Lumi's 23rd Month

Events
8/12 - switch from crib mattress on the floor to a proper toddler bed.  she loves it until we try to put her there to sleep, at which point she starts crying and asks for the 'big bed'.
9/12 - Brunch at El Asador with the Gonzalez family.
15/12 - hosting dinner for lubomir & family
16/12 - Christmas celebration in our family.  She received a doll and a magnetic drawing toy from grandma, which were both big hits.
19/12 - Christmas party at Villa Luna. We watched a video of "what the kids do when you're not here" that was both entertaining and informative, sang songs, got a candle lit by an angel, and Lumi's first sparkler. Lots of fun. 
21/12 - 6/1 trip to Asia -- stayed with the Wheatleys in Hong Kong (and celebrated Christmas with them!), then went to Vietnam for a week.

Toilet training
4/12 - Lumi had dry diapers the entire day at day care.
5/12 - we accidentally shifted to no diapers during day care.  normally she is diaper-free until we get there, then she does a last try on the potty, and i put on her diaper.  but today lumi sprinted into the playroom before doing her "try" on the potty. her teacher was upstairs doing some stuff didn't see this.  so when the teacher came downstairs to get lumi, she just whisked her up into her arms and went upstairs.  it was mirka, and mirka doesn't speak much english, so my weak attempts at "but .. the diaper .." were not understood.  i think we may have added to the daycare stress level, but i hope it's not very much.
We are attempting to harness the Lumi-first attitude to work for us: over the weekend the easiest way to get Lumi to sit on the potty before we go out is to say "do you want äiti/isä to go first, or Lumi?" and the result has been a fierce "Lumi!" and her pushing past us to get to the bathroom.
18/12 - sat willingly on the potty for a long time and did a kakka.  being that patient and feeling it beforehand is totally new ground for her.
After a little bout with loose stools in Hong Kong, we decided to go the stress-free route and use pull-ups for the trip.  And they worked great!  She probably was relieved that we weren't harassing her about it, and thus was great about letting us know when she needed to go.

Food
She will often refuse food unless we threaten to eat it ourselves, in which case she shouts "Lumi!" and eats it.  Nursing seems to be down to about every 2 days.
11/12 I prepared some chicken thigh fillets by poaching them in a salty vinegar-water mix.  Lumi loved it and ate almost a whole fillet.
1/1 opened own banana

Language
All languages are blossoming, except the German, and is starting to figure out which words go with which person.  Apparently Lumi has taught her combination Czech-English request for more ("ještě-more") to all her classmates and now they all say it.
Toward the end of the month, she was saying whole sentences, complete with commands (e.g., "come on äiti sit down!")
The "sn" combination is still hard. Snake becomes "nake", snack becomes "nack", snowman becomes "no man".

Learning
She is learning more and more song lyrics every day.  She counts in English as "2, 1, 2, 1, 2...".  Except when we get past 6, at which point she can join in for "7,8,9".  and if you count past 10, she can say "11". In Finnish, she consistently skips 1 and says 'kaksi, kolme' if she is counting 2 things.
By the end of the month, she can count to 10 with help in Finnish and English.

Behavior
4/12 - Lumi wanted to hear me sing a specific song on the bus (Puff the Magic Dragon).
8/12 - over the weekend she has been bringing her stepstool around the house to "help".  She even helped in the kitchen!

Toys/Books
She still loves her bear Kartsa, and sleeps with him and Ernie and Pupu (the bunny).  Toward the middle of the month, Kartsa is not so important.  So insignificant, in fact, that we didn't take him on the trip!
Favorite books now include 'The Lady with the Alligator Purse' and 'Llama llama nighty night'
Favorite songs are the alphabet song, "row row row your boat" and that Czech song about the jumping dog.

Health
The transition back to CET time zone was easier than the transition to EST.  We have had a number of waking, and she wants to sleep with us, but overall she is sleeping well.  Unfortunately, she is not interested in sleeping in the toddler bed we got her.
When we went to Hong Kong, once again the transition to a new time zone took 3 nights of waking and crying.

Stats
clothes:  size 92. Lots of tights, since all Czech kids (boys and girls) wear tights as a base layer in the winter. on 17.12, tried fingered gloves for the first time and loves them.
height - ?
weight - 11 kilos
teeth - 13. Lower right canine appeared on 22/12 on the flight to Hong Kong.
naps - 1 per day in afternoon

Random Funny Stuff
i wrapped some christmas gifts on 11.12, and then lumi saw them the morning of 12.12.  i told her they were for christmas, not today, but she peeled back a strip of paper for one anyway, then got so excited about the train (from äiti and isä) that she couldn't handle waiting.  I have since hidden the rest of the gifts.
She has mixed up reindeer and goats several times.
In Hong Kong, she grew attached to Tyson and called him 'Mama Tyson'.