Avery,
You turned 14 months old last week!! I was waiting for a good day to take your pictures and you finally got over your ear infection and cough, so yesterday was a good day for them! Yes, you had your first ear infection two weeks ago. :( The doc said 2 the first year and 2 the second year is average. You HATED taking your medicine. Poor girl! We had to squirt it in behind your pacifier to get you to swallow it. It was the same way with your Tylenol. Oh well, we are glad that is over with!
Just three days after I took you to the doctor for being sick, you had a weight check appointment. You were 18 lb 8 oz with clothes off (you were 19 lb 5 oz last month, but with clothes on). They didn't measure your length. We go back at 15 months for your well check up and vaccinations. You still haven't gained very much but you are still on your growth curve. It wasn't actually a good time for a weight check, because you hadn't eaten much since you were sick. You hardly ate anything for almost ten days straight. You are back to eating normally now, though. I am pretty sure you are around 20 lb now based on our home scales.
Sleep:
Our vacation to New Zealand threw you off big time this past month! Actually, it only took you one day to adjust to their time once we got there. You slept fairly well there. Only the first night was rough and then one other night (after we got back from a long road trip). When we got back home though, it took about 10-14 days for you to readjust. It didn't help that you got sick, though. At times, I wasn't sure if you weren't sleeping well because you weren't tired or because you were sick. When we first got back, you would stay up really late, like until 3am and then sleep really late the next day, like past lunch time! We slowly got you back to sleeping earlier and waking up earlier. Now, you will stay in bed from about 8:30pm to around 7:30-8:30am. You still wake up once or twice, usually. Hopefully you will cut that back out! :) You take one nap, around an hour long each day. Sometimes it's before lunch and sometimes after. If we have a long day of running around, sometimes you will doze off in the car in the late afternoon.
Words:
You say mama, dada, uh oh, hello, and bye bye. You know what the words shoes, water, come here, look, good job, and yay (and others) mean...but you don't say them yet. You make the same sounds as we do. Like when we pick you up from your car seat or high chair and strain and pretend you are really heavy, you will copy us and make the same noise. It's super funny!
Sizes:
You are in 12 month and 12-18 month clothes. You wear 18 month or 18-24 month jammies. You are still in a size 4 shoe but they are starting to get a little small. The size 5s are too big right now, though.
This past month has been such a busy month for you (and all of us)!! You had your first BIG trip. You went with us on vacation to New Zealand. You got another set of wings. I think you have wings from 4 different airlines now! We visited Papa Si's family and toured around the North Island. We did a lot of fun things like tour the Hobbiton, visit Rotorua which had the thermal mud and sulfur pools (stinky!), saw the mountains, saw volcanoes/craters, saw lots of nice scenery and lookout places, saw a kiwi bird, and got to meet some of your NZ family and even some from Australia. You had a great time and you were very well behaved on the flights and also while we were there and doing so much touring/driving around. The longest flights were from LA to Auckland and then back (between 12-13 hours). Thankfully, you slept around 7-8 of those hours in the bassinet attachment in our bulkhead seat. So that helped the time pass a lot quicker! You really liked having lots of people around to talk to you and play with you all day. You became really fond of your Momma K and Poppa Si, too. I know you won't remember the trip but we have a lot of pictures to show and stories to tell so that you can remember it when you get older! :)
You seem to have just really grown up lately! You look taller, your face looks like an older toddler, your hair looks fuller, you communicate better, and you are just all around growing up before our eyes! You are hilarious and you make us laugh and smile all day long. You are definitely a mama's girl and you only like me to put you to bed, but you also have a humongous love for Daddy! If I ask you "who's here?" when I hear the garage door, or if I say "Daddy's home" you will run over to the door and reach your hand up to the door handle. You wave and try to get out into the garage. You like to play with him upstairs and outside. He gives you most of your baths and when I'm drying you off in my lap and he is cleaning out the tub, you always pat him on the back. Every time. It's so funny!
Your current loves:
play groups
books
carrying bags around
PBS kids show theme songs (Super Why)
saying "uh oh"
waving to everyone in sight
clapping when we put a clip in your hair
swishing your hands together to sign "all done" or "all gone"
climbing into your play table
splashing in your water table outside
riding in your red car (big time favorite!)
and you still try to dress yourself, or carry your clothes around (so funny!)
Your current dislikes:
you still don't like cow's milk
you don't like getting out of the bath but you don't fuss about it (yet)
you don't like it when we don't let you have our phones or other electronic items
Since last month, you have:
gone on a trip around the world! (well, half way) longest flight for all of us!
visited your first foreign country
met your NZ family and baby cousin Cooper for the first time
tasted a feijoa and liked it
first aquarium visit (in Auckland)
started working on your eye teeth but they aren't through the gum yet (you have 12 teeth now)
played with your water table for the first time
had more playdates with the neighborhood kiddos
You are always trying to get into something!!!
Ave-y, it's hard to believe you are already 14 months old! You are not a tiny baby anymore and that is so crazy to me. You were so little just a short time ago! We love watching you grow up and playing with you everyday. You bring us so much joy!
Love,
Momma & Daddy
