Ildri is still a fountain of language. She simply doesn't stop. Her first phrase popped up about a month ago, during a bath. Ildri was playing in the tub while I sat beside her, reading a book. Suddenly I heard her say "I sees you, feet". I looked over, and she had her legs inside her bath toy caddy, with her toes pushed through one of the openings. I couldn't stop laughing. It was one of the cutest utterances I'd ever heard from her. Since then, she's continued to put short phrases together and she's constantly parroting everything David and I say. This morning, I overheard her saying "sit down for breakfast, sweetie" as she was heading to her high chair.
In November, Ildri had a bout of the stomach flu for the first time. It was pretty terrifying for her, and unpleasant for the whole family. Dave came down with the same bug, yet I remained relatively healthy. Perhaps it was because I pretty much stopped eating for a few days. Ildri got through it like a champ, and I'm still amazed at a toddler's ability to be so sick yet still laugh and play throughout the day. The one good outcome of the flu: it was a great time to wean Ildri off her nighttime bottle. We didn't give her the usual big bottle of milk before bed for a few nights, so we decided not to return it to her routine. She asked for her bottle for a couple nights, but that was it. I thought I would miss the cuddling that came with the nighttime bottle, but that was easily replaced with snuggles and books. Now she has dinner with Daddy and Mommy every night, which is great fun! Bye bye, bottles!
November also brought our first family trip to Cleveland to visit Grandpa Bob and Grandma Gert. Admittedly, I was DREADING the long car ride. After some debate, we decided to try to to the bulk of the driving during the night, hoping Ildri would sleep for most of it. Good idea, right? We even mentioned the plan to Ildri several times, letting her know that she would have to go "night-night" in the car when we went to Ohio. We gave it a good shot, but ended up with a screaming toddler and a night in a hotel in Indiana. The visit itself was wonderful, and Ildri loved being with her Grandma and Grandpa in Ohio. She was really into a giant collection of animals that Bob and Gert have amassed over the years.
Sometimes, Ildri says something that Dave and I just can figure out. There was a word she would repeat often in stores or while we were in the car. It sounded like "Grandma's" or "cameras", but that didn't fit contextually. Finally, I realized that she was saying "Christmas"! I don't know how she picked up the word, as we hadn't decorated or talked about Christmas. Still, she was saying it in relation to Christmas lights on houses and trees, and Christmas decorations in stores. Once we realized what her mystery word was, we ran out to get our first Christmas tree. We went a little nuts with all the decorations and lights, but how can you blame us? Children make Christmas magical all over again. Ildri loved the tree, and besides pulling the bows off all the presents, she was very well-behaved with the decorations.
I'll have to finish our holidays in another post - I still need to upload the photos from our camera!
