Playing in the AMD section at CNE

23 months old:

• August 18:  Started off her 23rd month of existence with another new splash pad that is only a few minutes from our place.  It’s a small splash pad that DH and I noticed once upon a time on our evening walks in the neighbourhood.  It’s one where you manually turn on the water and it’s just simple sprinklers and fountains.  It’s next to a play structure but even then, we were the only ones there on Thursday around noon.
• Bb enjoyed playing with the water and filling up her small bucket with it.  I had forgotten to bring my own water shoes with me so I was barefoot.  It was so nice to walk on the ground and get my feet wet (and then to dry off in the sunshine.  Summer vibes).
• At one point since she was filling up the bucket with water, I gave her a “task” to do.  I asked her to water the big tree because it’s really thirsty.  She must have spent five minutes walking to and from the sprinklers and the big tree to dump out her bucket and then to fill it with water again haha.  It was a fun task for her but I’m sure the tree was happy to finally get some hydration in the heat too.  It also easily tired bb out that when we left, she happily got into her stroller without complaint.
• After the splash pad play and lunch at the local wonton restaurant, we went to the grocery store.  Bb was so excited to sit in the shopping cart.  This is her second time ever sitting in one.  She loves to look at all the produce and I ask her to name the ones she knows.  There’s new ones to her like kiwi, honeydews, plums, mangos, etc.  There are also so many types of apples and oranges too.
• When we got to the seafood section of the grocery store, while we waited for grandma to pick out fish, I let bb touch and play with the ice pellets that were keeping the fish cold.  This was a new sensation for her too.  She didn’t know how to keep the ice pellets in her hand and most of them kept slipping on to the floor.  Oops, sorry for making the floor wet.  But it was fun and new for her.
• When bb bathes these days, she always has a plethora of kitchen toys with her.  Whether it be a plastic pot, the blue spoon, fork and knife, cups, her plastic food toys, her little bath tub is floating with all of the toys.  It’s so funny.  One night, she even chose the specific purple container that she wanted to bring up to her bath and held it up and then started walking towards the stairs because she knew it was time for bathtime and she wanted to play with that container that night.
• She started wearing pajamas this week.  We noticed that she is not always comfortable in the sleep sack because she says that her limbs get “tangled” (qui zu) in them.  It’s warm enough to not warm a sleep sack anyway.  She looks so cute in the matching pajamas ($1 outfit FBM purchase for the win!).
• August 24:  Bb had been waking up at 7 a.m. for some reason (maybe she heard that wanted her to wake up earlier in order to adjust to an earlier bedtime lol), so on the Saturday when she did this again (and I was also up because I happened to hear her cry), we drove to the Danforth where we had breakfast at the much-desired Maya’s.  Bb was a trooper too and it was another chance for her to see more people.  She did have an earlier nap that day since she was up so early.
• It’s been happening a lot this week where she’s been getting up very early.
• We also had a night this past week when she also woke up and cried at 2 a.m. or so and was inconsolable.  The only thing that worked after she calmed down finally was grandma taking her to her bed to sleep.  This little munchkin…
• We went out for Sunday brunch, just the three of us, and bb actually wasn’t shy or fearful of the server who interacted with her.  The server talked to bb and even came over to poke her in the shirt.  I think bb knew that the server gave her some crayons and paper to draw with and that helped?  For the first time, bb smiled at a stranger without an hour to warm up.  What a huge improvement!  She smiled at least two times too.
• Bb attended her very first baby shower this weekend too.  Our dear friends held the baby shower at a church with more than 80 attendees.  Bb did well and watched some of the older kids play and also smiled at certain friends too.  She was very tired though and did pass out on the way home since we were there for over 4 hours.
• This week, upon waking up from her nap, she still says “jor fun dor zun” (want to sleep in more).
• We went to the Canadian National Exhibition!  Bb was free since kids under 4 are free.  She was so patient with us the whole day.  We spent the majority of the visit in the Food Building where we ate different foods (so she just sat in her stroller and people watched or ate).  Bb ate a lot of the smoked meat sandwich, ice cream (she always does), two bites of the fried cheese curds, and a few bites of food here and there.  She also tried the ketchup ice cream with no awareness for its uniqueness.  She just downed the bites like regular ice cream lol.
• Bb liked walking next to her stroller as grandma pushed it when we were indoors.  She looked so proud when doing so.
• She also enjoyed playing with the oversized foam Lego blocks and light-up sticks in the Enercare Centre.  There was this older boy who was a bit aggressive.  When I pulled out one of the light-up sticks from the wall for bb to play with, the boy immediately shoved another one in its place, basically preventing bb from completing the activity.
• Bb was not very shy with the other kids too, another improvement for her socialization.
• She passed out immediately upon sitting in her car seat since it was such a long day at the CNE.
• Bb still fights the car seat, but we’ve managed to reduce the amount of time it takes to get her in.
• On a park visit this week, bb and grandma found a toad in the grass!  It’s bb’s first time seeing a toad up close and personal.
• Almost daily, grandma goes to harvest the cherry tomatoes that we have growing in the backyard (strawberries too).  Bb likes putting on her water shoes (easiest thing to put on other than her shoes) to go out with grandma to harvest them.  She’s so proud when she comes back in the house with a container full of the harvested goods.
• This week, she somehow found out that the plastic teapot toy she has had for a while actually plays music!  Uh, oh.  We try to limit the toys that make sound in the house because it’s obnoxious and they don’t always teach her things (it had been turned off this whole time she played with it).  Turns out that she loves the music that the teapot plays and also because whenever you make the motion of “pouring” the teapot, it plays rhyming songs and/or talks.  Bb has been loving this toy and is obsessed with it.  It’s cute.
• Bb continues to talk and repeat after us.  Not all repetition means that she actually understands us, but she responds for the most part things that do make sense.
• We were in the car this week on the way somewhere (I forget where) and we all thought that bb had fallen asleep (a good thing because we wanted her to rest up before we got to the destination).  We talked amongst ourselves that bb had fallen asleep probably.  And then 30 seconds later, bb said “bb didn’t fall asleep” (bb mo fun gow).  😂😂  That was the funniest thing we’ve heard her say and the fact that she knew we were talking about her too.  Eventually she did fall asleep though which was great for her to get some shuteye and rest.
• Sometimes when we take group photos these days and we ask bb to look in the camera, she purposely doesn’t look and says “mm mong” (won’t look) and turns the other way.  It’s funny when she does this.  It’s good for my social media content if I want to post the photo because her face is perfectly turned away. 😂
• Bb also had a slight fever the past two days.  We gave her some baby Tylenol which helped.  Bb sometimes took to the medicine okay but sometimes refused.  We all tested for COVID too and so far results have been negative.  Babies and young kids have fevers and colds every so often, so it’s a common thing.  Her fever’s only been about 38 C.
• Bb likes sitting on our lap when eating dinner these days.  She is so heavy!  I have to weigh her soon, but she’s definitely more than what she weighed last time (26 pounds).  I’m guessing she’s maybe 27 or 28 pounds now.  The weight of her on my lap is definitely something.
• She refused to eat much during some meals this week too.  We can’t force her to eat so she’ll eat when she’s ready.
• She doesn’t seem to like wearing dresses.  As I bring it up, she’s say “mm zert” (don’t wear).  We have a wedding coming up and it’d be nice for her to be dressed up, but we also can’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to.  She also has a preference for certain clothes and won’t wear certain tops.  There’s a red NBA championship onesie that DH got for her since she was a newborn that she can now fit in, but she refuses to wear that one too.
• When I tell her that she’ll be two years old soon, she says no and refuses lol.  She also refuses when we tell her that she’ll be a big sister soon but also acknowledges the little person in mommy’s belly.  She calls it “dou dou” (little pea) since that’s what we first referred to it when it was the size of a blueberry.
• This week, when I ask her to recite her own name and the names of the people in our family, she says “mm gon” (don’t want to say) or she says something else like her grandfather’s name in place of her own.  It’s like she doesn’t want to do it anymore.
• This little one is still uncomfortable around her paternal grandparents.  When they come over once a week, she goes into her shell and doesn’t say a word or even eat much until they leave.  I hope she gets used to people more.  However, I know she warms up to certain people easily.  She likes people who smile at her and actively play with her.
• Oh, and how can I forget!  This week, DH pulled out some of his Lego collections and bb has been enjoying playing with the Lego characters and blocks so much.  She knows not to put any of the plastic parts into her mouth and we’re also there supervising her when she’s playing with them.  Bb likes playing with the Lego car, opening and closing the Lego shop door, putting the little red hat on the Lego man, and more.
• Bb continues to hand us garbage when she finds it on the floor or play mat so she’s accustomed to knowing that small bits are garbage and not to be put in her mouth.
• One more thing I have forgotten to note: it’s been happening for a couple of weeks now but whenever bb asks for a certain food (or item) and we don’t have it, she would say “my dor dee __” (buy some more of ___”.  So whether it be blueberries or crackers, she would tell us to buy more of it and for DH to buy more of it.  One time we were talking about hair and when I said there’s no more of it, bb said to buy more hair. Lol