Seventeen (and almost a half) months
We celebrated Aria's 17-month birthday on Dec. 26 by... getting a babysitter and going to the matinee of Rogue One without her. X-) Oh well! She freaked out for a few minutes when we both went to her room at the same time with our coats on to say goodbye (rookie mistake) but did fine after we left.
According to my mom, when I was this age, you could ask me how old I was and I would say "Seventeen months!" Aria is... not there yet. But, shortly after I posted the 16-month update, she suddenly acquired two more important words: "No!" and "Mama!" That latter was mostly triggered at first by *pictures* of me rather than addressed to me, but she's expanded since then. She doesn't call for me, but she will say "Mama!" when she catches sight of me. So that's awesome. She doesn't say "Dada" as reliably, but if we are playing in her room and I say "Should we go see Dada?" she runs to the door.
And since this entry is coming almost 2 weeks late: Shortly upon turning 17 months, she started saying "Bock!" for blocks. And also stacking blocks one on top of the other, which she never did before. "Bock! Bock!" The other new word that she got right away is "Bubbo!" (bubbles) which she saw for the first time last month and LOVED. I bought her a little bottle of bubbles at Party City as a stocking stuffer, but it's kind of a crappy one, and not great to use inside anyway since it gets bubble soap residue all over everything. In the spring when we use it all up, I'll splurge on a better bottle.
She has also started taking an interest in pens and paper. When we're grocery shopping, she howls until I give her the grocery list and the pen, and she will actually try to scribble on it (before getting bored and dropping them on the floor; Mama picks them up; repeat x1000). We got her a pack of jumbo crayons for Chrismukkah, but she has to be very carefully supervised so she does not either (a) rub the crayons all over her toys/the house or (b) eat the crayons.
Her hair is getting longer and filling in more -- not enough to fasten into a ponytail, but at least the barrettes stay in better (until she pulls them out). Without barrettes, it hangs in her eyes, but I can't bring myself to trim her bangs. There's a Jewish custom not to cut a child's hair until they turn 3 (traditionally this is specific to boys, but to some extent for girls too) and part of me wants to hold to that. So I clip it up when I can, or brush it out of her eyes.
etrace worries she is starting to get bored, pent up in the living room or her bedroom with the same old toys all the time. There's a parent/toddler program called "Mother Goose On the Loose" at our library branch every other Monday morning; with the holidays, it's been a few weeks since the first one he took her to, but it was fun and the next one is this Monday. She'll actually be old enough next month to start a toddler program at one of the nearby Montessori schools, but I think we may have missed the boat on that for this spring, since we didn't actually put her on the lists last summer when we visited the schools. But I think I will still send in an application. There is also a toddler program at our synagogue preschool, but it's 40 minutes' drive each way -- not really feasible for a 2-hour program on a weekday morning, especially multiple times a week.
Over the New Year's weekend, it was surprisingly warm. Monday morning, when I still had the day off work, I put her winter coat and moccasins over her fleecy sleeper and took her out onto the back deck to play for a while. I sat out in just a sweatshirt and drank hot coffee (out of the white porcelain mug that c1 made for me) while she trotted around, climbed on the chairs and benches, picked up leaves and twigs and acorns. Her hair in the sunlight was the same pale-russet color as the dry oak leaves. Coco (Grandma's exuberant German shepherd) was barred behind the gate, bouncing around but safely out of trampling range for once, and Aria tried to feed her twigs like a zoo exhibit. She loved it so much, she pitched a fit when I took her back inside after half an hour to eat lunch. I guess we all enjoy a change of scenery. :-)
She's just about 32" tall now. Still holding to 85%ile height and 65%ile weight. Next update will probably be after her 18-month pediatrician appointment, which is not until Feb 2.
N.B.: Cross-posted from Dreamwidth; click to view or comment on original post.
According to my mom, when I was this age, you could ask me how old I was and I would say "Seventeen months!" Aria is... not there yet. But, shortly after I posted the 16-month update, she suddenly acquired two more important words: "No!" and "Mama!" That latter was mostly triggered at first by *pictures* of me rather than addressed to me, but she's expanded since then. She doesn't call for me, but she will say "Mama!" when she catches sight of me. So that's awesome. She doesn't say "Dada" as reliably, but if we are playing in her room and I say "Should we go see Dada?" she runs to the door.
And since this entry is coming almost 2 weeks late: Shortly upon turning 17 months, she started saying "Bock!" for blocks. And also stacking blocks one on top of the other, which she never did before. "Bock! Bock!" The other new word that she got right away is "Bubbo!" (bubbles) which she saw for the first time last month and LOVED. I bought her a little bottle of bubbles at Party City as a stocking stuffer, but it's kind of a crappy one, and not great to use inside anyway since it gets bubble soap residue all over everything. In the spring when we use it all up, I'll splurge on a better bottle.
She has also started taking an interest in pens and paper. When we're grocery shopping, she howls until I give her the grocery list and the pen, and she will actually try to scribble on it (before getting bored and dropping them on the floor; Mama picks them up; repeat x1000). We got her a pack of jumbo crayons for Chrismukkah, but she has to be very carefully supervised so she does not either (a) rub the crayons all over her toys/the house or (b) eat the crayons.
Her hair is getting longer and filling in more -- not enough to fasten into a ponytail, but at least the barrettes stay in better (until she pulls them out). Without barrettes, it hangs in her eyes, but I can't bring myself to trim her bangs. There's a Jewish custom not to cut a child's hair until they turn 3 (traditionally this is specific to boys, but to some extent for girls too) and part of me wants to hold to that. So I clip it up when I can, or brush it out of her eyes.
etrace worries she is starting to get bored, pent up in the living room or her bedroom with the same old toys all the time. There's a parent/toddler program called "Mother Goose On the Loose" at our library branch every other Monday morning; with the holidays, it's been a few weeks since the first one he took her to, but it was fun and the next one is this Monday. She'll actually be old enough next month to start a toddler program at one of the nearby Montessori schools, but I think we may have missed the boat on that for this spring, since we didn't actually put her on the lists last summer when we visited the schools. But I think I will still send in an application. There is also a toddler program at our synagogue preschool, but it's 40 minutes' drive each way -- not really feasible for a 2-hour program on a weekday morning, especially multiple times a week.
Over the New Year's weekend, it was surprisingly warm. Monday morning, when I still had the day off work, I put her winter coat and moccasins over her fleecy sleeper and took her out onto the back deck to play for a while. I sat out in just a sweatshirt and drank hot coffee (out of the white porcelain mug that c1 made for me) while she trotted around, climbed on the chairs and benches, picked up leaves and twigs and acorns. Her hair in the sunlight was the same pale-russet color as the dry oak leaves. Coco (Grandma's exuberant German shepherd) was barred behind the gate, bouncing around but safely out of trampling range for once, and Aria tried to feed her twigs like a zoo exhibit. She loved it so much, she pitched a fit when I took her back inside after half an hour to eat lunch. I guess we all enjoy a change of scenery. :-)
She's just about 32" tall now. Still holding to 85%ile height and 65%ile weight. Next update will probably be after her 18-month pediatrician appointment, which is not until Feb 2.
N.B.: Cross-posted from Dreamwidth; click to view or comment on original post.