Growing girl...

Eva's mommy has been very busy lately, so it's nice to be able to sit down and think and write about Eva. for a while.

At the End of January, Eva turned 21 months old, and there must be a developmental stage that occurs around this time. In the last week even, she has made leaps and bounds in her development. First, her art... Eva loves to color and suddenly 4 days ago, she started to actually color for real. She still doesn't color in the lines or anything, but she will use 5 or 6 colors now and she colors the entire page. She is even creating patterns in her color. Second, her vocabulary...Eva can get out one of her picture books and tell me the name of everything in them. She can count to 3, although the number 1 is her favorite, she knows about 3 colors and she can sing from A to the letter D in the alphabet song. Also, she is enunciating the complete two syllables of words like "button" and "broken." Before, she only said the first syllable. Eva will also tell me, whenever she sees my bible, "Bible, Jesus talk." She is consciously using and initiating correct vocabulary to communicate with us, instead of just repeating words we have said. Eva really likes to talk, A LOT!

Granny taught Eva the Happy Happy Home song... it goes like this, "With Eva in the family, Happy Happy Home, Happy Happy Home, Happy Happy Home. With Eva in the family, Happy Happy Home, Happy Happy Home, Happy Happy Home. " Then you just repeat it with different names of the family. It's a very basic and simple song, but Eva will sing along with it and will sing every word...except on the verse about Mommy in the family. Then she just repeats "mommy" over and over again. But, all the other verses she will sing with. She likes to sing, and to listen to music. She really likes to watch the colors on the computer that Windows Media Player shows with the music. She will spend a long time watching the patterns and colors and swaying with the music. Although, I played her a traditional Chinese instrumental song and she got all upset with me and kept demanding more music. I told her it was music and she said, "NO." So I put on a different song with a rock and roll beat, she actually clapped her hands and looked up at me during her dancing and said, "Yea... music."

Tuesday night, Eva came up to me and said "Bed, Nighty Night." I asked her, "Eva, are you tired, do you want to go to bed?" Her eyes got big... she realized what she had just said, and emphatically insisted, "NO." However less than five minutes later she started crying about everything, was obviously very tired and got put to bed anyway. I should have just took her up to bed when she first suggested it instead of asking her if she wanted to go.

So, Eva and I have pretty much settled into our routine. There are days that Eva does nothing but challenge everything I say and other days that all she does is want to hug and cuddle. I really wish there were more of the later, but there aren't and that makes me appreciate the ones I get. I've decided to pick my battles on things that we ensue in a power struggle over. If she doesn't want to wear her mittens (at 15 below zero) I have not been making her. I carry them with us, and when her hands get cold she asks to put them on. I told her I wouldn't force her to have things put in her hair because I didn't like that it upset her so much. I don't want to violate her sense of self and space. So, I just have let her play with her hair things and get used to them. Yesterday, she came up to me with two miss-matched barettes and asked me to put them in her hair. So, I did. I didn't stress over it being neat and perfect... so that way it didn't hurt. She kept them in all day. It is progress. and better yet it is initiated by Eva.

In four more days it is the anniversary of the day we met Eva... it will be 8 months. My little girl is growing fast.