Thomas

22months

We've had a brilliant day. So much fun, and in things that I thought would be nice, but turned out to be really nice! We met a friend who's moving away to university and this is the last chance to see them.

We went to Ikea for the start of browsing time, and had a nice wander round. We of course stopped in the cafe. Katie troughed sausage and beans, before having a play in their play area. She loved playing with the wooden play kitchens they have - which is good as I'm considering one for her birthday. She played with everything we passed on the way round, and sat in the trolley for a little while. With the huge aisles in the furniture collection area, and a Katie happily sat in a trolley, it was definitely time for trolley doughnuts. She loved it and begged for more.

We drove from there to Junction 32, the outlet village at Castleford and again had a really great time. We pottered in a few shops - she loved the samples in Wittards! I didnt know but theres a nice play area there and she had a blast running round, and ate a lot more again. She then discovered some water features that they have - with signs saying "dont touch" but they are at floor level, with no fencing, and are begging for toddlers to stand at/in them. Which she did. She then discovered Thomas. She is currently a huge fan of all things Thomas!

After the Outlet Village, we went of to Xscape, the snozone. We discovered a whole load of holiday activities! First off, we went up to the baby fair, and she got three balloons, two packets of sweets (which she rejected in favour of her half cucumber) and a load of leaflets (including information about a proper wrap babycarrier for children to carry their dolls, its gorgeous!). We went and watched the skiing and snowboarding - she was fascinated. Then, when we went downstairs, we went to their Xscape Island: an indoor beach!! (yes, ironic at a snowdome!) She spent over an hour playing in the sand, chasing balls, digging, colouring & sending a postcard. SO much fun!

Incredibly impressively, she stayed awake the whole of the journey home too! So the perfect end to the day!

Katie at 22 months
She
*has 11 teeth and weighs about 22lbs, with size 4F feet
*has just learnt to jump with both feet leaving the floor
*normally talks in sentences, unless she's somewhere new. Favourites include "Katie like it x,y,z", "put in bag please", "its too big", "where's the x/y/z gone - there it is", "my do it", "want glasses tweenies, 2 dinosaur stompstompstomp" "come on grandad, sit down", "mummy build house"
*talks about the past - things she's done, people she thinks about
* "Monkeys eat it carrots and cucumber" is her favourite factoid.
*has lots of new words including dinosaur, thankyou, vicki, aunty, parrot, donkey, owl, chocolate, hairbrush, hairband, towel, plate, washing machine, tickles, cockadoodle, charliedog (next door)
*pulls a hilarious "blllaaarr" face - and does it randomly to make me laugh
*takes 14 friends to bed each night - Monkey (real and spare), Holiday Monkey, Dog, Doodles, Lala, Tinky, Baby, Sheep, Katie duck, Mummy Duck, Snowman, little baby, Rabbit and gloworm
*is remembering to say please without prompting more often
*knows red, yellow, blue and sometimes green. She knows that purple and pink are colours but doesnt always get it right.
*has gone off 4 again - counting to 10 normally misses it out!
*lets me brush her teeth without a fuss now

Firsts
*airplane journey
*holiday
*play with her new cousin

Likes:
*ice cream, cucumber, sausages, bread with butter, "harrison stars" (wheeto stars and moons)
*the tweenies live ("2 dinosaurs") and the Wiggles
*trains
*thomas the tank engine
*being naked & barefoot
*the beach (LOVES!)
*building towers
*baabaa black sheep
*to snuggle in "Peppypig towel" after swimming/beach

Doesnt like:
*bouncy castles
*shoes
*cheese and onion pombears
*leaving sandcastles whole!