One of the purposes of this blog is to keep a record of Abby's development/accomplishments, but trying to keep up with the accomplishments of an almost two year old is exhausting and I have not been able to do a good job, so I'm giving up and am reporting that Abigail is doing just fine. The problem with trying to identify accomplishments is knowing what the "norm" is. That requires a lot of time researching what "the experts" claim. The most reliable answer I have been able to find regarding child development is that everything depends on the individual, so that's not really useful.

I tried a couple of months back to keep a spreadsheet of all the words Abby knew at that point. I updated the list several weeks ago and she was at 750 English (Chinese not counted) words before I stopped. I know I've missed a lot and she recently has been blurting out fairly complex stories and sentences we have never heard her utter, but I may have double-counted a few things as well. I know it's a flag if she doesn't speak more than 40-50 words by age two, so I think she's doing great.

We watched the movie "Bolt" six times in the past seven days. This is a HUGE accomplishment in my opinion. All of a sudden she's now developed the ability to focus for 90+ minutes at a time, which is shocking. Over the weekend, she was QUOTING the movie and acting out (limited) scenes, so she's absorbing.

This past Saturday, she used the potty for the very first time! We have not started potty training officially because I'm not ready, but this was a big step. It means she's not afraid and she knows what needs to be done.

Abby overcame the fear of sand, waves, muddy shoes, ants, and dogs (more or less) recently.

Finally, today she begins her transition from the Older Toddler class to the Early Preschool 1 class at Daycare. Abby is ecstatic because she has several friends in EPS1. In EPS1 they also begin working on potty training with her (with parental consent), so I guess Paul and I are forced to be ready for this next challenge sooner rather than later because I'm too embarrassed to admit to her teachers that I'm really not ready!

I guess that's about it for now.

Following are some words Abby still struggles with, but are so cute when she says them. Can you guess what they are? Answers below.

• ~> Cerear
• ~> Squiller
• ~> Goggy
• ~> Stradibilly
• ~> Yaps

Photo: On the playground at Daycare

Answers:

• ~> Cerear : Cereal
• ~> Squiller : Squirrel
• ~> Goggy : Doggy
• ~> Stradibilly : Strawberry
• ~> Yaps : Wipes