21 months!

Julia is 21 months! Wow! 1 3/4. Thought I'd finally post the Julia stories I've written down lately before she turns 22 months in a few days... haha!

• We've known for a long time now that Julia's memory is really good. She's always been great at remembering people, things, and places even when it's been a looooonnnnng time since she last saw them. We assumed, of course, that she could also remember particular events, but she is now giving us evidence that she does. For instance, she was playing with some play food and when she saw the fake lettuce, she said, out of the blue, "Feed giraffe lettuce." She had fed a giraffe lettuce a couple weeks before while we were at a wildlife park. It's so neat that her language is developed enough that we're getting a peek into the inner workings of her mind! I'm excited that she can not only talk about concrete, present things, but also about memories of the past.
• Speaking of memories, the other day we grabbed some burgers for lunch at a fast food place. We hadn't eaten there since the Olympics were on, so I mentioned how much fun we had the last time we had their food, dragging Julia's high chair into the living room and eating in there in front of the TV (which we never did before and haven't ever again). When I mentioned the Olympics, Julia got really excited and said, "Lympics!" "What's on the Olympics?" I asked her. "He go swimming!" she said. We haven't talked about the Olympics since they were on, so I was really surprised she remembered! I told Aaron I was impressed by her memory, and Aaron (also impressed) joked, "Yeah, she's a genius." Julia responded, "I'm a genius!" I turned to Julia and said, "What? You're a genius?" and Julia said, "Noooo... I'm a person!" Haha!
• It's fun to see how she thinks. For instance, Aaron's mom was recently talking to Julia about how they were going to the pet store, and that they'd probably see some animals, like dogs, cats, fish, birds, and mice there. Julia started asking her whether other animals would be there. "Hawk?" she asked. "No, I don't think so," Aaron's mom told her gently. "Racoon?" "No, no racoons at the pet store." I just love how she understands a basic concept and can try to elicit more information about a situation.
• Julia has so many funny phrases that she applies to almost any situation. Her recent favorite phrases are "That's right!" and "That's better!" It's so funny to hear what she thinks is "better." For instance, when she was watercoloring the other day, she painted on her arms, saying, "That's better!"
• The other day, Julia and I were playing around, tickling each other, and Julia looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I'm so proud of you." Haha! It's something I tell her often, but it was so cute and funny to hear it from her out of the blue. I'm not even sure she knows exactly what it means, but she knows it's something good. Likewise, I've had her trained for months and months that whenever I say, "Guess what?" my answer is "I love you!" So, I get a kick out of asking her, "Guess what?" and hearing her answer ;-)
• Julia LOVED having neighbor kids to play with this past month. Aaron's family lives across the street from a 5 year old boy and a 2 1/2 year old girl. They were really good with her. The 5 year old took her out in his power wheels cars and pushed her on his trike and talked to her as if she understood exactly what he was talking about, which was really cute. Julia loved them and ran around after them like a puppy. She played fairly well with them, although she didn't always understand how to play their games (for instance, she wanted to join in a game of ball, yet she refused to loosen her grip on the little soccer ball she found) and she sometimes got fixated on their toys and was in her own little world for a while (like when she rode in the pink hot wheels car all by herself... not knowing how to steer...). Julia is also very affectionate, having not yet learned social mores, and often tried to hug and kiss(! haha!) and hold hands with the 2 1/2 year old girl. Julia had her lips all smooched up and was making a loud kissing noise, trying to approach the little girl for a kiss when we were parting ways one day, and the little girl looked a little confused/frightened... haha!
• Julia also had a great time with Aaron's family's dog, Louis. She picked up on all of Aunt Jessica and Grandma Mary's "pet names" for him, and would run around saying things like, "Oh, LOU LOU!" very dramatically. 
• I was changing Julia's diaper the other day, and talking to her about how she's going to be a big girl soon and not wear diapers. I told her she'll get to wear underwear (!) and to excite her about it, I said she could probably wear "Thomas" underwear. She got excited, and then I realized they might not make female Thomas the Tank Engine Underwear. So, I backtracked a little, and suggested that maybe she could wear Mickey underwear. "Noooo," she said. "Elmo underwear?" I asked. "Noooo," she said, "Donald underwear! Duck underwear!" ??? Where did that come from? I think she's seen a Donald Duck cartoon once maybe? As I said, good memory. Why does my little girl only want Thomas and Donald on her underwear?? Haha! She's her mother's daughter for sure! (I collected matchbox cars and loved dinosaurs and played the part of the daddy whenever Meghan and I played house... so, yeah.)
• Julia has gotten better and better at climbing up and down stairs rather than crawling up and down them. There were a couple times this past month everyone thought Julia was asleep in the basement, and she surprised us by just showing up upstairs. We put up a baby gate to prevent this from happening, but she kicked it down, climbed up the stairs, and greeted Aaron with a big, "Hello, Daddy!"
• For a long time, one of Julia's favorite things to tell me is, "Mommy, you're silly!" which makes sense because, well, I am. I make her laugh a lot by doing silly things or making silly faces or tickling her, and she follows up her laughing spells by letting me know how silly I am. She recently upped things a notch, though. Now, not only am I silly, she also has been saying, "Mommy, you're crazy!" Haha! Probably true. Although I thought that phrase wasn't supposed to make its appearance until the teenage years.

We love you, Julia!