Sorry I've been out of the loop these past few days you guys. It's been a busy few days and certain members of our household, myself included, have really been feeling under the weather. I actually had to force myself to do this post, despite being tired, since I'm falling way behind!
This video was taken at our friend's house over the holidays. They're fortunate enough to have a basement with a playroom, where Malu spent a lot of time playing with the kids (he's such a big kid at heart!). Malu coached Sina into becoming a "monster" that he and "Scooby Doo" (our friend's daughter, Madisen) were trying to hide from. She learned how to scare people! She absolutely loved it, if you can't already tell. A few times, I'd peek through the little window and could see Sina just waiting for the right time to come out and "scare" me. Cutest little monster ever. In a previous post, I mentioned that Sina does her "crazy eye" look, which you should have seen in this video clip as well. These are just indicators of how bubbly her personality is. You can probably tell that she's growing like a weed, right?
Folks, our baby turned 17 months last week!
I'm going to quickly run through some quick facts in the interest of time...since it's getting late and I have another long work day ahead of me. Let me see just how much I can remember from her 16th month.
Stats:
One more month and she'll be seeing the doctor for her 18 month appointment. Thus, we don't have any good stats. But remember me mentioning being sick? Well, Sina's the other one who's been sick. She'd been battling a chest cold for over a month and we finally decided to take her to see the doctor last week, who diagnosed her with bronchitis. Poor thing. After a few days of antibiotics, she's sounding a lot better. Anyway, Malu was there when they recorded her stats, but he forgot to write them down. He remembered, however, that she weighed in at 25 lbs!
She is wearing size 5 diapers and clothes in sizes 18-24 months are starting to get a little snug. Some of the clothes my mom sent her in size 3T fit, although sleeves are still too long in said size. A huge disappointment--I bought a lot of clothes from Carter's in size 24 months for Christmas. After one washing, they're already snug. So note to self when buying from Carter's--buy two sizes too big! Shoes? She's wearing size 5 or 6, depending on the brand.
Words/Communication:
Her vocabulary continues to grow by the day.
(Old Words/Phrases):
I'm already missing Christmas because she'd get so excited every time she saw our Christmas tree. Luckily, there are still lighted Christmas trees throughout the installations around here, so we'll get to hear her say "Tee-tis-tee" for Christmas tree until someone decides to take them down.
"Ho ho ho" was also said every time she saw Santa Claus
"Thank You" or "Tee tee", everytime she's given something. She loves hearing "You're Welcome" in reply
She's been saying "More" for months now too, only she says it "Mo-yee"
"Hot" is "Dot" and when she's cold, she signs it.
"Purple" is "Bopple", so is "Apple"
(New Words)
She says "Mine"
One time after dinner, she said, "I finsh", when she was done
"Door"
"Raisin" is "Ree-see"
"Snack" is "Knack"
Food:
This is the first month we'd ever seen her start to get picky with food. A few times, she refused to eat chicken, rice cereal, applesauce and some other foods that I can't remember at the moment, but know that she previously loved. Malu and I just remember it catching us by surprise. She now eats the sweet parts of her meals first and then afterwards decides if she's willing to eat the rest. The sweet parts of her meals are fruits--bananas, grapes, apples, and peaches. At least her sweet treats are healthy!
She loves to snack, mostly on her raisins, baked mini Goldfish crackers, string cheese and fruits. However, we have to hide her snack cup because every time she sees it, no matter if she just had a snack moments ago, she'll cry like crazy for it.
Naps/Sleeping:
She still takes her one afternoon nap, on schedule, for 1-2 hours. She's had a rough time falling asleep at night the last few weeks, but we attribute that to her bronchitis and teething (oh, and us trying to wean her off her binky at night).
Firsts:
This past month is the first time we'd seen her react adversely to teething, especially last week. The last of her canines are currently cutting through and it's made it difficult for her to fall asleep at night. Anbesol and Tylenol have helped a little bit the last few days.
We made a first attempt to wean her off her binky. She doesn't use it during the day while at school (it's not permitted), but she would use it during the day (on weekends) and then at night. After a little over a week without it, we caved. We hit a breaking point one evening when she decided she was not going to fall asleep until about 2 a.m., pretty much kicking and screaming the entire time. Fail. She gets it only at bedtime now, but we'll be making another attempt soon.
First (and hopefully the last) time getting bronchitis.
Yesterday, Sina let me know that she had gone to the potty in her diaper. I see potty training commencing in the very near future!
Others:
Oh my goodness, this girl is so cute and playful and clearly loves to entertain. She'll spend a good amount of time showing Grandma Ruby and Grandpa Mati how to do the "itsy bitsy spider", how she dances and says certain words. She also showcases her array of funny faces, including the "crazy eye" and her new Macauley-Culkin-on-Home-Alone "surprised" look. Skype is a wonderful thing!
She loves to hang out with me in the kitchen and I'll bring out pots and pans for her to play with.
She's become somewhat of a exhibitionist. She likes to take her pants off and has, on occasion, unfastened her diaper.
We continue to reinforce good habits, like being polite, i.e. saying "please" and "thank you", or at a minimum, signing both. And then trying to break bad habits...she likes to touch faces, but sometimes too hard, like she's almost slapping. It hurts! She also gets defiant and does things even though you tell her not too, like running along our sectional. No bueno.
She still insists on doing everything on her own and instead of asking for help, gets frustrated when she can't do something. Like yesterday, she was crying, almost screaming, about the fact that she couldn't get a cap on a bottle, or another day when she couldn't open a cabinet door. That's when being independent gets messy. On the other hand, I like how when we enter the house, she instantly starts unzipping her jacket, takes it off and hands it to me so that I can put it in the closet. I like how she brushes her own teeth, combs her own hair from time to time; how she likes to pick her own outfits and sometimes puts her own lotion on her hands and arms. Miss Independent for sure.
When she's awake, we never get a break. This girl is active. My friend, Mattie, commented that she didn't think her daughter was this active at Sina's age. I didn't know whether to be pleased or petrified. If she's active at this age, what's she going to be like at two? We're constantly looking for things to keep her occupied. She loves drawing, reading, music, playing outside (when the weather's decent), and she's quite handy with the apps on my Nook Color and now my iPhone. Needless to say, this girl keeps us on our toes all day long...it's exhausting.
Tacking on to the active piece...she can climb stairs like no other. I think I'll be having permanent back problems because of it!
Anyway, the 1.5 mark is just around the corner and she'll most likely be moving to the toddler room next month :(
Sina...we can't think of anything or anyone that brings us more happiness than you. We love you so very much!
Thank goodness it's a short week for us--training holiday on Friday. We'll be joining our friends, the Finches, again for a weekend in Garmisch. There will be skiing involved, which means SNOW! Can't wait!
