when did she get to be so big?

In just two weeks I feel like my Tiger Cat has become a little girl! She is walking everywhere (still with me holding her hands or pushing a chair - but doing it LOTS) and has figured out that if she points to an object someone will tell her what it is. Right from the moment I walk in the door in the morning to lights out at night is constant "dah?" point "dah?" point. Sometimes the things she points at are a big group of things so I'm not sure if I'm naming the right object....so don't be surprised if when words start coming out that she calls the toaster a kitty. haha. She is also learning words at an alarming rate (well, to me anyway). We went to Ikea the other day, now every day she says "Ikea". She calls me Mommy now, and Dan Daddy. She completely shocked me when we were playing with some of her magnetic animals two days ago. She picked up a sheep and said "Baaaah!".....then a cow and said "Mooooo!". AND THEN today we were driving to visit my Granny, and she saw some horses in a field and said "Neigh!". Where the heck did all that come from!!??? It's like a light went off in her head and now she can't stop learning. In fact, I think it's partly why she is having trouble going to bed at night now. She cries and cries, and I'm wondering if it's because she doesn't want to turn the learning off. I MUST keep this in mind, to watch what words are coming out of my mouth and into her little head!

I've been enjoying my holidays immensly. I feel like now that I have time to spend with her that I understand her better. When she gets angry or frustrated I can take the time to stop and think about what it is that is bothering her, and solve it in a rational manner, rather than getting upset and wondering what the heck her problem is. That year I had off with her, that was different because she was a baby. Now that she has entered the world of toddlers she wants to be understood more, and have more independence, which takes more patience and understanding on my side. I love every moment that I can figure out what it is that is making her upset and put her world back into place. I hope that I can keep this up when I'm back at work as well. (I say all that because we were both getting frustrated for a while there. She was getting angry and I wouldn't know what to do about it.) I mean, I'm not saying I'm perfect (Lord knows I'm not!) but to have the time to sit and deal with her when she is angry, rather than trying to just push the issue off because I have too many other things going on in my head, well, it's been nothing short of wonderful!

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures. The first one is of our entire family at Christmas. The second is of Kassidy doing one of her new tricks.