I have loved all of Tabby's stages in their own way. Even the really hard first month where all I did was sit in a single chair in our bedroom and nurse her (and watch Law & Order) … even the cutting-four-teeth-at-one-time stage. So take it with a grain of salt when I tell you how very much I'm enjoying her at this age.
What I'm enjoying right now is her personality emerging in an even bigger way. We're really getting to see her likes and dislikes and the way her mind works. She's very capable of communication now and able to mimic just about any word (with varying degress of accuracy). Matt and I speak the best Tabbese, of course, but most adults can make some sense of what she says. We've worked hard in instilling the manner words in her and so she says “peeeese” just about every time she wants something and it's killing – you try refusing a request at that age when the kid says please. And she will occasionally say an unprompted thank you as well.
She's really gotten into different activities lately. She's loving her art stuff … we use mostly the Color Wonder markers so I don't have to hover and make certain she doesn't draw on what she's not supposed to, but when we had time this weekend, she did some supervised painting (as shown). She's also hugely into “coo-king” with us. She loves to watch us chop and mix and the rest and ever since last week when I let her stir up the cornbread for the cornbread dressing, that is what she has referred to as “coo-king.” Mother of the year as I am, I even let her give a few things on the stove a stir (with hovering supervision) because she was so into it. That freaking stool is the best $130 I've ever spent.
She's 21 months on Thursday and I can hardly believe it. I am so looking forward to Christmas with her … it's going to be something else.