We’re one month away from having a two-year old!!! Honestly, though, we keep forgetting that she’s not two yet because she’s been acting like it for a while now. Hannah is so precocious.
Hannah’s 23-Month Stats:
- Weight: 26 pounds, 6 oz {88th percentile – as of 1/22}
- Length: 32 inches {60th percentile – as of 1/22}
- Clothing size: 2T
- Shoe size: toddler size 6 – new shoe size this month!
- Number of teeth: 14 with her last two canines popping through
- Favorite foods: smoothies, pasta, cheese, watermelon, strawberries, crackers, cookies
- Least favorite foods: beef, chicken
- Favorite things/activities: reading books, playing anything with Ben, digging in the sand, climbing, swinging, watering, seeing animals, pouring water, and taking baths.
- Least favorite things/activities: waiting, not getting what she wants
So much has happened with Hannah in the last month it’s hard to even know where to start. The beginning of her 23rd month was filled with a major physical and intellectual growth spurt that seemed to last about two weeks.
When she was on the other side of her growth spurt we noticed so many changes. First of all, she grew! Her feet outgrew her shoes overnight – of course with the shipping delays she had to wait an entire week for new shoes. She got very good at stealing her big brothers shoes in the meantime! Now Hannah can reach the rings on the swing set and has an easier time climbing up into the chair at the counter.
Intellectually this growth spurt turned her into a full-fledged two-year old. She’s throwing tantrums, refusing to get dressed and she is potty trained!
Her communication is really incredible. She is still very difficult to understand; however, she’s been working really hard, mostly with Alex, on properly sounding out words and it’s getting slightly easier to figure out what she’s saying. We can typically get the gist and she’s actually an incredible non-verbal communicator.
It’s really hard to say what Hannah’s vocabulary really is, just because many of her words are unintelligible. I’m guessing, though, that her vocabulary is probably somewhere around 300-400 words, maybe more and I just don’t know. She’s stringing together 3-5 or 6 word sentences and the complexity and variance of her sentence structure really grew with this last developmental leap.
Hannah was showing signs of potty training readiness for a while. I took a very laissez faire approach and let her run the show. Sure enough, she did and she is officially potty trained!
Hannah is fiercely independent. She wants to do everything herself. Usually she is very patient with herself as she tries something new and keeps trying and trying. She’s started saying “I did it!” with enthusiasm, pride or sass. She loves an audience and will frequently ask anyone, including the dog to “watch this puppy!” when she is trying something new or doing something silly.
A major milestone for Hannah this last month has been learning how to ride her balance bike and Ben’s scooter! Alex and I had previously been pushing her on both. One day I just decided I was over that and if she wanted to ride the bike she had to do it herself. So she did!
With each passing week Hannah’s personality comes out more and more. When Alex chose her name, he named her Hannah because he thought about a tough but girly girl with her pigtails pinned up under her ski goggles, zipping down the mountain – a girl who could really keep up with the boys. He chose Maxine after his grandmother who was fierce and tough and wouldn’t put up with anything out of line – she told you how it was and that was that. It is remarkable how well our Hannah Maxine is living up to her name.
Hannah knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. She knows her body and herself and is learning how to ask for some space when she needs it. Hannah is overflowing with love, affection and sincerity. She’s the first to ask “are you okay, mama?” if I {or anyone} gets hurt, then meets the injury with a gentle caress from her chubby, beautiful little hand. She is rough and tough – some of her injuries and falls almost go unnoticed it seems, and she’s very quick to pull hair, bite or hit when she wants attention or is upset. If she does get hurt she brushes herself off and tries again.
My girl is ever the helper. She is so nurturing and has the loveliest maternal instincts. She is always at my side, ready and eager to help me with absolutely whatever I am doing. She’s my expert waterer when we’re tending the garden, she puts the dirty clothes into the washing machine and then the dryer, she wants to do whatever she can to help cook or bake and she always wants to help fill up the water table.
I could go on and on and on about how enamored I am with this girl. We just adore our ferociously spirited sweet Hannie.
