Seventeen Months!

Darci turns seventeen months today. Time to schedule another Dr. visit for immunizations and a checkup, and time for her first dentist visit! She has four front teeth on top, two on bottom, and her first molars are coming in. They have been coming in for a while now! She gets her teeth brushed right after she gets in the tub every night, and she loves it. Last night she opened her mouth super wide and flung her head back so I could brush in there, what a good girl!

Darci is learning new things very quickly now. She says please (sounds like peas) all the time when she wants something. She will say please to have us pick her up, give her a snack, open doors or gates, or play with something she brings us. She also says yes and seems to understand what it means. If you ask her if she’s hungry or wants breakfast she will go over to the kitchen gate ready to eat, and if you ask if she’s ready for bath time she will run to the hall gate and beg to get out for her bath. This morning Doug and I both heard some version of the word banana from her when she saw her banana, she eats one every morning. She points to things and asks “what’s that” (sounds like wazzzah) about a million times a day, and we are happy to oblige with the names of everything, over and over. She will bring you a book to read and loves looking at the pictures, turning the pages, and pointing to things so you can name them. She will also read her books on her own, sometimes talking like she’s reading.

She has started mimicking us in speech and action, and she can pretend. She’ll pretend to pick small things out of your hand and toss them away. We recently saw her pushing one of her little stuffed cars around like she knew it was a car. Doug bought her some sidewalk chalk and she’s been enjoying scribbling all over the concrete outside. We’ve been trying to contain it to just one area but we’ll see how long that lasts.

Darci’s getting taller, we still need to get her a height chart so we can start marking her growth. We bought size 5 diapers for the first time this month, she’s been in size 4 since October of last year. She has slimmed down just a little, but still has a bit of baby fat in all the right places. She is in size 18 or 24 month clothes. Jeans are not great right now, since they impede her climbing. She spends most of her time in t-shirts and shorts or one piece sunsuits.

Meal times are good right now. She likes to have her own spoon, and will feed herself a few times with it, but mostly she bangs things and puts her spoon in and out of the bowl. She will let you feed her but sometimes you have to be sneaky about it and get in a spoonful when she’s distracted. For breakfast she has milk when she wakes up, followed closely by a banana, then oatmeal about an hour later. For lunch she usually eats her own ham and cheese sandwich cut into bites. For dinner she eats what we do, which is usually pasta with meat and veggies in it or a potato dish with meat and veggies, and she has a fruit course (dessert) with every meal, either yogurt or fresh or canned fruit. Snacks include fruit, yogurt, animal crackers, and cereal (which is generic apple jacks presently).

She gives hugs all the time, and she thinks giving kisses means putting out your cheek for Mommy or Daddy to kiss, which is perfect for now. She loves to dance and will do so anytime she hears music. Today I am selling her swing since she is too big for it, and consigning my maternity wardrobe at the resale shop. It’s bittersweet to think we won’t have a baby for much longer, but she is quickly turning in to a little kid with a great personality.