Thirty-One Months of Toddler Frances

Actually, describing Frances as a "toddler" doesn't feel right anymore. "Preschooler" Frances?  Maybe.

Here she is, in all her glory:

Frances has had a lot of baths this past week and a half.  She had a diaper rash that refused to heal.  Her doctor recommended four baths a day for twenty minutes each in baking soda.  That means I spent 80 minutes a day sitting on the bathroom floor, reading Curious George to Frances.  I don't mind Curious George generally, but it does not hold up to 80 minutes a day on the bathroom floor, let me tell you.  I did think it appropriate that her 31 month picture be taken in the bath.

Thirty-One Month Fun Facts

• Favorite reads: Not Dora!  One of her favorites this month has been Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't), by Barbara Bottner.  It's about a first-grade malcontent who comes to love reading and libraries through the persistence of her librarian.  And it takes about seven minutes to read.  I love it.  And Curious George, of course.  I feel I should be more loyal to George, since the Reys had something to do with Boston, but, oh, my! don't those stories go on.
• Firsts: Frances has learned to put on her own pants and she's very pleased with her new skill.  This means she wears the soft, easy-to-don pants that happen to be stripey almost every day of the week. It's hard to match stripey pants, so she looks a tad discombobulated most of the time, but that's alright.  She's also managed to get her t-shirt on once, but she's much more focused on the pants.
• Favorite joke: Point to a pig in a book.  Say "moo." Laugh uproariously. Point to a sheep in a book.  Say "moo."  Laugh uproariously.  And so on.
• Frequent phrase: "Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?"  It seems to be her way of keeping the conversation going.  Sometimes if I fail to answer her quickly enough, she'll simply repeat "why?" over and over.  She's also started throwing "actually" into her sentences.  Makes me realize how much I say it, which is humbling.
• Singing: Thanks to The Lion King and Pandora's Family Folk Radio, Frances now loves The Lion Sleeps Tonight, sung by lots of people, including The Tokens.  She's also working on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, or as it's known around here, Twinkle Star.

She's getting big!  Time to start thinking about third birthday parties.