Here's a post that I wrote most of back in November...
It's official - our little girl is a big girl. She has reached the milestone that we have been waiting for... no more diapers! And we couldn't be happier!
It actually happened about two months ago now, [which reffered to the beginning of October] and when it finally happened it was fast. We had introduced a baby potty when she was a year and a half, and while it was intriguing at first, she quickly lost interest. So we went about potty training pretty casually. I figured when she was ready we would know.
Throughout the next year she occasionally went pee pee on the big potty using a little kid seat, but only when prompted and not with much consistency. We got some big girl underwear and tried wearing those with liners. Pretty cool, but not enough to make any difference.
Then suddenly, the last week of September (at 2 1/2), she started making all of her poopies in the potty. By the end of the week we decided to try big girl underwear again and she suddenly started making all of her pee pees in the potty also! Even when we were out and about! (And even at bike races when she had to use a port-a-potty or, um, go outside.)
And it was just like that! No more diapers. No more plastic liners. Big girl underwear all the time. And in the two months since then she has only had two accidents during the day and one at night! Go Attia!
And P.S. - In the one and half months since that was written we have had no more accidents! Yay!
I can't believe you are already turning two! It's amazing how fast you have grown. This time last year you could only get around by crawling, and your little head was still basically bald. My, how things have changed! Not only can you walk, but you also run, jump and hop. You use your size 6 feet to go go go - all the time. Oh, and you have more hair now too.
This time last year your were still completely dependent on your mommy and daddy. Now you are quite an independent little girl. You like to do things on your own. You like to walk instead of ride in the stroller. You like to go up and down stairs by yourself. You like to pick out your own clothes. You like to dress yourself - but you are much better at taking your clothes off than putting them on. You demonstrate this when you decide that it is time for a "shouw" (you love your showers). You like to tackle new challenges - like assembling your baby stroller by yourself. Sometimes it is hard, and you get frustrated, but you (usually) end up letting your mommy help, and you watch and learn, and take over to do it yourself right away. You are very smart.
This time last year you could still only communicate with a few basic signs, some simple one syllable words and animal noises, and of course laughing and crying. Now you just chatter away. I love to hear your little voice - talking to your babies, chatting in the back seat on the way home from daycare, signing songs around the house. Of course some of this is still hard to understand, but some of it is very clear, and every day I can understand more of your stories and songs. You add to your vocabulary at an amazing rate. You are quickly adding complexity to your phrases and sentences. You repeat everything I say and you quickly grasp new concepts. Like that your snowman was melted by the sun. Like I said, you are smart.
This time last year you were still waking up to eat at least once a night. You are now a wonderful sleeper and mommy and daddy are very grateful for that. You still take one or two good naps every day, and you sleep all through the night. Thank you!
Of course, there are some things that are still the same as they were this time last year, and I am glad for them as well. You still love to snuggle with your mommy and daddy. You still like to give a whole variety of kisses, including goat kisses, butterfly kisses, and Eskimo kisses (i.e. "nose kisses"). You are still a very sweet and silly little girl, and a pleasure to be around.
I'm sure that this year will bring many new things, as every year does. But no matter how you change, or don't change, your daddy and I will always love you. You are our sweet little girl and we treasure every moment that we spend with you. Watching you grow is a true miracle and joy. I can't wait to see what the coming years bring!
"Oh, sorry" (She just started saying this a lot when she drops things, runs into me, etc. Pretty funny)
"Rosa go lay down!"
"Stripes! Atti wear stripes. Mommy wear stripes!"
"Atti like stripes"
"Atti go outside? Go play at park?"
"Go play in snow?"
"Daddy throw ay [away] popucorn" (Yes, one time, weeks, ago, daddy threw away an old bag of popcorn)
"I make a circle" (her favorite thing to draw)
"Thank you, Welcome" or Thank you Mommy"
"Shhhh. Quiet" (to mom and dad, to Rosa, to crying babies, and the list goes on)
"Zuntite" (gesundheit)
"Quesadilla"
"2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10" (occasionally 1 and 7 get thrown in there)
And the best?...
"I love you Mommy" & "I love you Daddy" (we've been waiting a long time for that one)
While we are here: She got her canine teeth mid-January to early February; she goes up the stairs no problem, and now she goes down standing up and holding onto the rail/wall; She has discovered TV and likes "Cat in Hat," "Max and Ruby," "Monkey" [Curious George] and "Mickey," among others; In the evening she likes to come into the kitchen, spin circles, and make up songs about her day, the park, etc.; she is very entertaining; she is also very independent; she builds train tracks by herself; she is very good at getting her point across with words; she repeats and grasps a surprising amount of new vocabulary and concepts; she will be two in less than a week!
I know. I've said this many times before, but Attia never ceases to amaze me. She just keeps growing and learning at such a rapid pace! This time what has really surprised me is how much her language skills, both speaking and understanding, have developed over the past couple of months. Since my last update she has added many many words to her everyday vocabulary. It seems like she learns a new one every day!
Of course a lot of these aren't quite complete words, but she knows them, uses them, and understands them, so the rest will come as she continues to develop and learn how to form/combine all of the sounds. Here's a list of what she is saying:
Mommy, Daddy, Addy, Kate, doggie, Rosa, Dack or Jacque (Jack), puppy, poopy, di-pu (diaper), bunny, hop, hawk (Jayhawk), yeah, yes, no, go, huh?, hi, bye, bite, bike, ball, beep, ca (car), key, shoe, boot, toe, eye, knee, no (nose), baby, bug, whoa, sit, phone, shou (shower), flou (flower), fa (fan), lie (light), fi or fwi (fly), tash (trash), nie-nie (night-night), nack (snack), foo (food), mo (more), mek (milk), cookie, chee (cheese), appu (apple), up, this, bir (bird), rar (this is what a bear says), mau (meow), choo choo, ouside or side (outside), hep (help), tic-a-tic-a-tic-a (tickle tickle tickle), whas dis (what is this) ... and I'm sure there are more!
She has even started to put words together into phrases like, "Was dis Daddy?", "Jacque water", "Mo melk" and, drum roll... "No Mommy."
This is a video from the beginning of the September, of her pointing out her eyes, nose, toes, etc.
And here is a video from the end of October, of her saying a whole list of words.
It's a really long video - I couldn't believe she sat there so patiently and repeated so many of her favorite words!
I am also totally amazed by her focus and memory. If you tell her that we need to get dressed and put shoes on before we go outside, don't think she will get distracted on the mission and forget why we were doing it. She stays right on track finding her shoes, even if she has to go upstairs, and then gets to the door as quickly as possible. Don't even think about not following through!
Then the other day (or actually like a month or two ago now) she really surprised me. She had lost part of a bracelet at the beginning of the week and a few days later she came over to me with the remaining band. I told her I didn't know where the rest of it was because she had lost it days before (and trust me, I had looked!). She proceeded to pull me into the kitchen and point to the stove. Curious, I got down on the floor with a flashlight and sure enough, all the way under the stove, was the watch that she had lost from her bracelet. I couldn't believe that she remembered it was there after several days time, and was able to lead me too it!
So, that's the big stuff, but let's go ahead and update on some of her other new developments and interests.
At the beginning of September she had her 18 month check-up, and got her new growth stats. You can compare this to the rest of her stats in her 15 Month post.
AgeHeight %Weight% Head Circ.%
18 Months 31.25" 37% 24 lbs 8 oz 54% 18.5" 63%
15 Months 30.75" 59% 22 lbs 1 oz 37% 18" 44%
Her height percentile seems to have gone way down, but this was the first time she had her height measured while standing up, so the doctor said that number may be a little skewed due to slouching etc. That must be the case because she is still taller than her friends, and I measured closer to 32" at home.
She has teeth popping through left and right. Five new ones since June! I'll just list them here:
Tooth #7 - beginning of July, #5 on the tooth chart
Tooth #8 - end of July, #23 on the tooth chart
Tooth #9 - beginning of August, #12 on the tooth chart
Tooth #10 - beginning of September, #26 on the tooth chart
Tooth #11 - beginning of September, #21 on the tooth chart
Tooth #12 - middle of September, #28 on the tooth chart
She has really started to get into imaginative play. You know, like pretending different things are cups and 'drinking' out of them. And she has really gotten into taking care of her baby dolls. In fact, this is a big part of what she does every day. I must say, its pretty darn cute!
She diapers baby... She cleans baby's feet...
She trims baby's fingernails...
She shares snack with her baby... She puts shoes on her baby...
She carries her baby (or monkey) in a baby carrier like mommy...
And she puts her babies to sleep before she goes to bed.
Attia likes to help with the house work
For a little while.
She loves to help take care of Rosa.
This includes feeding her, telling her to 'come,' and trying to walk her among other things. She'll settle for walking her monkey if Rosa doesn't come.
She loves to get dressed up like a pretty ballerina and dance around.
But she also really likes to go outside and play with bugs and dirt, even if she is all dressed up.
She likes to help in the garden
She loves picking the tomatoes. Here she's helping to harvest peppers before the frost.
She is a generally silly little girl
But sometimes she just wants to snuggle.
(This Mickey Mouse was actually mommy's favorite stuffed animal as a child.)
Oh, and this is super cute. When I am holding her she will snuggle on demand. I just have to say 'snuggle' and she lays her head on my shoulder. Aww
She likes to sit on laps and read books with mommy and daddy.
She had her first trip to Lone Star Lake, or any lake for that matter, on Labor Day Weekend
She had fun playing in the sand with daddy, but she was a little less enthused about swimming. Especially after her head went under water, with supervision of course. She did warm up to the water some by the end of visit.
She still enjoys our family tandem rides.
We stopped for a picnic lunch during this ride.
She loves eating apples. Especially whole, or in big chunks.
And especially when she is with her daddy.
She loves playing at the playground and she has mastered the slides.
Here is a video of Attia going down the big slide
At the beginning of October, 19 months old, this rough and tumble little kid got her first black eye.
She was on her way to the stool when she tripped over daddy's feet and found the stool sooner than she wanted to. And with her face instead of her feet! Ouch! As you can tell, she didn't let it bother her for too long though.
She loves to get into the fridge and steal grapes and apples.
(apparently she wanted me to sit next to her in the second picture,
as you can see by the pointing finger)
She likes to 'work' on the computer like mommy
(Dancing to the music on Yo Gabba Gabba)
She likes to go for walks downtown and to visit daddy at the bike shop.
Listening to music during Buskar Fest
Enjoying some ice water at Juice Stop And getting spoiled behind the scenes at Sunflower Outdoor & Bike
She says, "Bye-Bye" and waves to everyone and everything, anywhere we are. This includes saying, "bye-bye" to random people when we are at the store or anywhere else, to plants on walks, to trains, to rocks, to our pets and to random pets, to water that she drinks (she waves to her mouth), and to poopy in her diaper (she waves to her diaper while we change her). Silly girl.
And one of the best things? She loves to hang out with her mom.
And her dad.
So, all in all, she is just over a year and a half, she continues to develop like crazy and grow like a weed, she's super cute while she does it, AND...
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