It’s happening.

I’m sure anyone who’s spent time with a little girl remembers the moment(s) when suddenly she starts to look and act like a BIG girl. It’s disconcerting, honestly. I know everyone says “they’re developing so fast!” and certainly that’s true, but what if literally one day your best friend couldn’t write his own email and the next he had written a best-selling novel? (don’t take that personally, honey, you’ve got other skills)

In all seriousness, that’s how fast our daughter is changing. Here are some recent developments:

• She can count to 10 (or 20, depending on the day). Though technically she has only proven she can actually count (meaning, ask her how many and she counts them up) to 2 with consistency, she can spout off numbers, in order, up to 20. Oh, and she really likes 14. I bet that’s because she plans to make my life hell at that age.
• She can put 2 words together on a regular basis, and we understand them. So, I did a little research on this one, and 2 word “sentences” are a milestone, but most resources suggest that though they can put 2 words together, you have to decipher them to get that it’s a sentence. Not so for Zoe.
• She now has 2 songs. The old standby, “Row, Row, Row” (yes, that’s still as far as she can get, though she sometimes says “boat”) and now the “ABC” song – she can make it to D and sometimes E before she claps enthusiastically because she’s so proud of herself. Oh, and she can fill in the blanks if you pause while you’re singing. And she loves Z.
• She’s beginning to test her power. She’s thrown a tantrum or two, though honestly they’re pretty mild, and thanks to my brilliant husband we always say “Oh, are you swimming? Swim, swim!” and walk away. Generally, that works. She’ll usually get distracted and says “swim”, pulling all the power right out of her tantrum. A week or so ago, she not only threw her tantrum (followed by Bart’s response) but realizing he had walked away, she got up, went over to his new location and tried again. That’s testing. Oh, and she failed. Bart is a rock.
• She’s starting to look like a little girl. I swear her legs are growing, and her face… That “baby” look is morphing into a little girl look that we’re pretty confident is going to cause us as much trouble as the baby face. And when she wears clothes, she’s “wearing” them. Not like a doll but like a person. I don’t know how better to describe this one.

Anyway, when it comes to other milestones, I have to say I’m skeptical about the lists out there. BabyCenter suggests that at 19 months “advanced” kids (a few of them) can point to an object when you say its name – and at 20 months these advanced kids can name several body parts. She’s been doing both for months, and she’s only 16 months. That said, she hasn’t learned to use a spoon/fork very well, and she still has 2 naps (things “half” the kids at her age can do). I know this isn’t exactly a science, but how in the world are you supposed to know what’s normal? Or what to reinforce?

Guess we’ll just keep giving her opportunities to learn and being pleasantly surprised as she picks up new things. Oh, and we’ll keep you posted :)