2 1/3 year old progress

I have grown up considerably over the last several months. I have become conversant, and that promotes me from "baby" to "little kid" status! I had my first telephone conversation with Daddy today. I even repeated "miss you Daddy" and "bye bye Daddy" when Mommy prompted me. This is unusual because I hate performing on demand!

I can usually get my point across, even if Mommy has to guess and me say "no" and repeat myself over and over until she understands. Sometimes I get impatient and frustrated, but Mommy advises what words I should use which I calmly repeat, and that usually makes me feel better.

I have become really independent. I can put on and take off my clothes and shoes by myself. I still can't tell left from right, sometimes put my pants on backwards, or stick two legs down one pant, but I'm getting there. I walk up and down the stairs as I please now, and can stay on an entire floor alone without my parents being there with me. I always want to do everything myself, so even if Mommy wipes up a mess on the floor, I create a new mess on the floor so that I get the luxury and pride of cleaning it myself.

I "read" books to myself, like Brown Bear What Do You See? - mostly from memory. I am getting better at counting too. I used to count "1, 3, 6!" but now I can practically count to 10 except I always forget the number 2.

I have also become a master of the stall tactic. Whenever it is close to bedtime, I suddenly become hungry and want to resume eating my dinner or other foods. But I just want to stay up and play, so I either take a bite and leave it my mouth until it disintegrates, or take the tiniest bite imagineable. My parents are torn between letting me eat since I'm still a petite 24 pounds (34 inches tall), and enforcing an 8pm bedtime. Usually I can eke out about 30 additional minutes of fun before Mommy forces the issue.

Speaking of eating, since I understand and communicate so well, I've become good at negotiation. I negotiate for things that I want (such as a watching TV) by eating some sort of green vegetable for it.

I am really excited about the baby coming. I touched Mommy's tummy the other day and felt him move! Wo! Now I always want to lift Mommy's shirt and "see" the baby. She tells me that he is sleeping and I yell "wake up!" Then I tell Mommy that I have a baby in my tummy and place a stuffed animal down my shirt. I told Mommy that my baby brother should be named "Lucy."

My favorite games currently are Pretend Shopping and Giving Stuffed Animals a Timeout ("2 minutes!").

I am still a reserved person, and am generally only comfortable in one-on-one or small group situations. I don't care if I'm in a crowd per se as long as people don't pay attention to me. If there are lots of people coo'ing over me - boo hoo! Hate it. I was born this way, what can I say?

I admit that I've been using itchiness and its subsequent eczema to get attention. It has been aggravating Mommy who has been trying everything to resolve my skin issues. Then my parents noticed that I automatically start scratching myself when I get really nervous (such as when a stranger is talking to me or if we're in a crowd), or want attention. My parents are trying to ignore me when I scratch now, instead of their previous knee jerk reaction of lathering my skin with creams. Plus they warned me that my scratching creates boo boo's for which I can't get bandages. (I love bandages, especially those with Elmo on them! But what's the point if I don't get one?) So I've stopped using itchiness as a weapon and my skin has shown a marked improvement.