mommy" (la=love)


She seems so much like a "big kid" sometimes.  She certainly watches and mimics as much as she can from her big sisters, who are usually pretty good at helping her learn.

Selfie with mom's (impact resistant) camera:

Loving the spinning ride at Sea World:

Addisyn teaching Marissa how to be a crossing guard at the base of our driveway:

Enjoying a bedtime story after bath: