16 1/2 month update

Well, in the past few weeks we have hurdled headlong into full-blown toddlerhood! Amanda gets more strong-willed by the day (wonder where she gets that from?!?) and definitely lets us know when she is upset! She has started having some pretty strong tantrums when things don't go her way. To be honest, sometimes they are more funny than frustrating for her parents! She definitely has the drama queen inclination and rolls around on the floor like she is going to die. When she's not tantruming, Amanda is quite the funny character. She is saying a few words consistently now, like "done", "oh oh", and "boom" (a new one she just learned a few days ago), and she has said lots of other words in context, but only once or twice. She definitely understands a great deal of what we say to her and follows instructions and "answers" us back. She is still signing - this month she has learned "please" and "thank you". On the tooth front, she now has her full set of incisors, top and bottom, except for one lateral incisor on the top. All of a sudden last week she sprouted both top premolars - before the canines! Very strange! It seems like a bunch of teeth are getting ready to pop through any day now. On the plus side, it means that she can eat pretty much anything we give her now, without us having to worry too much about choking (not that we don't still worry!). She has learned to "dip" her food and loves to eat this way: bits of meat into dip, pasta into sauce, fries into ketchup, pancakes into syrup... A week or two ago we went for our first walk without the stroller - a milestone! We walked all the way down to the river and back, making a detour to the playground on our way home, and she walked pretty much the whole way. Well, except for the times she was running! She definitely doesn't have any trouble keeping up with us...often it's the other way around! She is still dancing a ton and singing all the time - Sue is starting to understand her songs as well, so it's not just us! We just wish there were more hours in the day to spend with her.

15 1/2 month update

It is getting harder to keep up Amanda's webpage...now that everyone is back to work and she is in daycare, things are pretty hectic! It has been a challenge to adjust our schedules, and mom & dad are still working on getting enough sleep! Otherwise things are going great. Amanda is growing by leaps and bounds, both physically and mentally. It is amazing how many new things she is learning every day. She is still not talking consistently "in English", although she throws out a word here and there just to keep us on our toes (we've heard bath, duck, dog, fish, and many others, but she doesn't use them consistently). However, she definitely doesn't have any problems making herself understood! She has made the adjustment to daycare very well and seems to enjoy hanging out with Sue and the other kids (all boys, and all older than her - the closest is 4 months older), as well as the two family dogs - although apparently she doesn't like their barking and shouts at them to be quiet! She will point to all the parts of her face and many other body parts if asked, and she is getting good at taking her clothes off at the end of the day. She is also very tidy... she likes things to be put back in the correct place, and walks over to the hamper and puts her clothes in once they are taken off! She is eating all different foods now, except nuts, and is quite a neat eater - she will actually wipe off her face if something is there because it bothers her. If we give her a napkin she will also wipe her mouth and the table after she eats (not sure where she picked this up because we didn't teach her!). She absolutely loves music - she does "full body" dancing now and sings all the time. She even knows a couple of songs - if we start singing The Blue Danube she will fill in the "dah dah...dah dah" bits, and she also hums along on rhythm and somewhat on pitch with Twinkle Twinkle and the Winnie the Pooh song. She has several musical instruments and loves to play with them. Although she seems to be getting quite a bit taller, we're not sure whether she's put on much weight - she is in that difficult size where her 12-18 month clothes are perfect in length, but way too big around the waist (if only the rest of us could have that problem!). Much of the time she looks like a rapper because her pants are down around her bum! She just got two new teeth this week - one on top, one on the bottom - to bring the grand total to 7. She is starting to throw the occasional tantrum when she is overtired and doesn't get her way, but generally she is easily distracted from her crying and doesn't give us too many problems. She is also sleeping great - all through the night and even for long stretches during the day (at least for Sue!).

13 1/2 month update

A snapshot of Amanda at 13½ months...
She runs around like crazy, and has the scraped knees to prove it! ~ She is finally signing...lots of "more", and she seems to be learning lots of others, like "milk", "water", and "all done". ~ She talks up a storm, babbling away mostly incoherently to everyone and everything. ~ She says a few words, like "dog", "duck", and something that sounds very much like "what's that?", but they're still pretty hard to understand. ~ Wherever we take her, she makes lots of new friends and does lots of flirting! ~ She adores her inflatable pool, and the splash pool near our house. ~ She is getting much harder to deal with at church, since all she wants to do is talk and run around! ~ She desperately needs another haircut! ~ She loves to ride in her carrier on Daddy's bike. ~ She is a great eater...we haven't yet found a single food she refuses to eat. ~ After a shaky start, she also loves her cow's milk in a sippy cup. ~ She is having a great time hanging out with her Dad all summer. ~ She can put the stars on her stacker, but not yet in the right order. ~ She will sometimes point to objects in her books when we ask her to ("where's the duck?") ~ She is starting to figure out how to climb on the furniture. ~ Her first top tooth finally came in a week ago, and it looks like the second one is part-way through as well. ~ She loves dogs, but is still a bit shy around them. ~ She hates to have anyone look inside her mouth, which makes checking for new teeth very difficult! ~ She can sit on her hippo, and knows it's supposed to go, but can't quite make it happen yet. ~ She has done great with the transition to Mom returning to work...and she rushes to the door to greet her with a big smile at the end of the day. ~ Whenever music starts (and sometimes even when it doesn't!) she starts bouncing up and down and dancing. ~ She loves to smile at herself and sometimes even "kiss" herself in the mirror. ~ She follows simple commands, like "bring me your water cup" or "come over here and we'll put your shoes on". ~ She sleeps really well but wakes up really early. ~ If we hold out our arms, she will run to us and give us a big hug. ~ We are so totally, crazily in love with her that it makes us ache.

We have a one year old!

It's official...we are parents of a toddler! Not only did Amanda turn 1 year old on June 12th, but she is walking around like crazy! As usual, our girl was pretty cautious in learning this new skill...she took her time, slowly progressing from 1-2 steps in mid-May, to 5-6 steps by the end of May, and finally to walking as far as she wants with confidence a few days before her birthday. Along with her newfound mobility, Amanda is getting more curious about everything (i.e., is into everything!) and is also testing her independence a bit, watching us to see how react when she's doing something she knows she's not supposed to do. She finally broke the 20 lb barrier - hooray! OK, well she's exactly 20 lbs, but that's all right. At least she is gaining weight. She is eating table foods almost exclusively now and has tried just about everything, other than nuts. She loves to eat scrambled eggs for breakfast and she seems to be especially fond of pasta. She has also tried Pirate Paks from White Spot, twice! - a grilled cheese sandwich and macaroni and cheese (both were bit hits). Believe it or not, she still has only two teeth, although the top teeth seem to be bothering her a great deal. In the past, she's only had significant teething pain at night, but now it bothers her a lot during the day as well. We hope those teeth will be coming in soon! She is still sleeping very well, through the night most nights...we've had a few wake-ups due to teething pain, but she is quickly soothed so it's not so bad. She is not quite saying any "real" words, although she babbles a ton and it sounds like she is speaking her own special language, complete with proper inflections. We joke that she is actually fluent in Russian, because if we ask her a question she often says "DA!" - not gently, like she used to, but very emphatically, like she is trying to tell us something very important! She loves music and will dance happily to whatever is playing or whatever silly tune we are singing. She also loves books, although so far she is mostly interested in turning the pages rather than hearing the story. All in all, she is a happy, energetic, goofy little girl and we love her to bits. It is amazing to watch her personality unfold as she grows.

11 month update

We can't believe that in only one month, our little baby will be a year old! This month Amanda has really increased her mobility. Her favourite thing is to cruise around, and around, and around the living room and upstairs hallway, holding on to the furniture or walls. She also loves to be in the kitchen (which can be kind of irritating!) and throws the plastic containers all over the floor on a regular basis. She can stand on her own now, although she doesn't realize it yet - she will occasionally do it by accident, but then when she realizes she's not holding on, she clutches at whatever is in front of her! She is also an excellent walker, but not quite on her own yet. She can walk with her toy walkers, or holding on to a finger (even just a single finger). We think she will probably be walking on her own in the next week or two, but our guess is definitely by her birthday. She has now progressed to mostly table foods. She still has baby cereal, fruit, and yogurt for breakfast (to help keep her iron up), but eats lots of "big people" foods at her other meals. She loves the little fruity yogurt cups and is still crazy about her Baby Mum-Mum crackers. And banana is our secret weapon - even if she acts full (after having a really tiny meal), we can usually get her to eat a whole banana afterwards! And she will eat anything mixed with banana (even ground beef - yuck! That's one of Daddy's concoctions). We are still a bit concerned about her weight - she lost a bit more this month, although mid-month weighings showed that she actually had dipped down well below 19 lbs, so at least she has regained from that. The doctor isn't too worried, but we're trying to make sure she gets lots of food in her at every feeding. We are going ahead with introducing most foods now, although we will still wait on eggs, honey, and milk until one year, and nuts until at least 18 months. Her second tooth finally came in - after 3 weeks of teething! - so now she has a matched set on the bottom. After only a few days of respite (i.e., improved sleep), she started teething on the next ones, although we haven't figured out yet which ones will be next (it looks like she may even get another bottom tooth before the top ones? Who knows). The good news: if given ibuprofen in the evening to deal with the teething pain, Amanda will now give us full nights of sleep fairly regularly - usually 10-12 hours. Hooray!!