Still in a hurry

Eileen is now 19 almost 20 months old and is still trying to grow up as fast as possible.

As mentioned in a previous post, at 18 months Eileen not so subtly informed us that she would like to be potty trained.  I was less than enthusiastic and have been pretty lazy with it and have been using pull-ups.  About a week ago I put Eileen in underwear on a whim.  She wet herself and was so upset about it that she basically hasn't wet herself since and started telling us when she needed to go potty.  She even tells us when we are out in public or in the middle of crazy happenings.  Yesterday, she told us she need to poop for the first time (she usually informs us during it).  I really can't complain and appreciate her making it easy on me so far.

Potty trained? Check.

In other news, Eileen has started getting dangerously close to escaping her crib.  It's a little extra scary since the floor is hardwood.  Since the crib converts to a toddler bed, last night Dave took off the front rail.  We had Eileen and Linus swap beds since his toddler bed has a side rail.  For the first 45 minutes, Eileen kept saying she had to go the the bathroom and then tried to get more books to read.  Then there were tears.  Many many songs later she settled down. Two hours later, she was asleep. Tonight was better.  Only out of bed twice, one extra trip to the potty, and one hour later both kids were asleep.

Big girl bed? Check.

Eileen decided she no longer likes her rear facing car seat or being helped into the car for that matter.  She recently started insisting on getting in herself and then makes a beeline for the spare carseat in the back and proceeds to attempt to buckle herself.  The tantrum that ensues when we move her, complete with flailing body, is not fun.

Big girl carseat? Check.

Eileen impresses us every day with her vocabulary. She is now becoming quite the songstress.  I often catch Eileen off in a corner singing to herself--twinkle twinkle, rock a bye baby, ring around the rosy, etc.  Whenever I start to walk upstairs with her for nap, she immediately begins singing, "Goodnight Eileen." During our Whidbey Island drive, she sang along to Caspar Babypants.

Aspiring solo artist? Check.

Today while at the park Eileen said to Linus, "Hug?"  Then with her arms wrapped around Linus, gently patting him, she said for the very first time, "Love you."  She's never told Dave or I that she loved us.  I think it's so sweet her brother was the recipient.  It was a certified lovefest between the two of them the rest of the day.

Making declarations of love to an older boy? Check. Check.

It's odd to think how when Linus was this age I was so excited for him to grow up, to experience new things.  I wanted him to feel like a big boy so he wouldn't be upset when when the new baby came.  Now with Eileen, all I want is for her to slow down.  I want to savor those last remnants of babiness.