At Seventeen Months Old Abigail...
...sleeps from 8:30 to 8:30. She had a few rough nights in September and October due to a 6 week long double ear infection and the fun (and sometimes late) activities of a wedding. Then the time change hit a few days ago and that messed up her naps and bedtime for a little bit. She is a GREAT sleeper though. Derek calls her a "champ". During her cold we actually helped her get to sleep by rocking her and snuggling. It helped to keep her upright for breathing and she was just not feeling well to be left to cry for 30 minutes every time. We had to break her of that once she recovered from her cold and the last 10 days or so I lay her down with her two "loveys" (pink bunny/blanket and musical giraffe)and she goes to sleep on her own, no crying or standing up. Yay! She stills naps about 1pm to 3pm for me every day.
...eats what she wants. She has definitely turned into a toddler and has her own ideas about food. She'll beg and cry for a cracker and then crush it and throw it the next time. She still eats most things cut up but I'm leaving certain foods in bigger chunks and she does well. Give her a chicken nugget, a bagel bite, or a slice of bread and she'll do fine taking bites from it. Sometimes she'll cram everything into her and then decide her mouth is too full and let it all just fall out. Ugh! She is also into "dipping" things now. It's cute, but you have to watch her or she'll do more than just dip and you'll have a big mess on your hands. She currently has 12 baby teeth, just those 2nd molars to come yet.
...talks all the time. I won't be able to name every word she is learning now because she picks up many everyday. She just says single words and doesn't piece anything together yet. She repeats the same things until you acknowledge it. Here's just a list of the words I heard her say today:
Amen, mama, dada, bubba (bottle), num (yum), meow, [pant-pant], shirt (sounds like sh*t), off, up, ride, walk, baby, ball, tatter (cracker), nana, poopy, potty, coat, boot, hat, Sewah (Sarah), Ama, Papa, home, waining (raining), winny (windy), window, towel, pretty, hair, nose, eyes, no, owie, sock, apple, all done, moon, oon (balloon), wawa (water), hungy (hungry), sippy, moo, pumpin (pumpkin), caw (car), side (outside), bye, hi... and she understands a ton more than that because I just tell her to get her shoes and we're getting in the car and she'll go downstairs, open the closet, get her shoes and try to open the door to the garage. She also has her own language right now and that will be given in full sentences. She'll look right at you and say something that you swear has a specific meaning to her in "Abbese".
...runs and walks everywhere. She is a master at the stairs and climbing up on stuff. She can almost get onto our couches. She doesn't jump in place yet (just saw that in an online poll that's why I'm thinking about jumping and hopping, ha ha) but she is a cute little tap dancer. She runs right into things (like walls) and bounces off them. She'll either laugh or cry to get your attention and then decide if she should keep doing it.
...rides Sandy the Pony at Meijer every time we visit. She will also straddle your back if you lay down on the carpet.
...dances to any and all music. She is in constant motion all the time and loves a thrill. She plays downstairs (playroom) a lot more (if I'm nearby) and can go down her slides on her own.
...wears 18 month to 2T but is slowly growing out of 18 month. She was in size 4 shoes for awhile and I think she just decided to skip size 5 because most of her shoes that she fits comfortably are size 6 now. She is wearing size 4 diapers (size 5 Aldi brand!) and a few cloth diapers during the day when I'm home with her. Naptime works for cloth because she doesn't pee much when she is sleeping. That's definitely an area of "control" and muscle building that I've noticed lately. Ugh, we've battled the unending diaper rash though. I think it all stems from the eternal cold she had. We did 3 Rx cycles for that: Amoxocillin, Cefdinir, and Augmentin. At all those doctor appointments (every two weeks!) she recently was weighing at 24 lbs and 34 inches tall.
...is a joy. Her smile just lights up a room. She'll definitely shy away from a stranger and can tell good character in someone pretty quickly. She loves all kids and her family members and her mama and dada most of all. :) We're still working on Jesus with her but she's back to saying "Amen" with us when we finish praying.
