Didn’t Sierra turn 18 months…like TWO MONTHS AGO?
Um, yeah… I’m a total slacker blogging mom. Sierra’s changed so much in the last two months, it’s almost like she’s a completely different person from the kid she was in June. I had lots of video clips that I meant to post, but they’re all kind of out of date at this point. Rather than detail what Sierra was like at 18 months, I’ll mostly try to recap some of what’s been going on since June 6th.
Let’s start with her 18 month well check and stats – at her appointment, she was 21 lbs, 5 oz (10th percentile) and 31 inches (25th percentile). That’s TINY for a child of mine. Even yesterday, she only weighed in at 22.2 lb on our bathroom scale. How’d that 8 lb, 7 oz baby turn into such a peanut? Though she doesn’t always eat a huge amount in any one sitting, she definitely has a good appetite – like when she starts shrieking that she wants lunch at 10 am. The doctor pronounced her healthy and fabulous, and again commented that her verbal skills are quite advanced. She got two shots, in her arms rather than in her legs at my request, since in the past the shots haven’t bothered her as much when given in the arms. She didn’t even notice the first one – she was way too distracted by getting a bandaid (“Sticker!!!”) – and she cried for maybe 5 seconds after the next one, stopping as soon as she got another Band-Aid (“TWO stickers!!!”).
Shortly after Sierra turned 18 months old, she started really combining words, and now she gives us everything from single words to short phrases (“Baby fall down”) to complete sentences (“Mommy, where did Daddy go?” or “I have a dolly. Look, Mom!”). The first completely spontaneous sentence that I noticed her saying was “Mommy, I like peppers!” She also sings whole songs, often at hilariously loud volumes. Some of her favorites are:
- The Alphabet Song
- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
- Where is Thumbkin?
- Happy Birthday
- Rain, Rain, Go Away
- The theme song from the show “Weeds” (not that we let her watch that!)
Her articulation has improved greatly, though Lex and I can certainly understand her better than someone who doesn’t know her would. Much like her big sister, she is pretty shy around people she doesn’t know too well and will clam up. She’s learning how to count – currently she’s got “One, two, three, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen” down pat – and she can identify several shapes. Though she can’t consistently identify colors yet, she can match them like a pro, especially with her Melissa and Doug fish puzzle. Puzzles are a big thing for her, actually. She adores them! She also greatly enjoys the Biscuit books, Dora and Diego (and has a few Spanish phrases in her everyday vocabulary, courtesy of those two), and all baby dolls.
Sierra’s love for Anya has grown to near idol worship. As soon as she hears Anya make any noise in the morning, she begins shouting, “Anya wake up! Play in Anya room!” She always wants to share with her big sister, too. She has these two baby dolls that she likes to take with her when we go out, but she has to take both of them and not just one, because she needs “ONE FOR ANYA!” She’s always going over to give her hugs and kisses, especially if Anya gets upset or hurts herself. They play together very nicely for the most part, too, and anything Anya does, Sierra wants to do, too.
What else? Let’s see. We are continuing to work on potty training. Sierra loves to pee both on the toilet and in her diaper equally, but she knows what she’s supposed to do, and will gladly tell anyone else who goes to the toilet that they are a big girl. She had been resistant to pooping on the toilet for several weeks after having had some success, but in the last few days she’s been doing a much better job – and she loves getting hand stamps and stickers as a reward. As for sleeping, Sierra is doing beautifully. After a short bedtime routine, she goes in the crib awake and often puts herself to sleep by singing or talking herself. Our only big complaint is that we wish she would sleep later . We can deal with the 6 am wake up call, but when it gets closer to 5 am, it’s rough. Sierra is still a little imp – climbing on whatever she can, standing on stools and shouting “One, two, three, jump!” (but she doesn’t jump, thankfully), sneaking up to the landing on the stairs and taunting me with, “Mommy… Up so high!” – but she’s also a total sweetheart, showering us with unprompted hugs, kisses, I love yous, pleases, thank yous, and excuse mes all the time. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again anyway: I think we’ll keep her.
Name, Puzzles, and Days of the Week
Sierra knows her name (!):
Puzzle time:
The Days of the Week, by Anya:
My kids are cute. 
Sierra is 15, er, almost 16 months old!
Sierra turned 15 months old on March 6th (That’s 1 and 1/4 years!) and since we are just a few days away from her 16 month birthday, I figured it was time to stop procrastinating and actually write this post. She had her well check on the 9th – 20 lbs, 4 oz and 30 1/2 inches – kind of a peanut! She’s healthy in all respects. The doctor once again commented on both her advanced verbal skills and her rather strong will. The rest of her stats? Size 4 diapers, size 3 shoes, in between 9-12 months and 12-18 months clothes, and 14 teeth.
This child has a lot to say and is rarely quiet at home. When we’re out and about or in a big group, though, she takes a long time to warm up. Her articulation has gotten much better, but you still need to know her to understand her well. She has a huge vocabulary, including many names and a lot of short phrases. Some of my favorites: I don’t know; Hi, birdies; wash your hands; come with me; hahaha, funny; and I love you. She loves music and tries to sing several songs, including “ABC” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider” – and she actually gets a few words and an approximation of the tune. “Two” is a frequent request of hers. She must have two of everything, at least according to her.
Sierra walks very well and climbs on whatever she can. She drags a stool over to Anya’s bed so she can get up there, scootches off, and then climbs up again. I am constantly pulling her off of stools and grabbing her off the stairs. She loves the little rocking chair in Anya’s room!
On the whole, Sierra’s sleep is pretty good, at least compared to how it had been just a few months ago. She can be put down awake, even for most naps, and will go to sleep on her own. The past few days she’s been getting up in the middle of the night, but before that she had been sleeping until between 5 and 5:30 am, coming into our room to nurse, and then going back to sleep with us until Anya wakes up and clomps into our room. Oh, and she’s found a “lovey” at last. Sierra has to sleep with her Spot doll. We have gotten a back up, just in case.
Weirdly enough, aside from just now forming an attachment to a doll, she has taken a recent interest in pacifiers and baby food. The former she wanted to hold in her mouth for several days, but she wasn’t sucking or chewing on them, just clenching them between her teeth. I think they helped ease some of her teething discomfort. She likes the idea of them, still, but is usually done after a few moments. The latter she will now happily eat, but only if given a spoon of her own so she can feed herself while I help. She’s pretty good at it, actually.
Sierra eats quite well much of the time now. She still loves proteins more than anything, but has become quite fond of bananas, broccoli, and of course, peas. At the time of her 15 months appointment, she wasn’t drinking much milk regularly, but she’s improving. She still nurses twice a day.
Wipes are still among Sierra’s favorite play things, but baby dolls are her current obsession. She carries them everywhere, walks them around in strollers, tells me “poop” and wants to change their diapers, feeds them, etc. She has one doll which is actually a My Little Pony unicorn that Anya got for her birthday, and frequently she insists that we take it with us if we’re leaving the house. If I mention getting her shoes, she’ll start to walk towards the garage, and then run back to the playroom with an almost frantic, “Baby! Baby!” Also high up on Sierra’s list of favorites are stickers and books. She’s constantly bringing a book over to me, declaring, “Read it! Sit!” while forcefully climbing into my lap. There are several she prefers and asks for by name.
Babies, wipes, and books are great, but Anya is Sierra’s favorite person in the world. In the morning, Sierra usually asks for Anya first thing, and you can frequently hear her calling, “Anya, Anya!” throughout the day. She often cries when I drop Anya off at school. Sierra loves to copy everything Anya does, and unprompted walks over to her big sister to give her kisses (Sierra is actually really big on giving kisses and saying, “I love you,” and I love it). They giggle, hold hands, and can be so sweet together, at least when they aren’t arguing over a toy, but they generally get along very well and I hope it lasts.
So, here’s a video that is already pretty dated since it’s been a month or more since I filmed these clips, but she’s still cute, so enjoy:
Birthday Videos
Oops, I never posted videos from Anya’s third birthday back in October and Sierra’s first birthday in December!
Anya’s birthday video:
Singing “Happy Birthday” to Sierra:
Sierra eats her cake:
My Little Artists
Here’s a topic I’ve been meaning about since October. Oops. Both Anya and Sierra love to color. Anya started drawing some recognizable shapes (mainly happy faces) back in September that have since grown into “tadpole people” complete with arms, legs, hair, ears, hats, and whatever other feature tickles her fancy. She still scribbles plenty as well, but her scribbling most definitely means something to her. Sierra loves to draw, especially when she can make dots.
Anya’s first page of happy faces:
Tadpole person from October:
The girls drawing together in October:
Tadpole person from November:
The girls drawing together a few days ago:
