Amelia turned 18 months last Friday. In the last couple months she has truly gone from baby to toddler. We haven't had her 18 month check up yet because we are in the process of moving but I know she has at least gained some inches based on her clothes.
Our little flying expert...on the move to Milwaukee
Amelia is communicating so well these days. She has so many words now that I know I would miss some if I tried to list them here. Some of her favorites are water (she says "wa-wa"), doggie, mommy, daddy, keys, read, sit, snack, bite, drink, walk, outside, again ("a-gin"), mama (grandma -- Mary Ann), Nana (Penny) and Papa.
No photos please...
She is starting to learn animals and the sounds they make. So far she knows the sounds for dog, cat(she calls them kitty), sheep, horse, cow, snake and bird. We are working on duck and pig but they have more difficult for her to pick up on. She also associates the animals with their pictures in books or outside. When we walk on the river walk by our apartment we always see ducks and birds and she points them out every time.
My future's so bright
Amelia LOVES the ABC's and can sign correctly...up to C...then she just says ABC multiple times and randomly says other letters. She loves to hear the song and when she is upset if you ask her to sing the ABC's it usually calms her down. She loves the song so much that she gets upset when we are listening to Pandora and the song is over. She asks me to play it again (either saying "a-gin" or "ABC") and I try to explain to her little toddler brain that I don't control Pandora Radio and cant replay it...its tough!
Amelia's biggest language development comes in the way of word combining. In the last few weeks she has been putting words together in little phrases. It started with a simple "Whats that?" instead of "that?" and now includes, "Night Night Mommy(or daddy, or baby, or Elle, or ...you get the picture)", "Bye Bye Daddy", "Mommy's shoes (or socks, or coat, or water, or drink)", "more please" and so much more.
Amelia loves to read, she is a girl after my own heart! She will sit quietly and thumb through her many books and then bring them to me or daddy one by one and say "read?" Then when you take the book from her she will turn around and back up and sit on your lap while saying "sit." She has a much better attention span these days and can sit through every book she owns. If daddy and I are both home she will have one of us read the book to her then take the book to the other parent and ask them to read it. Her favorite still seems to be Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, with her Elmo "Balls" book coming in as a close second.
At 16 Months Amelia started to throw tantrums. They have seemed to ebb and flow since then but she wants what she wants when she wants it and if mommy or daddy doesn't do exactly what she wants when she wants it she breaks down. Now we do not always do exactly what she wants when she wants it so...she cries, loudly and quickly. They don't usually last but it can be tough. I did have my first experience with a grocery store tantrum...that was fun. The tantrums are the worst when we are cooped up inside with bad weather....which has happened a lot in the last couple months due to living in a downtown apartment in Wisconsin's crazy version of Spring. I have to admit I did not realize this would start this early but we are making it through it. I instituted "time out" for the first time the other day. She kept trying to do something dangerous so I had to try something different. We sat for 1 minute with a timer and although she was upset that I would not let her get up she finally seemed to understand. Afterwords I reiterated what she shouldn't do, gave her a big hug and we got back to playing. She hasn't tried to do it again! Fingers crossed!
Although Amelia is a total Daddy's Girl and asks for daddy every morning when she wakes up and FREAKS out with excitement when daddy comes home from work she has also gotten pretty clingy with mommy. She hangs on my leg while I cook or blow dry my hair repeating, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." until I pick her up.
No real changes in sleep and eating. Still napping twice a day most days. She has gotten a little pickier with her eating but still eats lots of good and healthy foods with the occasional treat thrown in for good measure!
HATES: the car seat, diaper changes, not getting her way
LOVES: going outside, water, sliding and swinging, ELMO, her baby, keys, reading, baths (again, yay!)
WORKING ON: colors (recognizes yellow, her favorite color!), numbers and more animals
(pictures range from 16-18 months)
