We Are Fami-Lee: A Girl and Her Elephant-- 21 AND 22 Months

**Note** Partial to full nudity ahead...by the 22 month old, no one else. Thank goodness!

I'm going to confess something and then forget I ever confessed and cover it up so "no one" knows.

I didn't take a 21 month Elephant picture with Sam. I know, I know. Sad day. But, when I took one of her at 22 months old, I just did it in 2 different outfits, so I can claim one was 21 months and one was 22 months. No one will ever know!

21 Months

22 Months

I thought it would be important to show Samantha as she has been the last several days: in just her new undies. It really shows our life and her life right now. I apologize if it offends anyone! :-)

Samantha has grown into a little girl (it feels like) overnight. Some of her accomplishments as of late:

1) Potty Trained!!! It took a week or so of staying home, but she's pretty good now. I know there will be more accidents, but she's got it down for the most part.
2) She knows all her letters and can even sing her ABC's. She often misses a few letters here and there, but the tune is there, which is pretty good too.
3) Other songs she knows and can often sing along with (but not on her own yet) are "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" Same tune, that helps!
4) She knows her name. She calls herself Sam, Sammie, and Manta.
5) She puts sentences together all the time now. Most of the time, they are in the form of "I want..." so we've got "I want some dinner/noodles/etc." "I want to try it" "Manta do it" (not a complete sentence, I know, but we give it to her) etc.
6) She's pretty concerned with emotions. Everything is "sad" as that is the only emotion she knows. If someone's crying, they are sad, if she sees something scary, she gets sad. It's pretty sweet, because that's usually the only time she'll give hugs and kisses. So, she's learning some sympathy.
7) 3 new teeth. She almost has all her teeth now, just in time for her to turn 2 and get the 2 year molars.
8) Her hair is finally long enough to put it in a "ponytail." See picture to follow.
9) She has become VERY independent. Terrible two's in that sense has come a little early. The only way I can get her to do things is to ask is she'd rather do it by herself or if she'd rather I do it. She almost always wants to do it herself, even if I still do everything for her...if she thinks she's doing it herself, everyone's happier. Things she can do herself are put on her boots, zip up her jacket, climb into her car seat, buckle herself into her high chair, etc. It makes my life a little easier in most ways. Though, it is hard to be patient enough sometimes!
10) She likes to clean up after herself. I've been trying to get her to clean up her toys before naptime and bedtime and she's gotten very compliant. She also likes to wipe up messes, which didn't make the "punishment" of cleaning up after an accident very effective.