Look Whooo Is 19 Months Old!!

I'm a bit late on this, but this last week has been soooooo busy! Plus, I've gotten really into Parenthood during naps/bedtime, and it's hard for me to focus on the show and type a blog (even though I'm now doing it as I type!).

Lots of things have changed since 18 months! First, last Friday we went to Scottish Rite for her walking eval. After having a PA (physician's assistant), a physical therapist, and an orthopedic surgeon watch Audrey walk, go from a sitting to standing position, and flex/stretch her legs, feet, and hips, they determined that there's nothing wrong with her! That was a total "praise the Lord!" moment. I was really fearing she would need weekly physical therapy, orthodics, or both.

Second thing that's changed is that, after being around other friends with kids' around Audrey's same age, Michel and I have become very aware that Audrey's speech is definitely behind for her age. She has a TON of words that she knows, but she just doesn't say them clearly. As she's getting older, she's really trying to string words and thoughts together, but it really just comes out gibberish. We went to the pediatrician today (for a sick visit...poor girl's been running fever since Wednesday, we decided to get it checked out, and found out that it's just a virus and keep giving Tylenol and Motrin...$25 down the drain to find out we need to keep doing what we've been doing lol!), but anyways, I told the pediatrician some of my concerns and she's submitting our names to Early Intervention and someone should call us next week to schedule an evaluation for her.

Anyways, this girl is crazy fun, sweet, loves to be the center of attention, and a major FLIRT!! We were at Target this evening just picking up a few necessities, and there was a boy about 13 years old in the same aisle as us that Audrey immediately started waving at. He actually looked at her, and said "hi" and she got the biggest smile on her face! Uh-oh. We have trouble on our hands! I also jinxed myself tonight when I was talking to Michel on the phone and told him that she's been in a great mood, obeying, etc. Then it came time to pick up all the toys (as we do every. single. night) before bedtime and this girl stinker acted like she had no idea how to pick up her toys. You would think that this was a new concept to her. I started picking up toys and she sits down to play with her Legos, got a drink of water, you name it, she did it. So finally I made her look me in the eye and told her if she didn't pick up her Legos by the time I got to 3, she was going to time-out. She ended up in time-out....and she made sure to let me know that she was NOT at all happy about it. One minute later (when time-out was all done) she suddenly remembered how to clean up her toys. Can I just state the obvious? Being the mother to a toddler is hard. I don't even have a strong-willed child (most of the time) and it's hard. Luckily, more often than not, I see her sweet little heart and kind spirit more than I see her defiant side (I'm probably jinxing myself again by saying this)!

OK, onto her stats:

Weight: 22lbs 6oz (as of today's dr appt)

Length/Head circ.: ??

Sleep: Ohhhh....the sleep. I read online that there is an 18 month sleep regression (actually there's one every few months), but man we felt this one! It was taking her 30 minutes to an hour+ to fall asleep at her naptime and bedtime for two weeks straight! I thought I was going to lose my mind. Luckily, she's back to falling asleep almost instantly, or at least within 10 minutes. This week she hasn't napped longer than an hour, but she's sleeping 12-13 hours at night, so she's getting plenty of sleep. She's been waking up from her nap and bedtime this week whining and fussing whereas she usually wakes up happy, so I'm guessing that's from her virus she caught.

Eating: Still a great eater! I've discovered she likes to dip her food. If we're having something where ketchup would be an appropriate dip she loves ketchup (and sometimes she just sticks her fork, or finger, in ketchup and licks it off!). Tonight we were having black bean burgers with apples and I made a little apple dip out of peanut butter, Greek yogurt, and caramel extract (it was delicious!) and she loved dipping her apples in it...though I'm pretty sure much more dip was consumed than apples!

Clothes: She's in all 18m now. Thanks to Aunt Janette, we are well-stocked for summer!!

New Achievements of the Month:
1. Says the word "up" very clearly, but in the most pitiful way possible. It's very drawn out with her arms up (she usually only uses it when she wants to be picked up), but it's like "uuuuuuup". It's pretty cute actually....except when I can't pick her up and it becomes a cry. Then it's sad/annoying!
2. Has gotten fast enough/good enough at walking that I can let her walk into a building (church mainly) without me always having to carry her. This is sad and exciting for Mommy! She's still having to learn that she has to hold my hand if we're in a parking lot because she doesn't always want to
3. Can follow directions very well (well...when she wants). It's nice that I can tell her something like "go get your water and walk to the garage" and she does it. It's sooo cute to see how much she understands even though she can't say as much back!

Likes:
1. Eating - she would probably snack all the time if I let her
2. Her little friend, Campbell. My BFF/college roommate lives in Frisco and we try to get together every other week, and sometimes every week. Her son is 6 weeks younger than Audrey, and Audrey LOVES him!! Other than her cousins, it's the only little kid whose name she knows just when she hears it, and gets really excited when she sees him. They play really well together, too, it's a win-win for everyone!

Dislikes:
1. Timeout!