the latest with laurel

Laurel had her 18 month appt. a couple of weeks ago. She is 23 lbs and 2 ft., 8 inches tall. The 2 year measurement will be the one that really tells us something about her adult height. But for now, she's in the 60th percentile for her age for height. She's usually 75% but the doctor looked at her chart and she tends to have a growth spurt followed by a plateau. This is a plateau, so soon we will have another jump in height! Her weight is low as usual - the 25th percentile. And her head circumference is 75%, so she's still a little head on a long stick:). Her torso is definitely long for her age. She's now wearing 24 months for any shirts that snap at the crotch. Her pants are still 18 months since she's narrow at the waist. She's still fitting her size 5 shoes and continues to be infatuated with her little pink crocks! She has to have them on from the moment she wakes up in the morning to when she goes to bed.

Laurel starts a baby play school tomorrow. She'll be going 2 times per week, Tuesday and Thursday mornings. She was definitely becoming bored with the play sessions at Gymboree and is becoming more aware of the kids around her. She is now looking to actually play with them. Her way of approaching other children is to offer to share something with them, or pick up something they tossed aside and give it back to them. So I think the play school will be good for her social skills and allow her to play with people her size, in a way that will be a learning tool. Hopefully it will help her language skills and we're also going to work out attachment issues. Because she takes so very long to adjust and warm up to anything, I'll be going with her for several weeks, but hopefully she will learn that when I leave, I do come back.

Her language is expanding, so that's been fun. No 2 word combinations yet, but there's total comprehension and some response now. For my memory:), I'm going to try to make a list of everything she has learned to say between 12 and 18 months. She didn't really talk before her 1st birthday, so we're making progress!
"No" - of course!
"Yah" - yes
"duhn" - done
"moh" - more
"poon" - spoon
"toe", "mou" for mouth, "eayah" for ear, "noh" for nose, "eye", "behyee" for belly
"dohr" - door
"buh buh" - bye bye
"mo-mo" - elmo of course!
"baby"
"heyah" - hair
"me"
"book"
"cat"
"gee" or "doh" - for doggy, the syllables aren't together yet:)
"car"
"beep"
"pitty" - pretty
"good guhl" - good girl
"boon" - balloon
and she makes the noises for cows, ducks, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs, lions, and a cat says "cat"!

In addition to talking, she's developing her own hobbies - like wearing our clothes and shoes. Her shoe obsession actually drives her to insist that we take off the shoes we're actually wearing so that she can put them on. I've given her the bottom drawer in her small dresser for dress up clothes. They're basically clothes and jewelry that Megan and I have grown tired of and Laurel find pretty. Laurel still loves to shop and has started to pull clothes off the rack and say "oooo" and pull them over her head! She also enjoys taking rides around the neighborhood in the little push car that we have. She sits in it and "drives" it and I push and steer from a handle that comes up from the back. She's also gotten more familiar with Copper Willow. She recognizes the parking lot and asks for Elmo, knowing I usually put the video on when we're there. I've collected a lot of her toys and some books at the shop and I put out the basket and she plays by herself with Elmo on in the background while I get some small tasks finished. She loves the swings at the swingset is starting to recognize the nature around her. We take her for "nature walks" and point out the flowers that are blooming, seeds that have fallen, etc. She loves it when I blow dandelions and she can watch the little seeds float about. She continues to like balloons and ask for them whenever she sees them. She's become a lot more playful and says "tick-y, tick-y" and tries to tickly us. She wrestles with Alex and he pretends to be asleep and reaches out and grabs her. She squeals and is so thrilled! But best of all, she remains a cuddly girl and gives lots of kisses and hugs...and of course loves her blankets. Some things don't change and that's just fine by me:)...until someday she'll have to give up that thumb, but it's cute for now!