Twenty Months of Toddler Frances

Two disclaimers: 1) This post has way too many photos. Sorry about that. I couldn't choose. 2) This first picture best represents Frances's real mood during her twenty-months photo shoot. She was feeling ornery. I have an ever-deepening respect for child photographers.


With that business out of the way, here's Frances Elliott at 20 months of age. Mark and I took Frances down to Harvard Yard. We thought that would be a nice setting for Auntie Beth's lastest gift, also known as The Loveliest Dress Ever.

Please excuse the shoes; we need to find some nice white sandals. Concentrate on the dress.

These last two are my favorite:

Twenty Month Fun Facts

• Language: Frances has had a bit of a language burst. Some of her new words include "uck" for "stuck," "ba" for "ball," "ruck" for "truck," yes, yep, yeah, hat, walk and rock. She also uses hot, wet and up, but she's a little shakey on the meaning. Everything is "hot" and she pats the spot where she wants us to sit and says "up." She also knows monkeys say "hee hee," owls say "who-who" and horses say "knee," don't you know? Frances now addresses us as "daddy" and "momma." She's working on saying "Frances," but so far all we can make is two syllables of gibberish. She also now signs "please," so there's hope.
• Firsts: Frances had her first trip to New York City. I'm not sure how old I was for my first NYC trip, but I suspect I was older than 20 months. Mark was about 23. Frances has really mastered blowing kisses as she's going to bed. She's getting very close to full-on running, but she still wobbles so much when she tries to run that I half expect her to topple over. She never quite does though. By next month, she may have had her first hair cut!
• Obsessions: Frances's obsession with dogs, cats and ducks continues. She lives to get out of the apartment. She also enjoys telling us where to sit, mostly next to her. And clapping, she loves clapping.

I have to keep reminding myself that she's closer to a year and a half than two years, she seems so grown up. I'm loving it.