19 Months & Growing

Its hard to believe that in 5 short months Nakiah will be 2 years old! Time goes by faster than I could have imagined when you watch your baby growing up. I'll probably say this at every age, but for now, this is my favorite stage. Nakiah is talking so much and picking up on things so quickly, she never ceases to amaze me. Of course, I am a bit biased, being mother of the genius, but I can't get over how quickly she learns and how much she enjoys learning.

While she doesn't use as many signs now that she is talking more, she still signs her basic signs and still loves watching her signing videos. She is learning her colors and today said and showed me blue, green, black, purple and "wwwwwwwweehh" (red - Auma says "rrrrrrrrrred" to Nakiah and she has translated that to her own version) She asks to watch her colors almost every night before bed. Nakiah's favorite shape is an oval. Not that she recognizes ovals.....yet, she just says oval a lot. I'm not really sure why. She's close though, she calls circles, octagons, ovals and move round-ish objects ovals and when she sees one, she has to point it out and you have to acknowledge it. Then she points it out again and you must acknowledge it. Again she points it out and again you acknowledge it. This can usually go on for a few rounds.

My baby is becoming much more of a mama's girl these days, especially when I come home for lunch during the day. She's getting to the point where she doesn't like me to eat, she just wants...maybe more like needs my full attention on her. She even calls me mommy now, especially when she wants something. So, I guess its pretty safe to say, Nakiah is a bit spoiled. Spoiled with love and tons of attention!! I hope she can cope when it comes to sharing all of that with a new baby....

Nakiah is my outside girl, which I am thankful for, but she really wears me out. I swear to God this child NEVER sits still. She wants to be outside all the time, which is fine now that the weather is better, but she won't come inside for anything without a fight. It usually ends up that I make her come in to eat because its at least an hour after dinner time and I know she is hungry. When she's occupied, she either doesn't think about eating, or she doesn't have time to stop and eat. Either way, when she's hungry and she finally realizes it, she gets very crabby just like her daddy! I try to avoid this crabbiness but in reality its a no win situation. Either she's crabby because I've let her play for too long and she now realizes she is hungry, or she's crabby because I've brought her inside before she was done playing. Let her eat outside, you say? You see, when my child is outside, nothing must restrict her from running around and doing as she pleases, otherwise its the same as forcing her inside.

Nakiah has learned how to work her mommy!!! If I'm ever stern with her, or she

gets caught doing something she knows she is not suposed to be doing, she gets all sweet and says "hiiiyeee", comes over to me and gives me a kiss, or a "muh" as she calls them. I tell her "mommy loves you too" and then continue telling her to stop whatever it was she was doing and why she shouldn't be doing it. She then tells me "hiiyeee" again and gives me another kiss. How can you be mad at that? I'm just not so sure its going to be as cute when she's 13 and back talking..... So, a week or two ago I posted about a conversation I overheard between Nakiah and Corey in which Nakiah told Corey that Mama was her favorite. This has become a sort of "tool" (if you will) for Nakiah. Case in point: Yesterday Nakiah asked to go outside. I was taking her out anyway but I told her she needed to give me a kiss first, which she did. I then asked her who her favorite was. She was quiet for a minute, started to say "daddy", changed her mind and said "mommy" and gave me big squeeze! Today while Auma was watching her, Auma was her favorite. I think I'm going to have to watch this one. :-)

The picture above is so my little girl! She is a total spit fire full of energy and fun! She literally keeps me on my toes and fills my days with little blessings and unexpected joys. In one minute she can be running around the house being "destructo" (as Corey and I have so appropriately named her) laughing at her self and making us shake our heads in amusement and in the next minute she is completely docile, affectionate and loving. She has a great big heart and its obvious she loves her family. She has no fear and is daring to the point of causing me chest pains but at the same time needs her mommy to tend to bumps and bruises. She has an overwhelming desire to be a big girl and do everything you do and most of the time doesn't want any help. She has a need to be on the go or doing something at all times. Even at home she never plays with one toy for too long before she has to move on to the next activity. I have seen her play by herself but she much prefers a playmate, or an audience. She loves to roughhouse and being thrown around by her Auda is one of her favorite things to do, event though it scares mommy a bit. She is a very well mannered little girl and uses please and thank you regularly without being asked. Each night, at some point throughout the evening, she goes through her list of family members' names. I have to tell her what each one is doing and then she moves on to the next one. When she's done with her list she usually says "oh, no" because none of them are there with her. I could not be more blessed!