22 Months! (And a Canning Extravaganza)

I had to double check to make sure Collette really is 22 months old--it really doesn't seem possible that she is so close to being a big two year old girl!

I don't have many pictures to post for her this month-- partly because somehow I managed to misplace my camera card (no idea how-- can we blame it on pregnancy brain?) so I haven't been taking as many pictures, and partly because of this:

Canning.

Canning.

And more Canning.

This weekend has been a Canning Extravaganza! It started with the grapes on our vines being ready, so we made lots of grape juice:

and LL and I also attempted a grape pie for the first time.  Where I grew up in upstate NY, Grape Pie was a specialty in wine country, particularly Naples, NY.  So we decided to try it.  It was a little labor-intensive, since we had to peel and seed all of the grapes, but it was tasty. We took it to Sunday dinner with LL's family and didn't remember to get a picture until it was over half gone.  But here is the photographic evidence of our grape pie:

We followed up our grape juice canning with canning peaches, spaghetti sauce, salsa, and whole tomatoes.  And we don't can small quantities...

It was well after 1am when we turned off the lights in the kitchen on Saturday night, and at least 10pm when we finished last night.  And more canning to come this afternoon!

So, anyway... back to Collette.  That's why I don't have too many recent pictures for her post today. :)

What's new with our sweet girl?

~She is loving pretend play.  I found a set of play food for $5 at Dollar General, and a set of dishes on clearance at Target, and she has been loving playing in her kitchen, and making treats for us. She and Daddy had a tea party, too.

~She is continuing to say new things every day--it's hard to think of what they are and write them down, because it's always changing.  A few of her favorite phrases that I can count on hearing every day:

"Come! I show!"--Collette loves to take us by the hand and show us a book, a toy, or whatever it is she wants.

"At me!"-- This one cracks me up.  She says "look!" when she wants us to look at something, but when she wants us to look at her, she says "At me!" not "look at me!"  Who knows why? :)  Here she is yesterday, playing in box peaches came in, saying, "At me! At me!"

"I don't want it!"-- this phrase has replaced "no" in our house currently.  Collette almost never says just "no" anymore, sometimes it's a nice, sweet "I don't want it" (say, when I offer her a food at lunch) and sometimes it's a full-out whiny "I don't want it!" :)

"Thank you, Mommy!"-- she has turned into such a polite little girl! She says thank you most of the time without being asked.  So sweet.

~She is wearing primarily 24 month and 2T clothes, and size 6 shoes. 

~She still naps about 2 hours in the afternoons, and sleeps from around 8:30pm-7:30am. 

~She continues to surprise us with things she is willing to eat.  The other night we made Indian food and I had gotten her some other options for dinner, thinking she probably wouldn't like it.  But I offered it to her, and she ate her whole dish! Some of her favorite foods right now are yogurt, cereal, almost any fruit (she's particularly in love with cantaloupe currently), most veggies (especially green peas, squash, carrots, and black beans), and she looooves any type of pasta.

Using the pepper grinder (of her own volition) on her Indian food :)

~She loves books, and is getting better about picking out a variety of books to read, instead of just the same few over and over. 

~Collette still loves to watch Mickey Mouse, and is a big fan of Sesame Street, too.  She definitely has the "Reitz Gene" for the love of TV, so I try to be careful about how much we watch. :)

~She is getting more into dressing up, and loves trying on clothes and shoes, no matter whose they are. :)

~She loves to sing and dance, and is making progress with her counting and color identification.

~And of course she continues to love the dogs with all of her little heart. :)

Happy 22 months, Collette!