Beanuts and Bolts (a Beatrix Update)

I’ve been getting a lot of Bea development questions lately so I thought I’d give you an update on where she is, and where we are with a few things.

My sweet Bea is just over 2.5.  It’s really hard to wrap my brain around the fact that she’ll be 3 in July!  In many ways the time has flown by, but in others it seems like she’s been with us forever.  If I were to describe Bea I would say she’s loving, gentle, curious and inquisitive, sensitive, hilarious and independent.  She’s in a phase right now where she wants to do everything by herself.  And I have to say I LOVE IT.  She puts on her own coat, hat, mittens and boots – not always on the right feet, but she’s trying!

I get a lot of questions about Bea’s speech and language.  To be honest, I can’t really explain why or how she speaks as much or as well as she does.  We have always talked to her like to we speak to grown-ups; full sentences and no “baby talk” so maybe that has helped?  I will say that up until she could communicate, Bea was a frustrated baby.  Once she learned first how to sign what she wanted, then learned how to speak, she was much happier.  She talks ALL day.  It’s like a little live stream from her brain constantly narrating what she’s doing or thinking.  She also has a wildly fun imagination which I suspect she got from her Daddy.  Also, her artistic ability has blown me away!   She’s gotten really good at drawing ghosts, which is super weird and a little creepy. 

Potty training is happening, at Bea’s pace.  She’s nailing the pees.  Poos are hit and miss.  Day by day is how we’re approaching it.  We tried the 3 day method, which I know works really well for others, but it just wasn’t a good system for Bea.  We started with the little seat on the big toilet and I think that freaked her out.  So we got a little potty and had good pee success.  But quickly realized that when we’re out and she needs to pee, a big toilet is all there is!  So we’re back on the big toilet and she’s comfortable.  I should say, I am not in the least bit worried about her getting the hang of this thing.  I know she’ll figure it out and I’m not rushing her.  We started the training because quite frankly, diaper changing was getting really gross. 

She’s still in her crib and quite happy in there.  We’ve been kicking around the idea of a big girl bed so the other day I asked her if she wanted to sleep in a big bed and she said ‘No Mom, I like my crib” which is just fine by us!  Randall and I still can’t figure out why she hasn’t climbed out of her crib yet.  Not even an attempt!  As for napping, we put her down every day. 5 out of 7 days she’ll actually nap.  The other days she just lays there for quiet time.  She is an excellent night sleeper, about 12 hours, and gets up around 7:30 each morning.  Hallelujah for sleep training!

So that’s my little Bea update for now!  Keep the questions coming and I’ll try and answer as best I can!