Ilana at 20 Months

Ilana continues to be a super sweet angel. She admires Lev to no end and is always thinking about him. If she gets juice, she wants juice for Levy. When he is at school she asks for him. She copies every gesture and noise he makes. When he includes her in the game it is the highlight of her day. They really do love eachother and make great buddies when they aren't squabbling.

She is still a cuddle bug but she is developing an independent streak. SHE decides when to wear shoes or a jacket, she decides not to brush her hair or change a diaper, and if you cross her a fit will be had. Like Lev who can be sassy with his "whatever, blah blah blah" teenage attitude, Ilana says oKAY when you ask her to do something and it feels like she would roll her eyes if she could at you.

She can speak very well now. Her vocabulary is hundreds of words and she strings together simple sentences so it is very clear what she wants to communicate.

She is also pretty good at pretend games - like cooking in her play kitchen soup that is too hot and she needs to blow on for you. Or putting her heels and purse on and walking out the door for "sushi, bye! have fun".

Ilana is very aware of characters ike Hello Kitty, Sesame Street, and Mickey Mouse.

Some cute things:

• Swings are her favorite thing at the playground and she likes to go high and get butterflies.
• Ilana is very concerned with fairness: "my turn", "stop it", "you went first", and after she goes down the slide she yells "your turn"
• Katy Perry's Roar is her favorite right now and she actually sings "ro-o-o-oar" while Lev's is Katy Perry's TGIF so you can imagine how irritating those two songs can be in heavy rotation all day long.
• She is very concerned with feelings and when Lev is cross she says "Lev ANGRY" and makes a scowl and then wants "Lev happy". She will try to cheer you up by what she thinks are jokes and then says "funny? again?"
• She knows her colors, animals+sounds, and is great at simple puzzles. Lev is trying his best to teach her counting but that might be out of grasp yet.

Lev is beginning to become a very good artist - his drawings are imaginative and better defined. He will also tell you he is a good actor. He threatens to "not be your best friend" when you try to discipline him which happens about 10 x a day, so I guess we aren't besties. That honor goes to Nico Petrigliano and Aidan from school.



He is very excited about Christmas after enjoying Channukah. Every day he asks to open his presents or adds more items to his wish list. It will be a good year for him, I'm sure.

Our neighbors got a puppy that the kids ask to play with every day. Its a good time when we notice the puppy came out.