17 Months Old

Some observations about Shelby at 17 months old:

• She has some new words, including "outside" and "bow." What a girly girl! She asks for bows in the morning while we get dressed, and will hand the bow to you if she pulls it out of her hair and say "bow?" like she's asking you to put it back in. She also loves her shoes, saying the word "shoes" and carrying around things like paper gift bags and her pouch of crayons like a purse. Oh dear.
• She's been saying "hi" and "bye" for a while now, but she's been really into saying it lately at the appropriate time, and to specific people. Those people can be total strangers, grocery check out people, or her classmates... she will say hi and bye over and over again until they acknowledge her! She is quite the attention seeker!
• She is obsessed with blueberries and yogurt, more so than usual. But only YoBaby organic baby yogurt. Of course her favorite foods would be expensive avocado, blueberries and organic yogurt! No expense spared for our growing girl ;)
• She is really into saying "all done" after meals and will even take off her bib and clean her face if we give her the cloth. She's still getting the hang of utensils and loves trying to drink out of an open cup. She still douses herself though! She will also say "down" and "up" when she wants to move or get out of her high chair.
• We still bathe her in her little baby tub and will keep doing so until she no longer fits! We bathed her in a regular tub on vacation and she hated it! She doesn't like water to be poured on her head and screamed bloody murder every time. In her baby tub, we can lean her back on the reclining backrest and she will happily suck her thumb while we wash her hair.
• She also screams bloody murder when we try to brush her teeth and I am hoping she will warm up to this necessary task soon!
• I think she is finally starting to fully wean. I wasn't pushing it because she sleeps all night and is down to only nursing once or twice a day, and everything I read said you should let them wean on their own. She nurses a little at bedtime but hasn't nursed to sleep in a long time and will happily play in her crib until drifting off to sleep. No matter what time we put her down - 7:00, 7:15 or 7:25 - she always seems to fall asleep right at 7:30. When we got back from vacation, she discovered a fun new game of throwing every lovey out of her crib and then calling for us to come get them!
• She really wants us to down on the ground playing with her at all times and if we are sitting on the couch or sitting down, she will march over and try to push us out of the chair! It's pretty cute.
• She is also getting really good at mimicking things we do. It's funny to see what she will copy and what she thinks is funny.
• I think she's getting bored with her baby toys and it's probably time to change them out for some different and more complicated toys. What are your favorite toys for an 18 month old?
• She is a confident walker, almost-runner and climber and has started to figure out how to gingerly scott herself back down steps, although we will not be removing the baby gates anytime soon! She will confidently climb up to the highest platform on our neighborhood playground and stand at the edge and wait for you to pick her up. This makes me very nervous, but she loves it.
• On our vacation, we also taught her "jump" in the pool and she jumped into our arms a few times. The pool had a small ledge running all the way around so she could sit level with the water. It wasn't so much a jump as it was a scoot, but it was still cute! Scott says he wants her to go underwater by the end of the summer, but I am not sure if she is brave enough for that, considering how much she hates water in her face!
• Her hair is getting so long and will now hang down her back when it's wet. I love her crazy curls and how funny her bed head looks when she first wakes up. She is starting to look more like a little girl and less like a baby every day. It makes me want to cry and I can't believe she will be a year and a half old next month!