ZJ is 18 months old!

4.6.13

ZJ is finally up to 20 pounds!  She is also 31.5 inches tall.

ZJ has been resistant to identifying the parts of her face and usually just points to her ear for everything so I went on to the rest of her body and she identifies several body parts when asked (head, hair, mouth, belly, bum, hand and foot).  Of these, hand, bum and foot, she will also say.  Foot is actually one of her favorite words and she is obsessed with identifying feet and showing them to everyone she meets.  She likes to raise hers into the air when she says it.  She is also now saying book, bubble, dada and yay.  She’s up to 13 words.  Oddly, some she doesn’t repeat or continue to say, but she has said them.  She’s also making 6 animal sounds and a car sound.  She’s pretending to be on the phone now and will use random objects and say “hi.”  She can stack rings on her own now but it’s still difficult for her. 

She loves to be outside and desperately wants to dig in the dirt or splash in the dog water bowl.  She will now go down the slide at parks on her own and loves to but hates the swing and flails about when put in one.  She was horribly afraid of bubbles and would scream and cry when we blew bubbles but I just kept doing it and a few days ago she was gleefully running around in them.  She loves to take my shoes out and walk around the house in them.  Her favorite climbing spot this month is the trunk behind the couch, but she now climbs up and falls forward over the cushions to get onto the couch seat.  She’s been giving me real kisses but decided she would give them to her brother a few weeks ago and now finally gives daddy kisses too.

This entire month has been a battle at bedtime.  She still usually goes to sleep at nap time while nursing, but she refuses to fall asleep at night time, even when I tried a later time.  It usually takes about an hour of nursing and rocking.  So she’s been going to sleep closer to 8 pm and waking between 6:30 and 7:30 am.  Her nap is usually an hour.

She still throws food on the floor and has to be watched closely because as soon as you turn your back she tosses it.  She’s still finicky about what she likes and changes her mind a lot.  Her favorites are pasta with tomato sauce, most veggies and fruit, breads and cheerios.  She doesn’t consistently eat many protein rich foods but I now add peanut butter to her applesauce at lunch each day.

ZJ has 16 teeth now that her canines are coming in.  She hasn’t been sick all month.