Xol turned 21 months a couple of days ago. She is really a little lady already! Such a fun kid! The major news for the 20 months mark is she can count to 10!!! She’s been working up to it I guess (with that 6 7 8 9 stint at the beginning of the month), but she just belted it out one day when I was getting ready to drop my clothes off at the cleaners. She started taking my clothes out of the bag, one article at a time, and saying 1, 2, 3, etc!! I was trying not to freak out and trying to find my phone while I did that so I could record it!! Needless to say I didn’t do either successfully enough and I scared her out of doing it again that day. Haha! [EDIT: ( HOW COULD I FORGET?!)The other major news is that Xol learned how to conjugate verbs and use prepositions!!! Very well, might I add. Got to get bragadocious with that one!] She also has full on conversations with people. Of course there are some…ok several…words missing here and there, but you will get the point! She knows what she likes too. She will tell people where to sit at the table and whether or not she’s ready for them to leave! She likes to jump and walk while holding mom and pop’s hands. She loves to go out to eat and she still has a great appetite. She is increasingly better at doing everything herself. She is trying to dress herself independently and although I hope we’re at the tail end of things, she still prefers to go without pants. Xol is a precious angel. The first time I can remember her showing empathy was when she was 7 months old and I was going through some personal issues. She grabbed my face and pulled me in for a kiss with a concerned look on her face. Just the other day I showed her a clip of our wedding reception. It was the father / daughter dance and it was a little emotional. She thought Papo and Mom were sad, so she started crying at the thought of it. Saying No!! Such a sweet show of empathy from my sunshine. Caught it on tape and word spread quickly among the Gil de Montes inner circle. I may post it as a result! HA! Her obsession with Mickey Mouse clubhouse is at an all time high thanks to her father and tata who let her watch TV without restraint. It irks me to no end that she watches TV every morning before getting out of bed, but watching it more than that makes me feel ill!!!! No one cares what I say anymore because it is a sure fire way to get Xol to calm down in a pinch. Xol knows all the characters by name (even those not prominently featured) and can identify them from the sound of their voice. I draw the line at Mickey and the crew though. NO ONE will start the princess parade on my watch! I bought her the CD and we have it on deck in the car, the house, and on mom’s phone. Never know when we’re gonna need a little Mouse magic! She even takes her Minnie and Mickey stuffed animals out to eat with us. She occasionally feeds them as well. All of this has me considering making her 2nd birthday party a MM Clubhouse theme. Staying true to my word, this party will be considerably smaller than her 1st! No more major functions until her 5th birthday. Then we blow the roof off this mutha one more time! Ha! Oh and I axed the hippy school, but I have not ruled out returning once Xol is at the Nursery School age. That place left a short legacy of a feverish cold and bad behavior! It’s taken a while, but she’s over both of them…for the most part. She has slowed down a bit in her interest for books and I do make a direct correlation to the new found love of TV!!! She still reads and is working on her letters still. She started playing the maracas and xylophone this month and she still plays her drums (getting better at those!). Her guitar is temporarily out of commission, but it will be back. She is also working on learning small, medium and large as well as colors and patterns. That’s all for now. Xol is adventurous and keeps me on my toes. I love her spirit and so does everyone around her! Blessed with the best. Xoxo

How did I forget to mention that on March 9th I put new earrings on Xol. They were Hawaiian flowers. The only other time I attempted that, it did not end well and she wore 2 different earrings for about 6 months! This time she let me put them on and let me take them off (for her to sleep), but I never got them back on!!! Her ears are naked. As we speak. As I’m sure they will stay for the next couple of years, at least. She’s not going to let me pierce them again without a fight. After I took them out, i realized that one of the piercings never did heal all the way. So, maybe she was better off this way. She didn’t even make it 1 year with those suckers :/ Its not like she needs them or anything, but this child loves an accessory!

I live to hear Xol concentrate on something! I love it!! She breathes out of her mouth whenever she’s trying to accomplish something. It’s too cute. She also gives herself a ‘yay!’ when it’s done. Great self esteem 😉