{14 Months}

People, I'm setting this out on the line for you all to hear: My 14 month old is officially starting the terrible twos 10 whole months early. 

Ok, it may be a slight exaggeration, but I can certainly guarantee you that Brynn has decided to have a big personality with big opinions this last month, and we may have even seen a few foot-stomping, mom-smacking temper tantrums thrown in there too. I mean, come on, how could I possibly dare interfere with her toilet paper de-rolling techniques? Seriously.

typical Brynn

In all honesty, though, we are having a great time with our growing (both physically and mentally) little girl. She is a pleasure 90% of the time, and really the temper tantrums are mostly due to the fact that she has so much to communicate to us, with few skills to get her intentions across. Her brain seems to be waaaay ahead of her body. She has mastered the sign language for "please" (which obviously means that she gets everything she says please for, right mom?), "all done", and "more", (so what if our lives revolve around food, ok?) and answers most of our questions with a nod either yes or no.We are working on a few more signs in order to help her along as well... things like "help", "baby" (for both real babies and her doll), "up", and things of those nature.

nothing is more exciting than cracks in the sidewalk

While I'm on the subject of language, the Brynnasaur has also tried out a couple new words: more and thank you. Mostly she just screams "Mo, mo, mo!!" at us during meals. She has also said bed, bottle, and banana in the right contexts, but they mostly sound like "buh-buh", so I'm not sure that counts. She's even popped out the word "Shae" a couple times. She loves to repeat the letter sounds for b, d, t, h, o, and m, and we can sometimes hear her humming to herself too. I really feel like she will be blurting out words left, right and centre very soon!

Another milestone: we've reached the tower-building phase! Rather than constantly rushing in to destroy like Godzilla if two blocks are even remotely touching each other, Brynn will now stack 3 or 4 blocks... and then proceed to knock them down. Progress is progress, yes?

And talking about play, I will use my mom's words of wisdom regarding Brynn's play habits: she "prowls around like a lion looking to destroy" (Grandma or the Bible, you choose). Brynn's play of choice is mostly just wandering around looking for cupboards and doors to open- yes, she can open doors, pulling laundry out of the hamper, or generally practicing her hobo-like tendencies by rummaging around in the garbage or recycling box. She's also a fan of picking crumbs up off the ground and eating them (does anyone else feel like Cheerios are omnipresent?), or pulling all 400 wipes out of the box and wiping the floor or her face with them. We've got a winner here, folks!

Now with all the um... interesting things that come with a toddler, we also have seen a few really positive, fun things coming out of our baby. She loves to help put her diaper in the diaper pail after being changed and we often get her to put things away or bring us things- but only if we reward with a big high five! She is also very nurturing and loves to feed her doll (and us) with her play dishes, is very willing to share her crackers, and will always greet you with a smile, crinkle face, and a "Hi" (as long as you don't say "Hi" back :D). She is friendly and outgoing, and generally charms the pants off everyone she meets. We are so blessed to have such a fun little girl to spend every day with.

We love you, Brynn!