I have a very good excuse for not writing on your 22nd month birthday: We were in France. You were with us. We were busy. And we frequently did not have internet access.



See, told you it was a good excuse!



I'm happy to report that you were an excellent traveler! I was more than a little concerned that you'd be so totally off schedule and out of sorts that the whole trip would, well, completely stressful. But that wasn't the case at all. You adjusted your schedule on the first day and besides some normal toddler tantrums here and there, we all had a great time.



I have noticed, since we returned, that you seem to have...matured some since we left for France. Your level of understanding has increased, as has your ability to communicate verbally in response. I thought maybe it was just my perception after spending 16 uninterrupted days together, but Papa says he's noticed it, as well, and since he spends every day with you I feel he's a good judge of these things. I guess this shouldn't be too surprising--you are almost two-years old--but I think it's interesting that there was a perceptible change.



So besides taking a 16-day vacation in Europe (most of the time in France, but we also visited Switzerland and Italy), you spent your 22nd month adding more words to your vocabulary, being incredibly silly, and getting cuter everyday. Now you're almost done with your 23rd month and I've already begun planning your second birthday party. Wow. Just...wow.