sweet and simple...and a dash of crazy: 18 months

On Tuesday Avery turned 18 months old (I'm one of those weirdos that still goes by months and likely will until she turns 2 - that's when I stopped with Parker). She is becoming such a 'big girl'!

She also went in for her 18 month check up. Her stats:

Weight: 25 lbs, 4 oz (70th percentile)

Height: 34.25" (>97th percentile)

diapers: size 4

clothes: 18 months - 2T

shoes: 7
hair: hair is getting longer after getting 2 trims and can now go in pigtails (YAY!!!)

Loves: to sit on my lap and read books; to put shoes on (whether it's her Crocs, which she is obsessed with, my flip flops, or Parker's sneakers); play with Bubba's choo choos and cars; too stand and jump on Bubba's bed as well as Mommy and Daddy's even though she's already bounced off of ours once; push her PBK Anywhere chair to the dining room bench to use it as a stool to climb up (our dining table is tall); pickup my decorative pumpkins and throw them around; wagon rides; cuddles (she can't be laying down like a baby though - it has to be chest to chest with her feet around my waist); playing outside; being tickled; singing songs (especially Itsy Bitsy Spider); dancing (she will usually stop whatever she's doing when she hear's music)

bad habits: hitting when she doesn't get her way (she usually gets sent to time out and we tell her it's not nice and it hurts - she usually looks down then tries to be cute to make you smile); closing her eyes when you tell her no or you're telling her something she doesn't want to hear as if she can't hear you so she can continue doing whatever she wants; her new thing is to half chew food then spit it out as if she changed her mind mid chew and doesn't want it anymore - she does this too when she is offered something she thinks is tastier

words that she consistently says: dah-yee (daddy); mah-mah and occasionally mah-may (mommy); Baba (Bubba/Parker); sissy (she says this when Parker is calling her); Lala (Lola - my mom; Lolo - my dad also sounds like this; so does cousin Lila); nana (banana and Nana - Kevin's mom); Papa (Kevin's dad) no; nack (snack); moh (more); see (sit); shoe on; shoe oh (shoe off); bye bye, see you; hi; nite nite; beh time (bed time); nah time (nap time); bah time (bath time); pah-yee (potty); beh-pee (pinkie); side (outside); boo (as in peek a boo); wah-teh (water); buh (book); choo choo; can (car); meeh (milk); teh you (thank you); peas (please); sigh (sorry); peh pee (pee); pooh pooh (poop); whaz da (what's that); wha dis (what's this); oht (hot); gen-tuh (gentle); hep (help)

signs: more, hungry, sorry, and milk

She understands 2 step instructions like: pick up your toys and put them in the basket; take your snack and sit on your chair; go get your cup and give it to me; let's go to your room and change your diaper

She's usually a good eater and eats whatever I give her. I don't make separate meals for the kids - if they don't eat what is given to them, then they don't eat. Sounds harsh, but I don't want them to start refusing the meals I cook b/c they think they will get chicken nuggets or hot dogs if they fuss a little.

*** As you can see from this pic she's not exactly malnourished ***

Twice yesterday she came up to me and said "pooh pooh". The first time, I could smell her and changed her. The second time, I felt her diaper and didn't feel anything - it was a little wet, but I had just changed her. So I asked, "you poo poo?". She repeated it and turned to walk away to go to her room, but she saw that I hadn't moved from the couch and I swear she said "leh go!". So I got my lazy butt up and sure enough she had a tiny bit of poop! Maybe it's time to start potty training soon. I remember when Parker was about 21 months (I was on maternity leave with Avery) he would start telling me when he pooped too. Slacker mom that I was, I didn't train him until he was 31 months! I just wasn't ready to deal with a newborn and potty training. Then I went back to work. I did it when I started staying home with him - he was 31 months old.

Avery's height and weight is crazy...in other words, she's a big girl! Our pediatrician that we usually see (there are 4 in the practice) always comments on how tall she is every time we go in and asks where she gets her height from (b/c obviously at 5'1" she didn't get it from me). Before I can answer her, she always remembers Kevin and asks how tall he is (6'3"). She looked at a chart of some sort and said that if Avery continues to grow like she is right now that she will be about 5'8" - 5'9". They say that at 2 years old you can double their height and estimate how tall they will be so I'm assuming this is where she's getting her calculations from. Parker and Avery have been pretty much neck and neck with their height and weight at each check-up at the same age. Parker at 18 months weighed 25 lbs, 13 oz (50%) and height: 34 3/4" (97%).

She also got 1 vaccine. She screamed bloody murder (just like I expected) and let out an occasional whimper during the 5 minute drive home.