The Reed Read: 22 months

The 17th came and went and I barely remembered that Amelia was a month older! She is more and more fun every day (well, most days), and seems to learn new things at the speed of light.
She can consistently count to 8 and occasionally gets to 10. (Maybe she'll be a musician). She doesn't count objects too well, she knows what two of something looks like but beyond that is a challenge. Just today she correctly counted 4 crackers but it might have been a fluke because she often ends up with "4" when counting.
A week ago she would sing, "A B C, next time won't you sing with me" and now she sings the whole song straight through 1000 times a day. Speaking of singing, it seems to be a new favorite activity-in the car, lying in her crib, to her babydolls, just wandering around the house. She sings ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Happy Birthday, and Rock-a-Bye mostly but I've heard her repeat lines from songs on the radio and quickly picks up on Veggie Tale tunes.
Her vocabulary is ever-expanding and her grammar is often better than mine. She's about 50% in calling herself "I" or "Me" rather than "You" but I have a hard time correcting this because it's cute! "Mommy, carry you upstairs".
A few days ago I was babysitting for Anica, almost 4-years-old, who was trying to put together our ABC puzzle. She asked me to help and when she held up a letter and asked where it went, Amelia said "It's a 'R', it goes right there, R for Rabbit". She repeated this 5 or 6 times with other letters before she got bored with that puzzle and moved on. She always wants to spell words. In the car she asks to spell all her friends' names (and often adds the parents too). When we read books, she says "Mommy, point to the letters", and her favorite book is our picture Dictionary.
Amelia is beginning to pretend more and more, mostly mimicking things Daddy does. I always try to get these on video but of course she never repeats it when I get the camera out. I have a few pictures of this below. She loves making coffee for us in the morning with her coffee maker and tea set. She is always re-filling my cup, apparently I need more caffeine. I guess the kinds she makes is better for Fleck than the kind Daddy makes...
She has also started playing WITH friends rather than just playing next to them. This month, we have to go early to Church to help set up. She spends the extra hour running around with her friend, Evelyn (or "Elevin" as Amelia says), pretending to swim in the ocean, having tea parties, hiding in closets, and generally running around giggling. It's pretty fun to watch. They even took their shoes off because they didn't want to get them wet in the "ocean". Evelyn is 3 and a half but they seem to get along great. Amelia follows her around and copies everything she says and does. Then she repeats these things at home and says "that's what Elevin does", and laughs.
She has been eating with us more and more (and actually eating!). Before each meal she prays with Daddy: "Dear God, thank you for this food, Amen." With the 'Amen' she separates her hands and flings her arms out and makes sure that we do the same. If Daddy folds his hands again during the meal (which he has a habit of doing), she wants to pray again.
Her personality is developing into a little girl, I can't believe she is almost 2. We've watched a few videos of her when she was much younger and it's amazing to see how much she's changed and grown up.

Taking a stroll with BabyDolly

Playdough with cousin Tristan. Still a favorite activity. And she loves being naked.

Getting ready to go to work like Daddy. She has a backpack (which she stashed her keys in, and a hat-although Rob doesn't wear a hat to work). The monster PJs are the new dress code.