20 months No need to adjust anymore!

Slugger:

Real Age: 20 months (a little over a year and half)

Weight: 23 lbs

Height:  darn, I have to find her stats from her 18 month checkup

Schedule:

7:30-8:30 Wake up (she squeals when we walk in the room and rolls around in her crib with her Eeyore)

Breakfast then playtime

11:30-12:30  Naptime (1.5-2 hrs long)

Playtime, meals, bathtime

9-10 pm Bedtime

Notice what is missing? That beloved second nap.  She gave that up around 18 months...we tried with no success.  We finally had to accept it is not coming back=(

Diet and Nutrition:

Favorite foods: scrambled eggs, bread and toast, rice, noodles, broccoli, zuchinni, freeze-dried yogurt and fruit snacks, apples, canteloupe, oh, and french fries

Won't eat:  still won't eat pureed or mushy things.  Tried applesauce again last week and she spit it out.  Other than that, she'll eat most things, just not as much when compared to her favorite foods

Milestones:

 All her teeth finally seem to be growing in...at one time.  She had two teeth and only two teeth for almost a year and then her two top teeth finally came in.  I kid you not, two weeks later, Uncle Ted was playing monster with her and she lunged on to a stair and hit her brand-new top tooth.  We had to take her the ER, she was gushing so much blood and her tooth actually was pushed back into her gums. It was pushed back ninety degrees and impacted her gums.   I was sure they were going to have to pull it...ah, she just got it!!   It was disgusting...but by the time we were admitted, she had calmed down and they just sent us to a dentist.  A dentist who did nothing...said that until they're two, baby teeth don't even have real roots and just held in by tendons so they move easily.  He predicted the tooth will just straighten out on it's own.  And it has been incredible how it started to descend and is straightening out. Now she's got teeth all over, molars and all.

She's a walking, running, and climbing machine.  She loves to climb on the couches and chairs and sit like an adult.  She gets this smug little smile on her face when she's sitting on the couch.  Last night, she pulled out a dining table chair and climbed up.  Uh-oh, how do people stop kids from climbing on tables?

Physically, she's a little athlete.  She has one ball that she used to play with a long time ago.  One day, she just started throwing it at us...good throws.  Scott and I were surprised since we never really taught her how to throw.  Maybe her babysitter holds softbal practice with the kids.

Verbally, she's a little behind some kids but ahead of some other kids.  We've stopped adjusting her age since she's really just like any other year and half toddlers out there, just on the smaller end (25th percentile for weight and height).  She's caught up.  And her verbal is picking up.  Some of the words she can say...

-dadddy        -mama, mommy, mom         -dampa (grandpa)       -nana
-jaja (johnjohn)        -baba    -bahl (ball)    -Charlie     -doggie     -duckie
-zylin            -andy (auntie)

Most of these words, she says umprompted, some of them she knows what they are...but does better when she repeats it right after you say it.  She also loves to sing her own compositions to herself...they sound like "do di do di."  Last night, I swear she was singing the "oy yoy oy" part in the reggae hit "Buffalo Soldiers."

Big Events:
-a fever (102) that did NOT result in a febrile seizure or trip to the ER!!
- a visit from her Big Island cousin, Zylin

My brother and his family were able to come up to Oahu for a weekend.  My nephew Zylin is just 3 weeks older than Slugger but a head taller and 6 lb heavier.  He's also super verbal...he can ask questions and talk your ear off.  They loved each other.   They would just sit next to each other and babble baby talk to each other.  Zylin loved to bear hug her..unfortunately, because of their height difference...his bear hug looked very similar to a choke-hold.  But Slugger just stood very still and let herself be hugged.  One morning, Slugger was at Scott's parents and Zylin just kept wandering the house in search for her asking everyone "Where's shasey?"

Zylin had an amazing effect on Slugger's talking.  Before that, we would try to say words to her but she would just stare at us in silence.  She knew we wanted her to repeat the word but she took pleasure in NOT saying anything.  Suddenly, she was trying to form words, she even learned to say Zylin.  It was so completely sad when my brother guys had to go back to the Big Island.  Slugger just cried and cried in the car (the video is so sad).

We are so excited to take her to the BI in May where she can see Zylin and her newest cousin, Anaiah!

Happy Valentines!!!

Here she is in her sweet Valentine's Dress (a Christmas gift from Aunty Joy)!

16 Months Forget the couch!!

...we're walking just fine all by ourselves.

Slugger

Real age: 16 months
Adj. age:  13 months
Weight:     21 lb. 2 oz.

Milestones:  She's a walking machine!!!  No longer wants baby food or purees, everything has to have substance or chewability.  Holds and can drink from a sippee cup.  Waves bye-bye and almost blows kisses (she brings her hand to her mouth and then forgets the rest). Can scribble on paper with a pen or crayong (we had no idea she knew how until the Easter Seals therapist was testing her skills).  Oops.  Starting to point when looking at a book instead of just flipping pages rapid-fire style.  Gives kisses when asked (heart melting). Has developed three distinct dance moves (the head toss, the arm swing, and the knee-bending bop).  She loves all her toys that plays songs.  She'll press the buttons and then dance away.

Schedule:  Still sleeping 10 pm to 8 am.  Still taking two naps but they're shortening slightly in length and are not as consistent.  Usually one around 11 am for 1.5 hours and one aruond 4 for 1.5-2 hrs).

Diet and Nutrition:  We switched to cow milk without any problem.  She definitely needs solid food as she can eat a whole meal and then tank 6 oz. of milk.  We struggle to find foods that she wants to eat as she is starting to get picky.  Even her favorites, she'll eagerly eat four or five bites and then she doesn't want it anymore.  Like tofu and yogurt.  Food that she will never get tired of: eggs (scrambled with no salt), breads (any kind), broccoli, cauliflower, zuchinni, rice, chicken.  Peanut butter. cheerios. She looks like she's chewing but we suspect she's really just swallowing the small pieces whole.  She only has two teeth.  She still has a disgusting habit of eating anything off the ground, she especially loves hair.  Man, the pressure to have clean floors.

Huge events: She started taking just a few steps every now and then but didn't really do much.  Seemed perfectly happy to just crawl.  We had family over the first weekend of November and it was a huge, crazy week.  As soon as everyone left, it was like she was just waiting for things to calm down.  That night, she just walked across the living room.  It clicked and she just started walking back and forth.  The next night, she was walking and turning and then walking back.

She also got her first haircut.  Her bangs were getting so long and she learned to take out her hairbands which she would promptly toss in her mouth as a snack.

And after a pretty great year, she had a really rough week right after Thanksgiving.  She was playing and go to close to a hibachi  that had been used early.  She burned her hands pretty bad.  At first, she was in a lot of pain and it was just horrible for everyone to see.  Thankfully, she fell asleep and when she woke up, she wasn't bothered at all.  Unfortunately, her hands had blistered so we had to wrap her hands to protect them while they healed.  She's been quite amicable, adapting well to her club hand.  Then, she got very sick and developed a fever that just wouldn't go down.  We're nervous parents who are constantly in touch with medical professionals so we know all the warning signs to look for and what they could mean.  Nothing except the fever but it just wouldn't go down even with medicine.  But then one night, her fever sailed up to 105 and we found ourselves racing to the ER.  Her first visit to the hospital.  She had to undergo numerous blood tests and X-ray and her tears made everyone sad.  But she cheered right up, happily trying to lick her oxygen mask.  All the nurses kept stopping by, completely charmed by her.  As we walked out after a long sleepless night, she happily waved by to everyone in the ER.

We're so relieved that she survived everything and her little body is healing well.  She's such a trouper although she has become way more whiny.  I'm really hoping it is just because she sick.  And I'm thankful for every day that we get to hug her and love her, all she has to do is flash her gummy smile and the sun just shines.

An update wouldn't be complete without pics.  Here's pictures from her first hair cut and a photo of her bandaged hand, the "club."

13 Months Couch walking already!!

Slugger

Real Age: 13 months
Adj. Age: 10 months

Milestones: Holds on to things and slowly cruises along.  Still only two teeth on the bottom.  No new words besides Dada and barking "woo woo" when she hears Charlie barking.

I'm writing this 3 months after the fact.  Ack, I can't remember what she just started learning at that phase.  Bad bad mommy.  August was a big month for us.  I started a new job that allows me to be home at night and on weekends, but it also meant that we had to find a babysitter a few days a week.  What a stressful journey that was.  I never realized how much timing plays into things as most of the home daycares just didn't have openings.  We did manage to find a few qualified places but really lucked out when the mom of one of Slugger's friends said she was thinking about starting babysitting to supplement their house income.  What a relief that was.  We loved the mom, she's sweet and she's British.  Scott jokingly requested that she sing Mary Poppins songs to Slugger everyday.  We half-hoped Slugger would develop a British accent as well.

Slugger loved it there but as it worked out, another babysitter whom came highly recommended had an opening and our current babysitter found out she was...expecting her second baby!!!  It truly felt like God was helping ease us through transitions and finding Slugger the perfect place.  Slugger goes to her current sitter only a couple times a week but she LOVES it.  She LOVES the other kids there.  It's such a comfort to my heart when I pick her up to see that's she happy.   We've been putting her in the church nursery and she can't wait to play with the other babies.  Last week, we kept her out because she was sick and we didn't want the other babies to get sick.  Slugger cried when we just walked by the nursery without leaving her there.

I'm going to post her 16 month update already but I wanted to share these photos that we took on the beach while Daddy was performing a wedding nearby.