23 months

Lucinda and Malcolm are 23 months old!  

Only one more month and we'll have two year olds!  Crazy. 

They're really not babies anymore (sniff!).  This month we packed up their high chairs and moved them to booster seats at the kitchen table. We've been eating together almost every night for dinner, and we've actually seen a remarkable improvement in their mealtime behavior.  They're still in a picky phase, and anything new is met with a big side eye, but they're staying at the table longer and we're all enjoying the family time over meals.  They've also started to understand simple games like hide and seek, and their attention span has improved, making arts and crafts a lot more fun for everyone.  They've also started to engage in more pretend play - feeding dolls, flying airplanes, driving cars, and cooking us lots of tasty soup and sandwiches in their play kitchen.

At 23 months, Lucinda Jean...

• talks all the time, and is speaking in complete sentences.  she especially likes to talk about what all the members of her family are doing (mama, dada, "ca", "calco" and "bay cat").
• is a little bit bossy.  if malcolm spills something, she'll say "calco made mess!  mama clean it up!"
• likes to dance, and thinks it's hilarious to spin around until she gets dizzy and falls down.

favorite color: purple

favorite food: chicken nuggets

favorite book: good night, good night, construction site

favorite toys: shopping cart, sesame street figures

favorite game: chase ("I catch me")

At 23 months, Malcolm Walter...

• is using more words, and is communicating his needs and wants really well.  He sometimes has a hard time getting a chance to speak because Lucinda jumps in before he can find the right word.  His favorite words right now are "choo choo" "no"  "okay" and "juju" (lucinda) but he probably has 50+ words, and he understands everything we say.
• likes to help, and thinks about others (when he's not thinking about trains).  He tries to involve Lucinda in his games (espeically hide and seek) and brings her things he thinks she'll want.  
• loves to feed the cat, put laundry in the dryer, and put his toys away.

favorite color: blue

favorite food: bananas

favorite book: his Thomas books that play songs and sounds

favorite toys: trains, trains and more trains

favorite game: hide and seek (he much prefers hiding to seeking)

A few more pictures at 23 months:

Lucinda wanted me to take a picture of her and her "Bay Cat"