19 Months Old: 03/19/14
Stats {as of your 18 month check up this month}:
Height: 31.7 inches (43%)
Weight: 23 lb 13 oz (64%)
Head Circumference: 48 cm (88%)
The sweet and sour phase of toddlerhood continues. And now that you are closer to two than one, you think you’re too big for your cloth-diapered little britches. You’d walk across the street by yourself if we let you. Yet, you’re still so incredibly needy as you beg for cuddles with Mama or Dad before bed every night.
Have I ever mentioned that I love this stage?
Little Linguist
You’re getting better at communicating this month. However, it's still very much a work-in-progress. No matter how often I beg, you cannot {or refuse?} to say “please” or “help”. But luckily, we've become pretty good at reading between the lines with eat, more, no, poo-poo, and plenty of *dramatic* pointing. So, thankfully, your frustration tantrums have subsided quite a bit. You’ve started to say some more two word sentences, mostly greetings, like Hi Mama, Bye-Bye GiGi, and Hi Baby. And you always say tank yoo when given something. You’ve also started saying hold you and reaching out your arms when you want to be held. And you are a big fan of telling us when you’re tired. Even if you’re in the middle of playing hard, you’ll suddenly stop and loudly blurt out night night. Then in the mornings, you wake up, kiss your Ellie the Elephant, and tell her niii-niiight and tuck her under the covers for the day.
You are not much of a “repeater” of words as some of your toddler friends are. In true Lyla fashion, you much prefer to master a word before you speak it. I even hear you “practicing” on your own from time to time in your room. The other night after counting your toes together in the bathtub, I caught you practicing your “counting” after I put you to bed. You have down the tone and inflection of “one, two, three!", but we’re still working on the correct phonetics. ;)
Physical Skills
At this point, it’s hard to believe you were such a late walker and crawler! You are quite the mover these days. Though rarely graceful, you walk, run, and climb on ev.ery.thing. Your new favorite spot in the house is the window seat in our living room. One day, I left the room for one minute, came back, and you had climbed up and were standing on the window seat. And speaking of climbing, your favorite is going up and down flights of stairs…by yourself. The mini heart attacks have only begun for Mama. As have the giant purple goose eggs on your forehead.
We’ve got a toddler on the loose, and it’s exhausting.
Behavior
Overall, you are a laid back, super easy, well-behaved toddler. Your dad and I were so proud recently when you sat through an hour and a half church service without a peep. Well, except for when you yelled BAAYBYYY a few times at the newborn behind us. But no matter how well behaved you are, you are still a toddler. So you do have your moments. And Dad and I recently discussed how we’ve reached that point where we need to form some kind of discipline “plan” so we’re on the same page. You have gotten much better with patience while waiting for food, and we are working on using your words instead of screaming. We’re also working on not throwing milk.
Cute Stories
Our favorite time of day is bath time. You run around naked and say baaath in an octave I never knew existed. Well a couple of weeks ago, you were standing naked as a jaybird filling the tub with your toys when you started peeing on the rug. You looked up at me with shame-filled eyes and started crying. I assured you that it was an accident, but you kept pointing to the pee on the rug and began crying harder and harder. So hard, that you also started tooting. So then, there you were. Standing on the rug. Naked. Crying. Tooting. And tearfully exclaiming, tooot? tooot? It was sadly adorable.
For weeks now you've been saying Mi-Mi! Mi-Mi! And for the life of us, we could not figure out who Mi-Mi was. At first we thought it was your new name for Grams, but then you started saying it even when she wasn't around. All we knew was that whoever this Mi-Mi was, he or she sure did make you excited. Well, we finally made the connection last week. Mi-Mi is your best buddy, Samson or "Sammy". And you and Mi-Mi have a love/hate relationship, just like a real sibling duo. And poor Sienna is still just dog.
Personality
It has been so much fun watching your little personality develop. But it's also quite amazing to see some of the same characteristics you've always had, even as an infant. You are calm, thoughtful, cautious, and an observer. However, you have also turned into a little comedian as of late. {But only when you're comfortable in your surroundings, of course.} Our weekly music class is a perfect example of this. The first few classes, I nearly quit as you were clingy, fussy, and didn't crack even a partial smile. You just watched with a grumpy face, refusing to leave Mama's lap, as all the other kids had a fabulous time. By week 4, you started playing with your instruments, while on my lap. By week 5, I think I saw a smile or two. By week 7, you were singing and laughing. And by the very last class, you had turned into an absolute ham. No joke, you were in the middle of our circle of toddlers and adults dancing BY YOURSELF, running up to adults, and laughing hysterically. One of the moms jokingly said, "Who IS that child???"
The best part? Your GiGi told me your dad was the exact same way all throughout school. First semester, teachers would express concern at conferences as your dad didn't talk or participate much and was very quiet. By second semester, teachers couldn't keep him quiet, and he had the whole class in stitches as he was the new class clown. Same story, year after year.
And so far, you are taking after your dad in so many ways.
I sure can't wait to see how you continue to change and grow, and how your little personality makes you uniquely YOU.
Thanks for the ride, Beans. This sure is fun.
