She’s 23 months old. Did I mention that? When I took these pictures and loaded them up I almost fell over. Who the hell is this???

If it’s too hard to watch, I fully understand. Cover your eyes, that’s what I do.

See that face above? She started getting mad about the whole lets take some planned photos thing. That’s when she got off of the chair all by herself and then…

She left.

20 Months! I can’t believe it!

Oh my, how we have grown. I’m sorry for these out of focus pics. I give her- her little animal to hold and she flings that thing around like…well…a pizza. So I had to cut him out of some of these shots.

What’s the update? Well at 20 months old she basically does everything that she’s always done just louder and with more attitude. She is vocal- speaking in short sentences. She is much more active then she ever has been before, and adventurous too! Climbing rocks at the park, following around the big kids, and asking me every single day to “go outside, let’s go park!”

My favorite feature? I LOVE her hair! Do you see how her mullet is growing out a bit? The sides are finally growing in. She has these giant loopy curls that dance around her hair and make her look like a tiny Richard Simmons. It’s awesome! At 20 months old she gets scarred of things pretty easily, like lions and bears that she sees on her flashcards. She’ll run into my arms and hold my hand and say “Mama, oh no!” I always tell her that I will ever let any of those terrible animals take my baby and then she repeats “No take baby!”

She’s all girl. She wears my bracelets around the house and has her hand in my make-up bag at all times applying blush and eye make-up. I would stop her, but y’all know that I have always wanted her to be a pageant princess- we’re comin’ for you Eden Wood!

In a few short months ill have to do the post I’ve only dreamed about. The 24 month post- were we look back at her progress from month 1 to year 2. I am starting to slightly freak out at the idea of my baby being 2 years old. She hardly acts like a baby anymore- which is why I now walk her to the grocery store wearing her on my back in her Ergo carrier. I hear that sweet baby voice in my ear and she’s suddenly  small again. We won’t make it much longer in the Ergo carrier but hopefully when it’s time to let go I’ll be ready and she will be too.

I finally got Sunny back in the chair for a few quick shots last week- marking her 19th month on this Earth.

But first, a look back at 13 months old- when she was a better model and I was a better photographer.

As she has aged, so have our chair pics- which seem a lot less like a fun little project and a lot more like a chore I am trying to get through.

Doesn’t she look like she hunted her stuffed animal and is holding him up as if to say “Dinner?”

At 19 months Sunny is speaking in two or three word sentences, considering the use of her potty, and being her usual independent self. The other day I noticed something about the Earth- since the day she was born I think the sun has shined brighter…could just be me but I think the world feels the effects of her presence on this Earth.

**SIDE NOTE: My computer is having some iphoto issues- bare with me as I figure this darn issue out! No one reads this blog for my words- but for my AWESOME photos ***

She won’t always be this little. I must say this to myself 100 times a day. I say it often when she is throwing tantrums- sort of a “this too shall pass” and then I say it again and again when she tries to climb her highchair at breakfast, when she runs awkwardly down the sidewalk, when she climbs into my lap with her books. I say it when I take these photos every month- a 31 day reminder that time does in fact march forward…ready or not.

I have this one baby. She is everything I dreamed of and much much more. She is soft and fierce, determined and righteous. She is a giant personality in a tiny body, her curly mullet growing into just curls.

She is making friends all by herself now too. Granted they are ALWAYS 3 years old and up- because in her world she is not “a baby.” She can count to 3, say almost anything, and screams GO!!!! whenever the light turns green at an intersection. I tell you this not to chart her development but because one day I will forget what 18 months feels and sounds like, and this blog helps me remember.  I wish to also remember how she mirrors everything I do- like when we sit on the couch Indian style with our hands in our hair, just talking and giving kisses.  Or how she eats Life cereal at 5:00am with her Daddy before he leaves for work, but insist on sitting at the stool, because again high chairs are for “babies.” I will miss this time with my baby girl- my only girl. This season of life that includes just the three of us.

She can no longer sit still for her monthly photo So I’ve had to resort to chasing her around parks with my cell phone while holding her popsicle.

Here we are, 30 more days have passed and my little one is 30 days older and suddenly 30 days bigger and 30 days smarter.

This past month has brought us lots more words and phrases, 2 new teeth, and a whole lot more attitude. But there’s something else too, Sunny is more affectionate suddenly. She gives kisses and hugs more readily ( and by that I mean without me having to beg or bribe her with graham crackers!) Her favorite phrases are: NO WAY!!! I BE ALRIGHT, HI GUYS, HEY LADY, I GO PEE PEE, COME ON, LET’S GO, MAMA!BABY!BABY!

When you ask her if she’s hungry she smacks her lips and goes umm! ( as in umm,umm good!) She will now hold my hand and walk like a big girl down the stairs and she sits at her new table and chairs  and uses her crayons to color ( she will usually bite the tip off of all crayons before coloring though). She likes to sit in her chair and read her books to herself, and often puts herself to bed commanding me to get her Ba-Ba and Let’s Go Ny- Ny (night night). Can you tell she’s teething? She couldn’t stop biting Donkey- some kids have pacifiers mine has Donkey.

My baby is looking more like a big girl these days and it’s true what they say…it just keeps getting better.

She’s teething and sad and crying and not in the mood for a photo shoot.

Well we got one smile! And while we’re here lets look back 12 months ago…

The photo on my Facebook page is Sunny at 13 months. I keep having to remind myself that that was over 2 months ago now.  It’s a little hard to let go, but God gives us time. 31 days go by  with  story times, dance parties, trips to the museum, play dates with friends, tons of berries to eat, and new words said.  31 days pass and she is 31 days bigger, brighter, somehow more brilliant. I get 31 days each month to smooth her curls, kiss her cheeks, chase her around the living room, and show her bits and pieces of this wide wide world.

Lately she’s been telling me “Mama NO WAY!!!” with such force and attitude that I stop whatever it is I’m doing. She recognizes her friends and screams with joy when she sees them. She learned somewhere in the last 31 days how to express excitement and love toward people she loves. This is not a religious blog, but I sometimes have to marvel at the gift I’ve been given. There is no happy bigger then this happy, this house, this family, this girl.

Happy 15 month birthday to my Sunshine girl, with your Billy Crystal curls

Yesterday Sunshine and I joined a group of friends (some old and some new) at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum! A favorite stop for anyone in our area it’s packed with awesome activities for the little ones, including a water feature, balls, sand box, puppet show center, theater, soft room, and doll houses. VISIT THEIR SITE HERE!

This trip was more fun for Sunny then usual, because of course, now Sunny can walk and is trying to run. She was chasing behind “big boys” and of course one boy in particular named Marco- she has a thing for Hispanic 3 year olds I can’t explain it but my kid has a “type”- anyway we had a fantastic time. Except for that one moment when I almost started to cry during lunch.

Sunny can eat- you all know that- but once she was finished with our group lunch yesterday she threw her hands up in the air and was ready to get down from her high chair- the other babies and Mama’s were not finished though and so when I put little miss sunshine down on the ground she took off. She walked up and down the hallway- turning the corner and saying Bye-Bye. I’m yelling ( over one of the new friends head) COME HERE! NO! STOP! and then sharing a quick “Sorry” to the group of Mom’s whose children were sitting so nicely enjoying their lunch.

I took Sunny into the bathroom for a diaper change  and that’s when I felt my eyes well up with tears. Its very hard to explain but from the second you bring your new baby home you want everyone ( particularly family and friends) to think that your baby is “good”. I remember her being hours old and me saying to my Mom, “She’s really a good baby. She never cries! She’s so good!” even though I had no proof of that, she was literally 3 hours old. Even now I’ll report back to her, “Oh, she was such a good girl! So verbal and kind! She  just loves SO and SO and loves SUCH and SUCH!” It’s disturbing, I’ll give you that. Maybe more so when my tears yesterday were literally based on the fact that these new friends would think that my baby was wild and crazy- she was actually kind of “bad” during that lunch.

In her defense she was exhausted and it was nap time and she pushed through.

After emerging from the restroom I spotted Jill who I confessed to. She replied in perfect Jill style saying “Not to worry I know Sunny well and I know shes nice girl.”  Her simple reassurance was all I needed to move on with our day.

Once lunch as over, Sunny returned to her happy “good” self. She chased little Fia around, played with some “big kids” and enjoyed the remainder of her day at the museum.

We’ve entered a new phase; with walking comes freedom. I’ve told you all before how she’ll leave me places saying bye-bye, retrieving her gear and walking away from me often. She is extremely independent and is no longer satisfied by shinny objects and baby talk. At 14 months old she says OK, a lot. She ask me Why, often. She seems to realize that this big big world, is meant to be explored. I’m very very grateful for this child of mine.

And just for the sake of comparison here’s Sunny at 4 months!

I have to confess when I look at her 14 month photos she looks exactly like her Father. It’s her smile I think- I’m searching but I just don’t see me in her features….personality though- she’s got my eye rolling down!

Sunny has a new wake up time. It’s 5:00am! I’ve always been a morning person but being in Mommy mode at 5:00 is a little tougher than one might imagine. While I’m sleepy eyed trying to shhhhh her back to sleep, she’s darting from one end of my bed to the other. ( I bring her in to my bed every morning to cuddle and sniff her Billy Crystal hair.)

A little cake to celebrate 13 months

She has the energy of a rocket. She is so excited to witness a new day and  soak in the morning. She knows that we’ll go downstairs, sit in the reading chair, and cuddle up with a bottle and two books. At the moment she’s obsessed with Dear Zoo and Peeny Butter Fudge ( which is about a Grandma who makes fudge with her grandchildren) she says Yummm about 100 times, that’s my hint that it’s time for breakfast. We venture into the kitchen where I scramble eggs, toast her waffle, and hand her a half of a banana.  Lately breakfast is followed my Club crackers-a new obsession, then play, play,play  (always with a tu-tu on)

….until she starts screaming Mama!Mama!Mama! Bye-Bye! Which means it’s night-night time and suddenly she’s my baby again in my arms, head on my shoulder, whisked upstairs to her crib. I will never grow tired of coffee and an arm full of sweet baby first thing in the morning.

My Sunshine is 13 months old today. She has a life, a routine, friends, words, new shoes, and a lot of attitude. She’s a little woman now. She babbles non stop and pretends that she’s on the phone all of the time. She picks up her baby dolls and gives them kisses, lots of kisses, and strokes their backs. It makes me think that maybe she thinks that’s what Mama’s do, and I’m grateful for that. She’s brilliant and perfect and wonderful and I love her in an unfamiliar and strangely addictive way. She’s a jumble of smiles and giggles and zerburts. Simply put she’s my favorite girl.

Here are our 13 month rocking chair photos, notice the ponytail!

We say our prayers at night, where we rock and sing a medley of The Dixie Chicks and Beatles hits, while we cuddle in her baby blanket-that once belonged to Uncle Chris. She is safe and loved and protected. She is the most important person in the world, as is every other child on this Earth . Last month I was obsessed with loosing my baby to father  time, but as they say, “I’m not who I was, I’m doing much better.”

So welcome 13 months, lets see what else time brings us.