Thursday, September 15, 2011

Year and a Half

18 months old. She's 18 months old, that little rascal. So very wild, this whole growing up/watching your baby grow up thing.

So much has been going on in this past month. For one, we moved. Only across town, but to a new home in a new neighborhood with a whole new room for Mills. It took a bit of getting used to, but she's back to her easy-to-bed self and we're relieved. The place is just fine. (For the most part. We've got two (loud but nice) young dudes living upstairs. I had forgotten all about the dorm-style-living. Not that I needed to be reminded.)

Some stats:

*She's got a full set of (baby) teeth. As in, 20 chompers. AND had her first visit to the dentist. (Not her favorite.) And we're brushing those teeth on the daily.
*Not sure how much she weighs, but I'm guessing right around 20lbs. Yup, still a lightweight.
*Her hair is coming in. No really, it is. Bald baby no more!
*Just like the baby books say, her vocabulary really started to explode right around 18months. Some of my favorites include: tractor (still), star, hi!, bye! truck, bike ("bipe"), bubbles (buh-buh), octopus (ock...pos), nice, mama/mommy, daddy (dah-eeeee), lola (wo-wa), vrrrooom vrroooom for car, WEEEEEEEEEEE, wa-wa for water, Bebe, Pop, and Wee-Wee (Willie), ball, Bowen (which sounds like buh-ba), and she still uses lots of sign language (more, milk, banana, baby, waves, pounds it out, cheers, etc. etc.) and a lot of animal noises (my favorite is "tweeeet!" for birds).
*Bath time has become a bit of a struggle these days...not sure why. She still detests having water poured over her head. So the hair washing? Torture.
*She eats a lot. Which is good. She's loving hummus SO much right now. Obsessed. Others: banana, oatmeal (every.single.morning), peaches, cheese, broccoli/spinach potato cakes, smoothies, eggs, guac, chips (oops), cucumbers, apples, grapes, well, any fruit basically. So yeah, she eats.
*Sleeping. She's a pretty good sleeper going to bed around 7pm (talking and singing herself to sleep for 30+minutes) and getting up between 6:30-7am. She naps easily as well, from 1-3ish. Sometimes less, sometimes more. She needs both her sippy of milk and a banana to munch on during each nap/bedtime routine. She likes at least three books (always holding up one finger to ask for "one more") and then to be sung to before spontaneously giving us a smooch and pointing to get into her crib. Still in a sleepsack and still relying on the "sleep music." Our routine is going strong.
*Sharing. Still struggle with sharing her toys with friends. On Tuesday we start a Parent/Toddler Montessori class where "sharing is not advocated," so we're hoping we learn some new "turn-taking" skills.
*Climbing. She's a monkey and can climb up onto the couch, the chair in her room (where she hoards books), and up the stairs. She's learning to scooch herself down.
*Miss Independent. She's great at playing by herself and exploring the house. She likes to walk down the street by herself too. But will usually hold our hands when requested. She tries to put on her own clothes and shoes ("shoooos"). She's still a little unclear about the purpose of various articles of clothing though--she tries to put everything on like pants. Baby steps, people.
*Outside. Loves it. Wants to be out there ALL THE TIME. Even though we don't have the roof, we've got grass and a little front yard! Bubbles and sidewalk chalk on the daily.
*Dancing?Music. Still a big fan.
*Holding hands champion. She actually prefers to hold both of our hands and walk between us. Can't say we mind much.
*Helping. She puts away her toys before we leave home. She's mildly to majorly obsessed with "keys!" so she likes to "help" us lock and unlock doors. Even those that do not belong to our house or our car. She's not too picky. Oh, and folding clothes. She's a real big help.
*Reading. We're so pleased about this one. The girl loves to read. It always calms her down if she's having a moment. (We have lots of moments around here.) Anyway, books are cool. Some favorites at the moment: Goodnight Moon, Is Your Mama a Llama, Counting Kisses, My First Things That Go Book, Goodnight Chicago, Who's in the Garden, I am a Bunny, and more.
*Cleaning. She takes after me in this department...she wipes up spills, wipes her face with a napkin, and picks up random fuzzies off the floor. She also likes to put things back in their proper place (after moving them all around the house of course).
*Drama Queen. She has a super dramatic sad face and can fake cry with the best of 'em.

She'e one of us and we adore her silly little sassy self.