Twenty-Three Months of Toddler Frances

So, not the best pictures, but on Frances's twenty-three months birthday, we found ourselves out for dinner with Frances's friend, Sophia.  We were celebrating making an offer on a house.  Frances was celebrating her French Fries.

Here we go:

• Language: I'm a little behind on the language list.  Some that I've failed to mention in previous posts include milk, bagel, run, "eep" for sleep, Abby, Amy, mouse and house.  Her new words this month are Elmo, towel, nut, bright, bridge, tunnel, "rit" for read, "oap" for soap, and "rickie" for cookie.  She only signs cracker, airplane, bird, blueberry, and more.  All her other signs have been replaced with spoken words.  I read somewhere that at her age Frances should "have" 150 to 300 words.  I don't think she speaks even close to that many, but I could believe that she understands that many.
• Locomotion: Running, running, running.  And she doesn't fall down half as much as she used to.
• Favorite song: Old MacDonald, and her favorite animals to sing about are horses and dolphins.  Making the dolphin sound is...interesting.
• Favorite books: You Can Go to the Potty, by William and Martha Sears and a Sesame Street dictionary.  I prefer the Sesame Street dictionary.
• Social skills: When Frances began trying to socialize with kids at the playground, she would walk up to them, tilt her head towards the kids and then raise her eyebrows.  Success was rare.  Now, she runs circles around her intended playmate, hoping the kid will engage in a chase.  One poor child gave me a look that said, "What am I supposed to do with this?" but then gamely chased after Frances for at least 20 minutes. Thank you, thank you stranger child at the playground for indulging my child.
• Frequent conversations:  As with last month,

                   Frances: Wet?

                   Me: (I can say anything here, really, then Frances will say...)

                   Frances: Bath (pronounced "Bas").

             Another "conversation" we have goes like this,

 

                   Frances: Daddy choo-choo.

                   Me: Yes, Daddy rides the choo-choo train to work.

• One word to describe Frances this month: pre-Humdinger.  Not everyday, but some days Frances can really give us a run for the money.  The next year might be long.