18 Months!

It’s been a while since I last posted. We’ve had guests, and then been sick, and honestly, I just really haven’t felt like sitting down and writing much. I’ve been reading all my favorite blogs in my RSS reader, but rarely commenting. Partly too I read so many other blogs that are doing exciting things or do lots of fun crafts or unschooly activities, and Meredith is really too young to do a lot of that. (We did take her to an art class for 2 year olds a couple of months ago that she had a lot of fun at. I should post the picture she made!) So I feel like I don’t have much to contribute yet. But then I remind myself that I started this blog for myself, so I could have something to look back on and help me remember things. And also, in writing down my ideas for parenting, I can look back and see how my ideas or thoughts have changed or evolved over the years. I have been feeling like writing a lot more again though, and have a few ideas and drafts already, so hopefully I’ll sit down and write more again now.

Meredith is 18 months old today, so I wanted to write a post all about her and what she’s been doing and saying recently. I realize for people who have never met us this may not be of much interest, it’s more for myself to look back on and for friends and family who live far away (Hi Alice!).

One of the questions we get asked a lot is how many words she is saying. My answer is, I have no idea. Do people actually count all their kid’s words? I thought of writing down all the words she says because it would be interesting to come back in a couple of years and see what she says, but I know I’d forget some. So, suffice it to say that she has been talking a lot recently. However, I am going to list a few of the ones she says a lot or I might like to remember about in the future.

My dad was here for a week and by the end of it she was calling him Grandad (“Ganda” or “Nanda” is how it sounded). She loves to say “no”, sometimes repeating it several times or else just saying it once very emphatically. She doesn’t say yes yet (though occasionally she’s said “yeah”) but she does nod her head. “More” is another favorite, and she’s started stringing that one together with other words, either spoken or signed. She said “more cookie” to me the other day when we were eating cookies, and often signs things like “more water”, “more food”, “more nurse”, etc. We got a fish tank at Christmas time, and she’s learned the sign for fish and loves to watch Finding Nemo. She will often bring me the controller and start signing fish and pointing to the TV even if we’re watching another movie at the time. We need to find other fish movies, Finding Nemo is getting old lol! She likes to yell our dog’s name while patting her leg, or yell “kitty!” for the cat, again while patting her leg.

She says “nigh nigh” now most nights when we’re heading to bed, and “love oo” (which melts my heart, of course). She started saying “sock” the other day, but it comes out sounding like “cock”, haha. One of her first words was “thank you”, which she mostly says when she gives things to someone, rather than the other way around. She also says “there it is” (most like one word though) when playing peek a boo with objects.

Her favorite toys right now are both wooden Plan toys. The Hammer Balls and the veggie set that has velcro veggies to cut apart. I’d love to get her the fruit one too. She also enjoys shape toys and any toy that involves putting rings on sticks. She has two dolls that she loves to cart around too. She loves to jump on beds and tables, stick stickers on things, and colour. A friend lives in our co-op who has a two-year-old boy and him and Meredith get along really well (most of the time, they are both two though!). They hug a lot, which is adorable, though other times the little boy doesn’t want to be touched. She loves to mimic him and often their games involve him doing things that she copies. They run around after each other and play peek-a-boo around his fish tank. It’s really sweet to watch them.

She loves to help out. If she sees me get out the broom she wants to hold the dustpan and is quite good at balancing it over to the garbage and dumping the contents out. She likes to help stir when we’re cooking and is very careful around hot things. She will take a scrubby and help wash dishes. She also likes to pick out socks. She can match colours, though not exact socks.

As far as EC goes, some days I think she will be potty trained in no time (like the other day when she went and got her potty with no prompting from me, sat in it, and pood and peed), but other days (most days) I realize we still have a ways to go. I’m okay with that though. She’s still young and we didn’t do EC for early potty training, we did it for self-awareness and communication. But it would be nice not to have to worry about diapers anymore.

She still only has seven teeth. The last time one popped through was at the beginning of November. I have friends with kids the same age who are getting molars already! She still nurses more than she eats solids, though she has been nursing less through the night. In fact, at night she often will pop off still partly awake and fall asleep on her own. Last night was the first time ever she fell asleep at night without either nursing or walking. I was lying down trying to nurse her, but she has a cold and was having a really hard time breathing while nursing and so she did nurse a little bit but ended up mostly giving up and just fell asleep on her own. She was also really tired though as she woke up from her nap after only 5 or 10 minutes and never did get back to sleep.

Of course, regardless of any of the above, we love her so much. She is such a little ham and so sweet. She definitely has a mind of her own and can be as stubborn as Kris or I, but I love that about her too. Part of me just wants to bottle her up as she is and never have her grow older, but in reality I am looking forward to watching her grow and learn and explore.

Related posts:

1. Sickies
2. I’m Back (maybe!)
3. A B C