Months Matter

So I guess I'm never going to finish that blog post I started on our trip to Walt Disney World. Let's just leave it with two observations: Phoebe is horrible, horrible, horrible to travel with, and Charlotte absolutely adores roller coasters. I don't recommend going to WDW with an 18 month old, at least one who is as feisty as Phoebe is. Charlotte had a great time, but Chris and I spent the entire time stressed out. We're probably the one people who come home from WDW having lost weight because how do you manage to eat more than a couple bites when your daughter is screaming to be let down from her high chair?

Here's Charlotte with her arms up at the Tower of Terror, her favorite ride. She went on it three times. I went on it once because I hate that free fall drop feeling. She also went on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad four times.

Anyway,  let's just move on...I never even got around to posting about Phoebe at 18, 19, 20 months...

18 months...

The Monday before we went to WDW, the two same ladies that evaluated Phoebe back in May came to do a re-evaluation. The speech therapist (ST) was absolutely astounded by Phoebe's progress. At the end of May, Phoebe was testing at about 5 months delayed (communicating at a 10 month level, instead of the 15 months she actually was at the time). The ST took out a book she had brought of brightly-colored pages and photographs of common pictures. Phoebe immediately saw the picture of a baby sleeping and said "Nigh-nigh." She pointed to the train and said "Ah-mi," which is what she calls Thomas the Tank Engine.

The ST was very impressed by how Phoebe can anticipate what comes next in songs and stories. For example, Chris sang: "C is for . . ." and Phoebe responded "cookie!" I said, "Brown bear, brown bear what do you see?" and Phoebe replied, "I see a garble garble." (she has, in the past, said "I see a red bird.")

After observing Phoebe for a few minutes, the ST basically proclaimed that she is no longer delayed, but right on track. She did think it interesting that Phoebe still doesn't really call me Mama or Mommy considering how obsessed she is with saying "Dada" (Dada Nigh-Nigh, Hi Dada, Byebye Dada). However, since the appointment two weeks ago, Phoebe has finally called me Mama. She now looks at pictures of Chris and me and then looks at me and says Mama (I've only waited 18 months for this!).

Our caseworker said she would close the case, but that we should feel free to call her if we're ever concerned. Yay Phoebe!

At Phoebe's 18 month well baby visit, Dr. M. was also very impressed by her progress. Phoebe was all smiles at the visit and interacted playfully with Dr. M. and his medical assistant.

Phoebe weighs 24 lbs and is 32.5 inches long - both are about in the 70th percentile. I looked back at Charlotte's 18 month visit and she and Phoebe are the same size.

19 months...

Phoebe's language acquisition has exploded. I just can't even explain how dramatic a change it is. She speaks in sentences! Not for everything, of course, but for the most part, she actually says: "I want milk please!"; "I want cookies"; "I want up!"; "I want book please!" It's amazing. I also love that she finally answers our questions with "yeah" or "no!". Phoebe, do you want to go to bed? "No!"

She has a photographic memory. There is an app of flashcards on my iPhone and iPad that shows pictures of all sorts of things. She now says whale, bear, walrus, goat, bat, bear, and a host of other animal words. Not only that, but the app will show four pictures and say: "Click on the green beans" or "Click on the walrus." I would say 9 times out of 10 she gets it right. The girl will not eat green beans, but she knows what they are from sight.

She is making connections with her world. Her bff Gabby was in a video that we watched on Facebook and her mom asked her to say "Chris." Phoebe turned and pointed at Chris. Somehow she knows he has two different names. She calls Gabby "Ba-ga or Baggy" and so she pointed at Angela, Gabby's mom and said: "Ba-ga mama."

Phoebe adores her BFF "Baggy". Here they are hugging. So cute.

20 months (well, in a week)
Phoebe is still a handful, but now that she's better able to tell us what she wants, it's been a lot easier. She can sit still for a little while at gymnastics during "circle time" and she now listens to the teacher and gives hugs when prompted. It's super cute.

We had this grand plan that all of us would be characters from Pixar's Brave for Halloween. Charlotte actually was Princess Merida, and I got a dress passable for her mother Queen Elinor. I never found a kilt for Chris, but I thought Phoebe could be one of Merdia's brothers who turn into bears. All the parents at Trunk or Treat thought "he" was so cute, so I decided to recycle Charlotte's bee costume from two years ago. Phoebe loves bees. We went to a Halloween party at my coworker's, who hired a photographer to take pictures of everyone and a face painter. Above is Phoebe coloring her Thomas Halloween picture. :)

And here's our pretty Merida, wig and all.

Anyway, all this to say, months really do matter for toddlers. It's so crazy how much can change in just a matter of weeks. We were so worried about Phoebe, but now we have this bright-eyed, inquisitive, jabbering toddler who loves to sing her "ABCs", hang from bars, test her limits, and run everywhere. It really is incredible.

Last picture courtesy of our friend, Brian. She is really strong and pulls her feet up and dangles. Pretty awesome.