Two chatty 21-month-old girls

Estella and Cordelia turned 21 months old recently and have discovered that they like to talk -- a lot! Both of the girls are very chatty, but in different ways. Cordelia says her words very deliberately, putting several words together and speaking relatively slowly. After she speaks, she looks at us until we repeat what she said back to her. If we repeat it correctly, she will nod once and the conversation will be over; if we repeat it incorrectly, she will say it again and wait for us to confirm. Estella, on the other hand, speaks very quickly, repeating the same word or phrase over and over again repeatedly until we respond to her. When we repeat back what we think she has said, she either gets a great big goofy grin on her face and says "Yeah!!!" or sticks her lips out in an exaggerated pout and says "No!" then repeats the word or phrase several more times while we try to figure out what she is saying. Unfortunately, many of Estella's phrases right now sound the same to me, and I haven't yet figured out what "Ai-sha, ai-sha, ai-sha, ai-sha" means. So I'm hearing a lot of that right now! Both of the girls have a several-hundred word vocabulary, and they are speaking more and more every day. Their favorite phrases right now are "Momma hold me please" (Cordelia) and "I want to do it!" (Estella).


Looking back on the past twenty-one months, it is hard to imagine that they would grow up so fast! Here are some pictures of the girls as they've grown:

These are pictures we had taken of the girls when they were just a few days old. Cordelia is on the left and Estella is on the right.

Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) at three months.

Six-month-old Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right).

Nine-month-old Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right). I still enjoy dressing them up in adorable dresses!

On their first birthday, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were both cruising around furniture and getting ready to walk. Independent steps came in the weeks after their first birthday, and by thirteen months both girls were walking more than they were crawling.

Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) at fifteen months.

Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) at eighteen months. This was a time of transition from baby to toddler. They look so old here!

Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) at twenty-one months. We couldn't get Cordelia to straighten her legs -- Dale would straighten them and she'd curl them back up and laugh at him as if they were playing a great game together! And Estella doesn't have a cast on her right hand -- that is her sock. She loves to take her socks off and wear them on her hand. What amazingly fun kids we have!