18 Month Little Lady

We did Tessa's 18 month photo shoot on the beach in Florida. It was really sunny so she has her shades on, and considering she isn't a fan of the sand this was as good as we got. They can't be too bad when you have such a perfect subject for the pics!!

It has been FOREVER since I've done an update about the little one so here it all is!

Stats:

23lbs 7ozs 38%

33 inches 86%

(as you can see she is still long and skinny, continues to fit anywhere from 9-12 month clothing up to 24 month pants)

Sleep:

We have improved greatly since my last posting about sleep. We've found that the key is to get as much energy out of her before nap time and wind down with books and milk downstairs.

She is napping about 3 hours in the afternoon 12-3pm or 1-4pm.

Going to bed by 8pm and sleeping until 7am.

Eating:

She is a really great eater over all, she is like any toddler some days she is starving and others she just snacks here and there. We don't really force it just try to offer her things she likes, but still give a good variety.

Some of her favorite things are: buttered pasta noodles, guacamole, tomatoes, any fruit but especially grapes and blueberries, gerber fruit snacks, yogurt and yogurt smoothies, green beans, roasted asparagus, peas, and bananas.

She is able to use a fork really well and can scoop yogurt on a spoon and get it into her mouth without too much mess. She loves to drink out of cups with straws (real straws). When she wants a bite or drink she gets your attention and then points into her mouth.

Her favorite things:

-She has a very deep love for one of my baby dolls from childhood, it is a life size newborn doll almost as big as her. She makes it do everything from looking out the window for visitors, to checking to see if it has a wet diaper. When we go for a walk sometimes she insists on bringing it and that means she is either going to carry the lifesize doll or the doll will ride in the stroller and she will push...yes that means it is a VERY slow walk either way. :)

-she loves to play outside all day long, and really enjoys the playground and swing set. She will swing on her belly airplane style, climbs the steps and can go down slides on her bottom all by herself!

-We took the baby gate down off the stairs and she loves to sit on the bottom step and eat a snack or read books...always with her baby right there too.

-Her favorite show is the Backyardigans....she points and laughs at the TV when they start singing there theme song...the laugh has gotten louder over time and will NEVER get old to us.

Other tid bits:

-She is concerned about having a wet or "uck" diaper as she would point to it and say. She lays down to get changed. The pediatrician encouraged me to get a potty chair and start offering her to go potty. I am worried she is still a little young, but she is so smart I guess we will try it out and see where it goes?

-We continue to work on saying words. Here is her vocabulary...dada, mama, ane (Zayne), go, vroom vroom (car), that, there, fish sound, uck, and pig sound. She also waves hi and bye. She communicates really well, but we don't have too many words yet.

I could write forever about our little lady because she is continually doing something new and great. Although we are now in the toddler stage and have some meltdowns and fits, she is such an extremely happy little girl. I don't get much time to blog but that is definitely not because we aren't up to much; we are just up to too much!