Courage and Bravery -- Andi at 20 Months

This morning Andi was awarded a certificate for "courage and bravery."


Andi got her first haircut this morning.  The twins needed their haircut, so all three went to see the stylist at once.  Andi was at her finest almost-2-yr-old self, running away, screaming, kicking and shouting "NO!" at me whenever I came close to her. Luckily the salon was quiet so I don't think we disturbed too many people.  While she was a holy terror nearly whole time we were there, she did sit completely still for her haircut.  She has watched the twins many times, and believing herself to also be 4-years-old, she was eager to sit "like a big" girl in the chair.  Here she is -- mid-blink -- but it's the only picture I got.

In this last month, I have captured some pics of her and below have tried to capture the essence of her in the past month...because sooner rather than later all these memories are going to fade away if I don't write them down.

Happy Andi

Andi is happy when she watches Elmo, eats cookies, chocolate cake, ice cream, "co-corn" (popcorn), and gum wrappers.  She loves to talk to grampa on the phone, see her sisters at school and play in their classroom.  Playing "outside," painting in the bathtub, practicing going potty, picking out her BLUE socks to wear, and time with the neighbor girls make her happy, too.  Andi asks for "ohmeal" (oatmeal) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ohmeal makes her happy, as do kitties.  If Andi really likes something she shouts, "I LOOOOVE IT!" while hopping or galloping through the room.

Mad Andi
Andi gets mad when mommy sings "No singing!", turns off the TV, tries to change her diaper, or when daddy just looks at her.  When Andi is mad she yells "SPACE!", swats, slaps, bites, and throws herself onto the floor, banging her head every time.  Andi doesn't like strangers to talk to her, or actually even look at her.  Andi hates being told it's time to go inside, and she does NOT like getting put in her car seat.  She is known in her ECFE class for giving..."the look."

Spunky Andi
Andi loves to "tickle, tickle" people, even the overly developed teenage gymnast who is bent over the drinking fountain whose rear-end, tightly encased in short gymnasts shorts, is the perfect height for Andi's "tickle, tickle!" fingers (luckily mommy grabbed her little hand right before anything awkward happened).  When Andi isn't tickling teen gymnasts or the mannequin in the gymnastics lobby -- who she calls "Barbie" -- she likes to dance with her sisters and mommy to Pink's song, "F****** Perfect".   Who needs Raffi?  

Andi also loves to go to gymnastics and run onto the forbidden gym floor, giggling when mommy chases and grabs her.  Last week, Andi, shocked by the site of Ella 4-feet high off the ground on a skinny balance beam  screamed at the top of her (very large) lungs, "OH! ELLA!" and then clasped her little hand over her big mouth until Ella dismounted. 


Such a drama queen.  I have no idea where she gets that.

Sad Andi
Andi feels sad when mommy and her sisters laugh at her when she wears a macaroni noodle on her forehead throughout lunch.  Andi feels sad when her sisters are sad or if she gets in trouble -- especially by daddy.  It breaks her little heart, makes her lip quiver and the tears flow.  Andi feels sad when her ice cream is gone and when she is given a dinner she doesn't want.  She responds to icky dinners (which is virtually every dinner mommy makes lately) "No Like IT!" and shoves the dinner across the table and hops down from the table.