17 Months Old *July 3, 2010*

17 months old...WOW!! I remember thinking back to when we first found out that we were pregnant with your sister that you'd be 17 months old when she was born. That seemed so far away at the time, and that age just seemed so old and grown up to me. Well, now it's here, and you are more fun then ever! You are going to be such a great big sister (a bit bossy I think...but what big sisters aren't?!?), and we can't wait to introduce you to her. Happy 17 months sweet Lila!

*You weigh 24 pounds and are a little over 30.5 inches tall. (you didn't grow any taller this month, but you gained a little less than 2 pounds).

*You are wearing a good mixture of 12 month clothes and 18 month clothes depending on the brand (all of your smocked dresses are 12-month sizes). 


*You are still wearing size 4 diapers as you have been for the past several months. I think it will be a long while before we're in 5's. 


*I ordered you your very own pink potty this month; however, we aren't going to stress potty training until well after your sister is here!


*You run everywhere, even around the house. I'm not sure why you're in such a hurry, but you have your own special missions set up in the house and it's so much fun to watch.

*Because you love to be so mobile now, you are becoming impossible very hard to take out to meals. You don't love to sit still in your high chair for very long at all. We've been eating in so much more because of that!


*You LOVE to swim. We've been going to our neighborhood pool quite a bit since it's now open everyday. We've also had fun meeting friends at Moody Gardens Palm Beach to play in the sand and the wave pool.

* You still love pitching fits. I don't see that getting any better for at least 5 or so years (maybe never). Any little thing can set you off. You bow your back and then flop face forward on the floor. It's really funny to watch, but we just have to try and ignore you when you act out. 

*You love to throw things (mainly balls, but you will throw pretty much anything). Your granddaddy can't wait to get you out on the softball field! You have surprisingly good form already and even switch throwing arms occasionally. We're trying to get you to realize that you can't throw at people unless they tell you too (how do you reason with a 17 month old??). 


*You still drink four huge cups of whole milk a day in your sippy cups, and we go through a half a gallon in between 2-5 days! You are starting to like apple juice more and you'll drink a little water here and there also as long as it's cold.

*You still love blueberries and strawberries, bananas, anything sweet, waffles, bagels, oatmeal (can you tell that breakfast is your favorite meal?), turkey and cheese sandwiches (especially with mayo), pb and js, mac and cheese, peas and carrots, ravioli, spaghetti, and eggs. 

*You are very interesting with your eating habits, as most toddlers are. You love to eat a big breakfast, but sometimes you don't care to eat much of anything for lunch or dinner. You love to snack and eat little meals throughout the day. Some days you love chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beans, peas, carrots, pizza, etc. but some days you don't want to take the time to eat anything!

*You still aren't a huge fan of meat, and we're trying to work to get you to eat more protein. Turkey, eggs, and a little bit of peanut butter is about all the protein that we can get you to put in your mouth. 

*You are still sleeping 12 hours a night, and we pushed your bedtime back until 8pm so that you sleep a little later in the morning! We put blackout curtains in your room and they seemed to push your wake up time back about 15 minutes, but it really helped your nap times become longer!


*You rarely take 2 naps a day now since we are hardly ever home in the morning. Most days you only get one long nap in at around 1:30-2:30 and sleep until between 3-5 depending on how tired you are and when you started your nap

*You have been doing a great job at your gymnastics class.  Even though the class technically doesn't start until 18 months, you are hanging in there really well with the other kids. You can do a forward roll, backflip, handstand, walk on a balance beam, and jump on the trampoline (with mommy or the teacher's help). 



 *You have 12 teeth now. Three came in this past month and all at the same time (see blog post). Your 6th bottom tooth came in the other day right out of nowhere. I'm so thankful that it didn't bother you like the molars did. 

*You talk ALL THE TIME, but don't really say many "real" words (I SO wish that I knew what you were trying to say!!!). You can say "doggy", "ball", "night-night", "bye-bye", "hi", "mama", "dada"-still your favorite, "uh-oh", "milk" (which you only pronounce the last sound /k/), "good morning"-although it mainly sounds like "goo goo goo" right now :)  We're working on "shoe" and "book", but you look at me like I'm crazy when I tell you what those are and you reply with you own made up (Chinese sounding) language. 


*You also love to say "no" "stop" and "don't" whenever someone has a toy that you want, or if I am trying to do something that you don't want me to do (like putting a bow in your hair). You are having a hard time sharing right now, but we are working on that. You can be such a little stinker and are VERY strong-willed!!!



*You are starting to learn your animal sounds. You can make sounds for a duck, monkey, cow, and pig when we prompt you.

*You love to read, sing, and dance. You dance to any kind of music, but you especially love your Barney and Sesame Street songs. You haven't watched your Sesame Street dvd as much this month, but you are really loving Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and will actually sit still for 5 minutes straight here and there throughout the program. 


*Your new absolute favorite DVD right now is mommy's Greek Sing DVD from college. You love to watch the girls dance and listen to the loud music and cheering on the video. I get sucked into watching it for hours with you too!

*You absolutely LOVE to dance the Hot Dog Dance with Mickey at the end of the show and will come running from whatever room you are in when you hear it start to play. 

*You are slowly learning the hand motions to "itsy-bitsy spider," "The wheels on the bus", "the hokey pokey," and "mr. sun," but you still love "if you're happy and you know it." You sing along to the songs on your Barney dvd now, and it sounds so precious!

*Your hair is finally long enough to pull back in a pony tail. I'm so excited for this since you hardly keep your bows in your hair anymore!

*When we ask you where mommy's baby is, you point to your own belly. Sometimes when I'm sitting on the couch or getting ready for the shower you will pat my belly and say "baby" (which sounds like "dady" because you say d's for b's). 

*You have the most contagious laugh and love to do it often. You will even fake a laugh for us when we laugh at you (trying to get you to laugh-not because we love to laugh at you). Chevy makes you laugh often whenever he chases his tail, sticks his tongue out, or is trapped outside or behind a gate. 

*You love to play with shoes. It doesn't matter who they belong to, you will be entertained for hours by moving them and carrying them around where you are. 


As always, you have kept us very busy and learning many new things about toddler-hood this past month. You are such a fun, independent girl and we can't wait to see you in your new roll as Big Sister soon!