18 months

Avery is actually 18.5 months by now, but just had her check-up at the doctor's office this morning. She always does really well for the doctor and doesn't squirm when he's checking her ears or mouth.

Here's what's going on with Avery Anna:

*She weighs 24 lbs and is in the 45% for weight. She gained 1.75 lbs since her 12 month check up.

*She is over 33 inches tall and in the 81% for height!! She grew 3 inches since her 12 month check up and the average baby grows only 1.5 inches. The doctor said if you double the height of girls at 18 months, it is typically how tall they'll be at their peak height....she may be 5'6"!!! (I'm not even 5'2")

*Her head's still big (95%), haha!

*She finally started talking more right after she turned 18 months. For a while there, her vocabulary consisted of about 5 words and I was trying so hard with her to get her to talk more. On Thanksgiving night, she said, "Tickletickletickletickle" and tickled us with her little fingers.

*Most of her words are a "two for one" deal, "No No, Ba Ba (paci), Dog Dog", "Ho Ho", "Knock Knock", "Tu Tu", "Poo Poo" :) Other words include, "uh-huh, ball, bed, di-di (dorothy), book, baby, hewwo?, oh no!, bow, boat, boo!, hey, bye, mama, dada, moo". I told you she has a small vocabulary.

*She feeds herself VERY WELL with a spoon or fork and I rarely have to spoon feed her. She is "Miss Independent" and wants to do it all by herself. If I help, she gets mad and slings the fork everywhere, sending the food flying.

*She LOVES to dance and wear her tutu. She will put on her tutu and want me to put her in her crib where she bounces and dances to the music she insists I turn on for her.

*She is a very good helper and will go behind me and close drawers, doors, and whatever else she sees is out of place. She will bring me trash she finds on the floor, and then put in the trash can when I ask her to throw it away.

*Her twelve teeth are now being joined by four new 'canines'. They are all cutting right now and she's handling it very well. Her fingers are in her mouth when they bother her, but no extra fussiness comes from it.

*NO MORE PACIFIER!! It really just happened one day when I realized she only uses it for naps and bedtime, and that's because we offer it to her, she doesn't ask for it. So we just kept it out of sight, and never mentioned it anymore, and that's that!

There's so much more that she does, like brushing her teeth, taking off her shoes and socks, climbing on everything, knocking on doors....the list goes on and on. This is age is really fun, but can be frustrating because she knows what she wants, she just can't tell me what it is all the time. I'm in no rush for her to grow up, though...(just communicate a little better!)

Avery Anna....you are getting so big and looking more like a little girl every day. I love you so much and have so much fun with you! LOVE - MAMA