I realized that I never wrote a monthly update for Cate last month because she was sick on her 20-month “birthday,” so instead I was writing about her asthma treatments and all kinds of depressing medical stuff. Blah. As for my girl’s milestones over the past TWO months:

1) Her social development is out of this world. She loves-loves-LOVES the older kids in the neighborhood, and runs to give them hugs when she sees them. Oddly, this doesn’t seem to apply to kids who are closer to her own age. Like when e-baby tries to give her a hug, she just sort of looks at me like, “the hell?” It doesn’t upset her, she just seems confused. And yesterday a little girl down the street (who isn’t much bigger than Cate herself) tried to pick her up and carry her around. Cate was NOT having it, she squirmed away and when the little girl insistently grabbed her hand to lead her in a certain direction, Cate threw herself on the ground and screamed at her. I mean, not crying, just a full-on, angry “AAAHHH!!” at the little girl. I had to turn around so neither one of them could see me laughing. So, older kids who understand a certain degree of social boundaries? A-OK in her book. Kids her own age who have no concept of personal space? Not so much.

2) I really cannot get over how much she can talk and sign. She’s learning colors, she’s making full sentences, and every day she seems to come out with at least two or three new words. It boggles my mind. She’s evolved from a simple little “bye-bye” to, “Bye! See you! We go now!” And she’s gone from “hi” to, “Hi, [insert name]! What are you doin’?” She slays me.

One of my favorite new phrases happened two nights ago: after her bath, I picked her up and she was saying hi to the baby in the mirror like she does every night. Then she pointed at the mirror and said, “It’s raining!” Um, what? She said it again. It took me a minute, but I finally realized that all of the little specks on the mirror sort of look like it’s raining. So, clearly she’s a genius, and I should maybe think about breaking out the Windex more often.

3) She’s starting to let up on the super-clingy stuff, which has made life so much easier for everyone. She’s gone back to thinking that her Daddy is the Coolest Guy Ever – I knew she’d come around eventually, but MAN it’s nice to have a break from the “all-mommy-all-the-time” stuff. She often sneaks up the stairs when I’m not paying attention to go “see Daddy!” in his office. She’s totally stealthy about it, I don’t hear her on the stairs and it’s not until I hear a distant, “hi, Daddy! What are you doin’?” that I realize where she is and have to go retrieve her.

I have to say, the first couple of months in North Carolina was really hard on me because I wasn’t used to having Cate home with me all day, and my job didn’t have any projects for me (hence no daycare). The whole “full-time stay-at-home mom” thing felt totally alien to me, and I really hated it at first. I felt housebound and stir-crazy. I’m looking for additional freelance work – and I’m still on the roster at my Seattle job, whenever things pick up there – but I’ve kind of gotten into the swing of the full-time mommy thing and I’m starting to really enjoy it. I know it’s temporary and I’ll have to put her back in daycare, at least part-time, when I start working again, but right now we are having an absolute blast.

Toddlers are a freaking riot.