River is 21 months

on august 20th we entered into familiar territory. river is now the age that flower was when she joined our family. 21 months old. now that i've had river all this time it's crazy to see how much we missed out on with flower. the part i miss the most is the natural bonding that occurs when you get a child as a new born. thankfully flower bonded to us quickly, but it's different. and amanda did such an amazing job at documenting everything and taking so many photos and videos, sometimes it feels like we didn't miss anything. sometimes i have to remind myself that i wasn't really there. :) i will forever be grateful for that!
she is full of personality as you can see. :)
she pretty much talks non stop now. she will repeat anything we say. most of it is understandable. she is now stringing words together and formed her longest sentence a couple of days ago. she had my water bottle in the car and dropped the lid on the floor. she said, "uh oh drop it down there" as she's pointing down with her finger. she loves to give kisses 'all over'. which means she'll grab my face and move it and say 'cheek' then kiss each cheek, then 'forehead' then kiss it, then 'chin' then kiss it, then 'nose' then kiss it, then 'lips' then kiss them. sometimes she even does each ear. a select few people, other than me, have even gotten the treatment. it's very sweet. she loves to sing 'a-birtay-too' (happy birthday to you) over and over. she loves to have her mimamin(vitamin) every morning. she still chants for her banana every morning as soon as she wakes up. she counts 'one two three' over and over. she loves ho-shhho(lotion) and maush-housh(marshmallows). when she wants you to sit next to her she pats the seat and says 'badada' or she'll say badada when she wants to sit. we have no idea why she calls it that. :) those are the words that no one but us would understand. ;) otherwise she's pretty clear. she also adds the 'ish' to a lot of words like chip. she says 'chipish' or watish(water). she says panty hose cuter than anything i've ever heard! she's working on potty training and loves to go in the toilet. she is still a mamma's girl and is going through major separation anxiety from both of us. she screams when we leave her in nursery and with a sitter. she is a major hair puller and it makes me feel terrible. she pulls chunks of flower's hair out everyday and doesn't hesitate to pull the hair of any child standing near. we have tried everything! if anyone has tips i would really appreciate it. she's just always loved hair so i don't think she's trying to be mean, except maybe to flower. ;) she is still a great sleeper sleeping 2-3 hours during the day and 12 hours at night. flower still sleeps 12 hours at night too thank heavens! she says the sweetest prayers. she is still a binky and blanket addict. we need to start working on that but it's cute. :) she loves to brush her teeth and begs us every morning. she also likes us to put deodorant on her. :) she doesn't like to be dressed and frequently undresses herself these days, even in public. sometimes even the diaper. fun times. she wears a 3T and sometimes 4T. has the same size foot and hand as her 5 year old sister and is just simply beautiful this summer with her sun bleached hair and beautiful brown skin. love, love, love her!