Author Archives: Jennifer

My baby girl turned 19 months old last week and she is getting to be such a big girl. I had hoped to finish this post before we went out of town last Thursday, but that didn’t happen.

 

 

What Jessica is Up To

She now runs everywhere. This has led to quite a few scrapped knees, as she gets to going so fast that she trips over her own feet.

The majority of the month was spent preparing to move and unpacking from moving. So Jessica spent a lot of time climbing in boxes, “helping” pack, and then “helping” unpack.

 

 

 

 

She has become interested in water. Here, she watered plants in the yard. I’m looking into swim classes for this summer.

 

Jessica is still sleeping in her crib, but we will start the transition soon, because we’re concerned she might climb out (she hasn’t yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she did). For now, I’ve placed some floor pillows in front of the crib just to be on the safe side.  She finds the pillows a handy spot to read.

 

I think she’s going to be a great big sister. When I was unpacking the cloth diapers, so I could wash and start using them again, Jessica decided her stuffed animals needed diapers. She has become so enamored with diapers on her animals that I now keep the door to the nursery closed unless we’re changing her diaper or doing the bedtime routine. Otherwise, she opens the diaper drawer and pulls them all out.

 

Jessica also will climb into the bathtub in the middle of the day and take her stuffed animals so she can give them a bath.

 

She is quite a fan of animals. She knows a number of them by sight and by their animal sound: turkey, cat, pig, elephant, dog, rooster, bird. She loves to point to birds or fish. I like to take her to the pet store just so she can look at the critters. I look forward to more zoo visits. She loves to feed the fish in the pond in our back yard.

 

Jessica loves the phone, but she hasn’t quite grasped the concept of talking into the phone. Sometimes I can get her to say bye-bye to Daddy on the phone. Often this includes waving bye-bye at the phone.

 

She’s not a big fan of hats when I want her to wear one outside to shade her face and neck, but inside she loves to put on hats. She’ll put them on her stuffed animals too.

 

What Jessica is Saying

Jessica is quite the talker. Often we don’t know what she is saying. The clear words she can say: cheese, juice, up, out, mama, da, poopy (while getting her diaper changed), ball, wow, whoa, whee, uh-oh, hello, hi, bye, bye-bye (one of her favorites), book, more, fish, George, birds, mouse, chips, blackberries, flower, gobble-gobble, meow, cock-a-doodle-do, caw, bubbles, balloons and I’m sure there’s a few more I’m forgetting.

What Jessica is Eating

Jessica has for the most part recently boycotted high chairs, especially at restaurants. Until we moved she was against her high chair and even her booster seat. When we moved, the high chair was adjusted to the lowest setting and the cover/straps removed to make it easier to move. Once it was put in the new breakfast room, Jessica saw it and thought it interesting and spent some time climbing in and out of it. I had an “Aha” moment. I adjusted it up a notch to table height, put the cover but not the straps back on it, and pulled it up to the table. Now Jessica loves sitting in it again. I feel that it might have been an anti strapped-in movement instead of anti-high chairs. I’ve stopped strapping her in at restaurants and she will often sit in them now.

 

 

Granted, we’re 7 days shy of Jessica turning 19 months old, but with packing and moving, my blog has fell by the wayside the past few weeks. Better late than never, right?

A few days after Jessica’s half birthday, we went for her well-check at the pediatrician’s office. She measured 33 inches tall (90%), which is a jump from the 70% she was in at her last well-check. She weighed 22 pounds and 14 ounces (25-50%). Her head circumference was 48 cm, which has steadily been in the 90th percentile. She received two shots, the last shots until she turns four. She didn’t really cry out after the first, but she didn’t like the second one.

 

What Jessica is Up To

Being rather tall, she can reach anything on edge of the kitchen counter. She also opens kitchen drawers and will take out spatulas, turkey basters, etc.

 

Jessica has boycotted pretty much anything that straps her in: high chairs, strollers, etc. Although, she is still okay in the car seat, most of the time. However, she does like to play with the straps and can wile away the time strapping her kitty in the summer seat or climbing in and out of the stroller. She is quite adept at connecting the straps, but she gets frustrated that she can’t undo them once she connects them.

 

 

Jessica now loves her stuffed animals. Kitty seems to be her favorite, but she plays with almost all of them.

 

 

She enjoys playing with blocks now. She is still best at taking built things apart, but her interlocking skills are improving and she will even intermingle her different types of blocks.

 

 

Jessica is a big fan of George, Curious George that is. She will point at the TV and say “George.” Unfortunately, she watched a lot more George in the 18th month than I would have liked, but it was hard to pack with her “helping.”

 

Jessica’s entire 18th month was spent house-hunting. We looked at over 50 houses, I think. She really likes our realtor, Madeline Mansen. Madeline let Jessica hold onto the little gadget that opens the realtor boxes. Jessica liked pretending it was a phone.

 

At the playground, she especially loves the steering wheels.

 

Jessica is starting to get puzzles. I guess all the practice of putting things in and taking them out is paying off.

 

Books and her Animal Baby magazines are still one of her favorite pastimes.

 

Her bangs are now past her eyes, but I am trying to grow them out as they just grow too fast. I know hair in her face bothers her as she keeps trying to pull it out of her face, so I always put her hair up during the daytime. I either put the front half up in one ponytail or two pigtails (only the front half of her hair so I can include the long bangs). After naptime, it is often messy and part of her bangs are out of the ponytails. Jessica has a tendency of holding the ponytail in the hand that has the thumb in her mouth, which makes it loose.

The last thing I baked in our old house was some chocolate chip banana mini muffins. Jessica helped out. Really, she didn’t do much more than watch, but she sure enjoyed it. I can’t wait to bake with her more.

 

What Jessica is Saying

Jessica is quite the talker. Often we don’t know what she is saying. The clear words she can say: cheese, juice, up, out, mama, da, poopy (while getting her diaper changed), ball, wow, whoa, whee (going down slides), uh-oh, hello, hi, bye, bye-bye, book, more, fish, George, birds, mouse, and I’m sure there’s a few more I’m forgetting.

Her comprehension is also amazing. She will often do what I ask of her, such as bringing me an item or wiping the table. She knows a number of her body parts: belly, belly button, hands, feet, tongue, nose, ears, hair. Often if you ask Jessica where her belly is, she will lift up her shirt and point to it. She also will lift up mine or James’ shirts and point to our bellies.

 

What Jessica is Eating

Jessica has her front eight teeth (four on top and four on bottom), plus her first four molars, so is quite capable of eating a variety of food. However, she is still picky. Fruits are usually a go, although she is not the biggest fan of cantaloupe or pineapple. She loves peanut butter, plain or on crackers, but she hasn’t quite figured it out on sandwiches. Jessica stills loves yogurt and cheese. She still hasn’t gained a taste for pasta or rice yet. She often requests juice, but I keep that on the top shelf of the refrigerator so she can’t reach it when I open the door for her to grab her milk or water cups, which are kept in the door at just her level.