The Allen's: The London Lowdown: 21 Months

Wait!!

How did this happen?

I cannot possibly believe my eyes that my baby girl will be TWO in just 3 short months.

This summer has been a whirlwind & my little lass has grown into a little girl right before my eyes.

London is getting sooooo smart.

I'm so proud of her for all the achievements & learning that she has done recently.

She's everything I would have ever hoped for in a little girl.

I love her so.

For this photoshoot, I just decided to take it easy.
I just went outside of our apartments
& took them by the apartment pond & gazebo.
I took them right as the sun was going down
& I captured some juicy light.

I know this is a long post on her achievements,
but, I don't want to forget any little detail.
It's all too precious to me.

Here are some of her new achievements:

London is going through a 'picky eater' stage. Where has my baby gone that would have eaten anything I put in front of her? Like, now she thinks she's a big girl & decided to drop the bottle. She only drinks 1 sippy full of almond milk in the morning. Little stink. I know this is normal, but I can't help but be concerned that she isn't getting enough 'milk' in her. She also thinks she needs to be watching a cartoon "toon" while she eats her breakfast. Spoiled.
Despite London's 'pickiness' with food lately, she ALWAYS wants cheese & apples. She runs to the fridge an average of about 12 times a day asking for '"teeeeeeese". She wants an apple about as much & says "apple" so very cute & perfect.
She think she's a big girl & gets so mad when we put her in a high chair. Sometimes, we let her sit in a 'big girl' chair & eat up to the table. She thinks she is the coolest thing ever.
Oh, we also FINALLY flipped her car seat forward. Talk about slow pokes......I just felt more comfortable leaving her rear facing as long as we possibly could.
London has now gone to just 1 nap a day. She still sleeps perfect at night.
Since we have been out this summer & it has been a crazy moving whirlwind, London has become quite reserved. She likes to watch things from a distance & then will slowly get involved. She gets soooooo sad when we drop her off at nursery. I know all this moving & what not has made her feel a bit unstable.
She loves to get combs, bobby pins, & elastics and play with my hair.
She is SUPER stingy with kisses. Her idea. Her time. She LOVES to give hugs though. She will always randomly run up to me or Blake & give us the best loves.
She is still incredibly attached to her blankey ("bankee"). Even more so since we have been out of Utah.
She loves to read. I will often find her in the corner with books all around her. She is just jabbering & reading in her own little world. My heart swells 3 times it's size when I see this.
London has a new obsession with thinking anything she eats it hot("ot"). She proceeds to take everything out of her mouth & blow on it first.
She has a new found love of coloring/coloring on herself. I don't mind though. I actually embrace her creativity & love to see how she expresses it. So, I just put her in her diaper when she colors & she usually will color her toenails, feet, & legs.
She loves the songs: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Popcorn Popping, & Ring Around the Rosies. She knows almost all the actions, & screams again ("agin") when I finish singing.
She thinks that saying prayers is awesome. Oftentimes, we will randomly see her folding her arms & closing her eyes waiting for a prayer. I love it!
She can count to 3. "One, Tewa, EEEEEE".
One of my favorite things she does lately is runs up to Blake & I and says, hold you ("Hold chu").
She is a mimicking fool. She will repeat almost anything now.
London loves to go to the movies & get popcorn.
She thinks she is the bees knees when I ask her to throw away her diapers. She struts her stuff all the way to the garbage can.
London LOVES to sing. She loves music. She likes to dance. Anytime music is on, she is singing. Church, car, home, etc... One of her favorite things to do is put my earphones on & listen to music. She thinks she is one cool cat when she does this.
Blake & I always say, "I'm gonna get you" & chase her around. So, lately, she has been chasing Dot around saying, "Get chew".
She LOVES to facetime grandpa ("ampa" or "papa") & grandma ("ama")....both sets. I'm pretty sure she loves her grandparents more than she loves Blake & I.
She knows almost all her animal sounds.
Amy let us borrow her portable DVD player this summer to put in our truck to keep London entertained with all the traveling. So, everytime we get in the truck now, London says, movie ("oomie").
London is such a sweet little girl. I often will see her reading to her baby, or putting her Minnie & Donald toys up to the window so they can see the ducks. She also loves to share her food with her baby & any other toy that has a mouth. I just let her. It's the sweetest & I can wipe the baby off easily.
Speaking of ducks.....London is obsessed. Our apartments out here have a little lake right outside our window. Part of our daily ritual is to feed the ducks & look out the window at them constantly.
I love to watch how London plays with certain things. She is very precise on only playing with one thing at at time. As soon as she is done, she will put it back. If I try to put it back, she will go over & move it just a little so that it is where she wanted to put it back. And so on & so forth. She is very organized.....my daughter? I think yes.
London LOVES to help me cook & clean. One of mine & her favorite activities is to have her sit on the counter & watch me cook. I love to tell her what I'm doing & explain all the things. She just loves it & I love it more. I love my baby. I love mommy/daughter time.
A while ago, I started asking London if she is happy. I have tried to show her what happiness is. When I usually ask her, she shakes her head yes, and says, "happy". It's the cutest thing ever. I really think she is getting the meaning of it, because if I ask her when she is crying, she always shakes her head no. The other day, she was helping me cook. She locked eyes with me and said, "happy". I will never forget that moment. Even now, I tear up just thinking about it. Sweetest thing ever. She makes me so happy.
She is not the best at sharing, but we are working at it. We are giving her lots of positive reinforcement when she does share. She is slowly getting better.
London is obsessed with shoes. She always wants her shoes on. If we are at a store, & she sees shoes, she will just automatically take hers off & want to try on the new ones. Perhaps, she is Blake & I's child? Yes, yes.
She has started to want kisses when she gets an ouchie. She points to her 'ouchie' & as soon as we kiss it, she's fine. She also likes to kiss her own ouchies.
London always says thank you ("ankyou") whenever we give her something. She also says "ankyou" whenever she gives us something. Silly girl.
One of the silliest things London is doing lately is to uncontrollably laugh when her answer is yes. For example: Do you want a nap. "No". Do you want to watch a movie? Giggle fit. So stinkin cute.
London is officially BINKY FREE. I wanted to get rid of it this summer, but I kept pushing it back because we were moving a lot & I wanted her to feel more stable, so it took me forever to do it. I was planning on doing the method where the binky is cut a little each day until there is no more binky....Well, one day, I locked my keys in my truck with her only binky. Ut oh! It was naptime & it was going to be a while before the locksmith could come to my apartment & get my keys out of my truck....So, I just thought, why not. So, I had her take a nap without a binky. It was A LOT easier than I thought it would be. She only fussed for about 5 minutes before she fell asleep. That night was harder however. She cried for her binky for 40 minutes. Even though it was breaking my heart, I didn't give in. She only really asked for it for about 4 days during naptimes & bedtimes & then it was all over. Much, much, much easier than I thought it would be. Good job London.