21 months old

I can't believe she is almost 2!  And wow, is she growing up!  Since there is not a well visit at 21 months, I am not exactly sure how big she is.  We have a few follow up appointments this week so I am sure they will weigh and measure her then.  At our last visit, she weighed 22 lbs.  She is wearing 18 month clothes, size 4 diapers (which she has been in for quite some time now) and size 4 shoes.  Her hair is getting longer and has some soft curls in the back.  It is darkening up a bit and has some red hues in the sunlight.  Her eyes are still blue, but have darkened a little as well.  She has 4 new pearly whites that have finally broken the surface, which gives her 16 teeth!  She has her first dentist appointment scheduled in March.  She will also have her annual (slightly late) check-up with the cardiologist for her EKG and echocardiogram to follow up on her atrial septal defect.  I am really hoping that it has closed up so that we can check that off our list.  We also have her post-op follow up appointments with the ENT and plastic surgeon this week.  She is in the midst of a cold and so far I haven't seen any drainage from her ears.  I am really hoping the tubes are doing their job.  She has been off the Propranolol (for her hemangioma) for 3 weeks now!  This is the first time since she was 6 weeks old our bedtime routine hasn't included a dose of medicine!  Once all of the swelling and bruising went away from her laser treatment, her cheek looked really good!  Since we stopped the medication, we feel like it has darkened up just a little bit, but they expect 10% rebound growth at that time.  Overall, it does look better than it did before the treatment.

Ashlyn's routine hasn't changed much.  She gets up between 7-8 and has breakfast with her daddy.  They usually get to school around 9 which is snack time.  They do their morning activities and then have lunch at 11.  After lunch is nap time and that is one area she has improved...she is consistently taking longer naps.  Nap time is until 2 then they have another snack.  They do their afternoon activities and I pick her up at 4:30.  She used to run straight to me when she would see me at the door.  Now she likes to show me what it was she was doing before I interrupted!  I have mixed feelings about that...it makes me so happy that she likes school, her teachers and friends so much but makes me a little sad that she doesn't drop everything for my hug.  I guess these are all signs that she is growing up.  Dinner time is 5:30-6:00.  We usually eat dinner at her little table these days.  We play a little more before we start our bedtime routine (bath, books, brushing hair and teeth and bed!).  She usually hits the sack between 7 and 7:30.  We turn off the lights, turn on the sound machine and her twilight turtle, say our poems and prayers and she snuggles up without a peep.  While she is falling asleep without a problem these days, she is having trouble going back to sleep if she wakes up.  She usually ends up in bed with us at some point during the early morning.  I figure we are going to have a big enough battle on our hands very shortly as we transition to the toddler bed so I just go with it for now.  The weekends aren't quite as structured, but we try to stick as close to her routine as possible.  

What's new at 21 months?  Ashlyn is running now and I swear her balance has gotten better since she got tubes.  She doesn't fall nearly as much as she used to.  She tries to jump, but doesn't get much air unless she is holding on to something.  She loves to dance!  She isn't climbing quite as much as she was there  for a while, which is nice.  She loves to play with her kitchen, dollhouse and ball pit. She is fairly independent and entertains herself pretty well.  She is stating to get more interested in baby dolls, barbies, books and TV.  If we are just hanging around the house, I put the TV on the Sprout channel and she will occasionally tune in.  She can now sort of blow her nose.  She also brushes her hair and teeth.  She is very helpful and will actually do what I ask her to do.  She throws away her diapers (wet only), puts away her dirty clothes, puts the soap/shampoo up after bath time, helps clean up her toys and will wipe up spills!  She likes to pick out her clothes (mostly shoes) and tries to help with getting dressed.  She still has a pretty limited vocabulary and points and grunts a lot.  We are really working on using more words, but haven't made a lot of progress. She talks all of the time, it just isn't intelligible.  She is just now starting to try to mimic words or sounds so hopefully that is a step in the right direction.  She is still in the throwing phase, but I have found she throws less food when we sit at the table versus her highchair.  She nods YES!  I think this is huge for an almost 2 year old.  It seems like no is usually the preferred word, but Ashlyn says yes all of the time.  And appropriately too!  And it is so exaggerated when she nods her head.  It is like she is really trying to get the message across.  She can drink out of a cup with very few spills and she loves to use a fork and spoon when she eats.  She can stab things with her fork and usually picks up pieces of food and places them on the spoon, but she can get the fork or spoon to her mouth with the contents intact!  She likes to play peekaboo, sing the "itsy bitsy spider" and attempt the hand movements and give five and knuckles.

Favorite things right now include:  cereal bars (some days that is all she will eat and she can put away 2 at a sitting), paper products...toilet paper, kleenex, paper towels, wipes etc, pulling clothes out of her drawers, helping with the dogs (putting them in their crates, giving them treats, feeding them), her pacibear when she is tired or in the car, making noise, riding her ladybug (her feet finally reach the floor...with shoes on), balloons and sitting in her chair from Aunt Nay Nay and Uncle John inside her tent.

Not so crazy about:  having anything done to her hair besides brushing it...no bows, clips, headbands or ponytails, having her diaper changed, having her nails clipped or nose suctioned, being carried when we are in a hurry, holding hands while she is walking and wearing shoes or socks.

A few things I want to remember about Ashlyn at this age:  she is figuring things out...I love to just sit back and watch her...you can literally see the lights going off!  If she has an "owie" and I kiss it to make it better, I have to kiss the other side too.  The sweet sound of her voice when she waves and says hi to most strangers we pass (including panhandlers on the corner), and it is usually more than once.  The way she blows on her food if it is too hot.  The way she "loves" her baby brother (pulls up my shirt and gives my belly kisses and puts her sweet check against it).  How she still sleeps on her belly with her legs pulled up underneath her with her feet crossed.  Her girly run with one arm swinging much more exaggerated than the other and elbows pulled back.  I could go on forever, but this post is lengthy enough!  I love you sweet peanut!

A few terrible quality pictures from the past 3 months that haven't made it to the blog yet!