Mummy moment: you take my breath away

20 months! Alexa is rounding the corner to two years old. We can see daily changes in her as she grows into toddlerhood.

She's got personality to spare, including an adorable sense of humour, an independent streak a mile wide, a burgeoning temper, an ability to produce massive tears on command, and a sweet cuddly side. She loves books, crayons, bananas and water in all forms (puddles, baths, the water table, lakes, pools and splash pads). She gets so excited for baths that she runs on the spot while waiting to get in. She loves her puppy, but wants to be able to control him. She gets frustrated when he doesn't do exactly what she wants, and cries when he tries to chew her Crocs. She calls herself "baby", and calls other toddlers "baby" as well. She adores her daycare provider and friends, and calls out for them when we're at home. She shrugs her shoulders just like Mum, and mimics everything that we do. She apparently is okay when her friend Addison goes to school in the mornings, but cries her heart out when Keaghan goes to school in the afternoons.

Her vocabulary is expanding at an exponential rate. Some of the "gems" are:

• Beaking (beeping)
• Nana (banana)
• Dado (tractor) and duck (truck)
• Nenny (Jenny, her daycare provider)
• Aah-ee (her friend Charlie or her cousin Charlie), which is closely related to Aaw-ee (cousin Ollie)
• Gack (snack or cousin Jack)
• Gacko (cracker)
• keyko (cookie, also Cookie Monster)
• Gock (sock)
• Gaffee (eyeglasses) and gaff (drinking glass)
• Nammie (her stuffed lambie) and oodo (her soother)
• Ooshie (smoothie)
• Dip (zipper)
• Bup-bup (dip)
• Doug's toys are baw (ball) and bow (bone)

And then there are the ones that are clear as a bell:

• Coffee (she knows what's important)
• Juice (amazing, because it's a special occasion treat for her)
• Elmo
• Addie and Keaghie (Addison & Keaghan)
• Eider (her newest cousin)

I want to remember all of them and write them all down because this stage of life is going by far too fast. I can't remember what movie it was (I think maybe an Adam Sandler one), where the main character had a remote control that changed time. I would like to slow time down right now. I want to savour every moment of this phase of exploration.

I love to see Alexa starting to make connections. When Jevon was traveling for work recently, we chatted with him on video chat on the PlayBooks. Now, whenever she sees the PlayBook, she calls for Daddy. I love that connection!

Recently, one of our smoke alarms started chirping the low battery chirp. Alexa came to me and said: "Uh-oh, dat beaking". We talked about how it was beeping and Mummy and Daddy would fix it (let's be honest, Mummy's not going up the ladder these days - it's going to be Daddy). Later, she pointed at a smoke alarm at daycare and said: "Beaking go?" As in: where did the beeping go? I love that she made the connection between the two smoke alarms, and figured out that one at home was beeping and the other at daycare was not.

I know it's because I'm her mother, but I do think she's awfully sweet. All in all, she takes my breath away.