Twenty-One Months of Toddler Frances

No big changes to report this month, but she also changes every day.

• Language: New words for the month include off, bus, bath, apple, bee and choo-choo for train. The new sign of the month is cookie. She'll make the sign when she wants a cookie and when she sees a picture of Cookie Monster. I'm pretty sure she's a genius.

• Locomotion: She's still not 100% steady on her feet, but I no longer worry about her wobbling over when she's running, which is good because she runs all the time. And she's gotten much more stable on the stairs. She used to need two supports, usually the railing and my hand, to use stairs. Now she usually only needs one support and sometimes none if the steps are shallow enough.

• Firsts: Frances now makes song requests. "Yo-yo" is "Old McDonald had a Farm" (think about it for a second and it'll make sense) and "Baa baa" is, of course, "Baa baa, black sheep."

• Favorites: Frances's favorite books this month are A Teeny Tiny Baby, by Amy Schwartz; Head to Toe, by Eric Carle and Down by the Station, by Jennifer Vetter. The first two books I would recommend, the last not so much but Frances loves its pictures of trains, planes, trucks and buses. Favorite food: blueberries. Frances isn't going to have an oxidant left (isn't that the point of antioxidants?). She's also fond of apples, but only the first bite of the whole apple. I frequently find apples with one bite removed in handy places like under the sofa. Frances's favorite activity is playing chase, preferably with boys named Zach - heaven help us.

• Frequent comment: Usually in this section I only report comments people have made about Frances. For example, this month one complete stranger in Harvard Square said Frances seemed "mindful" and then said something about the inner Buddha; I love Harvard Square. But this month, I'll add a conversation that Frances and I have a lot. It goes like this:

          Frances: Mimi?
          Me: Mimi is on a boat in Canada
          (Repeat ad nauseum.)

        You see, Frances's grandmother is sailing around Prince Edward Island. Mimi came to visit us right before setting sail. Frances is now very concerned with where Mimi might be. Come home, Mimi, so I can stop having this conversation over and over and over.

• Greatest Aspiration: World Domination. If you're ever wondering where to sit, what to eat, where to walk, what to read, how to hold her hand, what to sing, etc., just ask Frances. She will be more than happy to show you how to do anything. I once saw a saying about just stepping back and letting toddlers rule the world. I get it now.