19 months

We have a 19-month-old now … who loves to see how loud her voice can go, bust out a waterfall of tears when she doesn't get what she wants, and greet the neighbor's dog every time we leave the house with a loud "Hi dogeeee!"

Oh, how she loooooves to color. If Kates and I really need to keep Phoebe occupied, and have her occupied for a lengthy time, we’ve discovered Phoebe and a box of crayons is the best solution. She can stand at the coffee table for long periods taking delight in taking crayons out of the box and putting them back in, looking at the colors and dragging them across a sheet of paper. … On the other side, though, some of the biggest tantrums we’ve had to endure so far have come at the moment we have to take those crayons away.

She knows almost all of her colors … Like bown, geen, white, wewoa, purpo, bue, onge and -- rojo. Hey, she’s learning Spanish, too!

She’s learning shapes. … and get this: The one she loves to say most – octagon. As opposed to the more common circle or square, yes, Phoebe knows octagon. “Octagai! Octagai! Octagai!” she says as she bounces around the room.

One of Phoebe’s favorite pastimes these days – if she doesn't have access to the crayons – is stacking her blocks and then pushing them and watching the stack fall …

Her interest in books continues. It’s not uncommon for her to plunk herself down in front of one of our book shelves, pull out a book and begin flipping through it. Or she’ll pick out a book and bring it to Kates or I in hopes that we’ll stop whatever we’re doing and read it to her – which we usually do. Her favorite books continue to be “Good Night Moon” and “Skippy Jon Jones,” along with a big “Sesame Street” book with words and numbers.

That interest in “Sesame Street” has only gotten deeper, too – which gets a big thumbs-up from me, not only because I remain a big fan in adulthood, but those “Baby Einstein” DVDs drive me crazy. At least I can enjoy “Sesame Street” with her … Phoebe adores Ernie and Abby and Elmo. She has an Abby bowl she asks to eat from every night at supper; she pines for her Ernie coloring book (Really, it’s a coloring book with all “Sesame Street” scenes and characters, but Phoebe calls it “Ernie.”), and the other day when we were watching one of the new “Sesame” episodes (it was about time … we were so tired of the reruns), Phoebe’s eyes nearly exploded out of her head when “Elmo’s World” began. Phoebe shot straight up from her seat, pointed to the TV and shouted, “ELMO!”

Rarely a dull moment.