long and lean

We took Kiddo to the doctor yesterday for her 18 month check-up. She is not fond of the doctor. It was fine while he sat in his chair, and she sat in my lap. But when he came closer, the crying started... Okay, honestly the crying started when she had to be measured on the table. And it didn't really stop until the nurse left. And, to retake up the story, as soon as the doctor came close she started sobbing again. I'm not sure he was able to hear her breathing, because she was making so much noise.

But, for the first time in a while, there were no ominous warnings at this visit. No benign heart murmurs, no low weights, no concern over her language development, just a well-baby. Who is, as he phrased it, long and lean (34 inches, 22 1/2 lbs).

The positive side to the crying, which we had calmed down after the doctor left, and started up when the nurse came back in, was that she was so upset by the whole experience that she missed the shot. Oh, they gave it to her, she just didn't notice. And a few moments later, when we were out of the doctor's office, all was well again.

As for her language development, she is now (sort of) saying "sit" and "kiss." Clearly we tell her to "sit" often because when we say it now she starts to parrot: "sih. sih. sih." And when she kisses her stuffed animals, or dolls, or books, or characters on TV, or the unsuspecting child at the park, she often labels: "tisss."

honkin' big nap

The last two days Kiddo has gone down for her nap about 2 hours after she wakes up, which is totally normal. Then she just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. Yesterday it was over three hours. Today we are approaching 2 1/2, and I have yet to hear a peep from her.

Is this a strange blessing so I can finish my revisions? Is she super tired? Are we transitioning to one nap? I don't know, but I do appreciate the time to work.

And if this continues once the dissertation is in... what a crazy fun block of time that will be to fill with what I want to do?!

photo documentation

I'm sure that after reading the last two posts you thought: shouldn't there be pictures? Yes, there should be.

This is Michael making her laugh. She pulls his face towards her belly or neck to be tickled by him. Clearly she loves it.

A funny face she makes.

Joy unbounded for the squeaky sheep. She picked this book out herself at the used book sale, and loves it.

Finally, me the day I defended. That's my first picture as a doctor.

3/2 years old

Today Kiddo is 18 months old. Which means she went to nursery at church. While it is odd for me to have 2 hours of her life unaccounted for, it was exciting to listen to the lessons, and actually think about what was being taught. According to my friends who help in nursery, she was a smooth transition. They're not sure she knew or cared that I was gone, she was too busy having fun. (There was the water incident though. The sippy cups were not there, so the cups had no lids. Our daughter knows just what to do with a cup of water - dump it on her lap.)

Of course this means reflection, and there are things I do not want to forget about her at this age. Some that I will share:
1) When she wants to read a book, she walks backward towards you, so that it is easier to sit down. Sometimes she walk backwards for many feet to get to the appropriate lap.
2) If she is not willing to eat the food that is being presented to her, we bring out her pink rubber duck. First she feeds duck, then she will almost always feed herself. As duck eats she announces: "num-num." Duck almost always needs a drink as well. Kiddo make appropriate slurping noises.
3) She can say about six words, when she feels like it. Mama and Dada are two. There is also num-num (if that counts as a word). The rest are "b" words: "ba" (ball), "babee" (baby), and "bow" as in "take a bow." We see where her priorities are.
4) She can recognize the number 4, and when she sees it, she would like to sing a song by Leslie Feist "One, Two, Three, Four."
5) She loves all her animals and dolls. She gives them frequent kisses, plus cradles them in her arms, and pats their backs. Occasionally, she will also kiss mom and dad.
6) She loves going outside. She will stand at the door and push on it until we finally let her go. She knows exactly how to get to the park.

I have always loved her. But recently I have been surprised by the depth of this love. Like a testimony, some days you find suddenly that it is deeper and richer. I recently realized this about my love for her. It is so much fun to help her grow up.

the doctor is in

I have my PhD! After sitting with my committee for two hours with me presenting my findings, and them questioning my findings (in other words, the usual drill), they agreed that I had fulfilled the requirements.

Although I was pretty stressed yesterday, I was calm today. What will be will be, I thought. And what is is a doctorate of philosophy!

They told me my analyses were well-done, my interpretations were good, the writing was excellent, and by the way, could they have a copy of my presentation so they could give it to other students as an example of what a presentation should be?

In other words, this was no pity pass, this was the real thing. Yay for me!

say "please"

Kiddo has now mastered her third sign: "please." She actually learned it very quickly. My husband taught it to her once, then when I brought up the concept a few days later she quickly rubbed her chest (which is the baby equivalent of the sign). So now we request that she says please when we give her things. We are hoping that this will soon replace the insistent "eh, eh, eh" that she does currently.

Yesterday she wanted part of my granola bar, and was pointing and exclaiming her desire. I asked "what do we say?" then quickly realized that while she can sign please, she still doesn't understand when to apply it. So I started explaining to her, "when we want something we don't scream, we say..." At this point Kiddo smiled with understanding and said "AAAHHH!" (her fake scream).

She's so smart. She knew I was looking for a specific action from her, so when she heard scream she knew just what to do.

Laughing, I said, "no, we say please" and then she also quickly rubbed her chest, and I handed over the granola piece. So, she doesn't understand everything I say, but apparently she understands a lot.

monkey on her back

This is Kiddo imitating her mom. Instead of a cute stuffed animal though, I have a dissertation. I get to take mine off soon. (What will I do without it though? I've been carrying it a long time.) She chose to wear hers, finding this monkey and insisting that we put it on. We've only worn it once before (it had a long tail that makes it a baby leash, I bought it for our trip to Texas, but just couldn't use it, maybe for our Utah trip...), but apparently she remembered it, and loves her monkey pal.

Note her intense curls. They are aided by the current humidity. Where are these curls from? Those who know me would suggest me, but I had straight hair as a child (much to my grandma's chagrin as she would try to curl it), and my husband's never had anything but. Is her hair like her maternal uncles (many of who have curly, albeit short, hair)? That should also imply it will be a lovely brown. Time will tell.

just like dad

As we headed out for a walk on Saturday, Kiddo made it clear that we needed to wear this hat. It's her dad's. This is his gardening hat. He has it to a) protect his fair skin, but more importantly b) because it's just like his dad's.

nursery dry run

Since Kiddo turns 18 months next Sunday, we tried out nursery at church today. She's at least five or six months younger than the other eight or so kids, so she's not as mature as them, but she still enjoyed herself. It was obvious that she did not know the rules, and some of the kids indicated that with their stares, but she was merrily oblivious, and did her best to join in the fun. There was puzzle time, marching time, a walk outside, snack time, play time, book time, and singing time. I'll let you guess which part she loved the most.

In fact, she really appreciated all the songs, and clapped enthusiastically after each one. Next week I may even try to leave her there without me. It might work out, and I might be able to listen to church again.

a not uncommon view

Okay, so the picture is sideways, but I'm afraid I don't care enough to fix it.

Kiddo is more than happy to give you whatever she is done with. When out on walks, she will give you her flower so she can get a new one. She holds it out, not looking, waiting for you to see, and respond.

When eating, she passes the food she doesn't want. We're trying to teach her to just leave it on her plate, but that has some interesting side effects. Sometimes, she'll then drop it on the floor. But other times, she turns to another person and offers the food to them (for example, I'm more likely to take the food, my husband more likely to insist she leave it be). Last night, she handed her unwanted broccoli to me, and I placed it back on her plate with an assurance it would be fine. A few moments later I saw her pushing her broccoli towards the missionary eating at our house. "Oh no, I'm sure the Elder doesn't want your broccoli!" and so then I took it.

The evening got more exciting just as they were about to leave. Kiddo slipped and hit her mouth hard on the edge of the table. She started screaming (as she should) and I tried to comfort her and check her mouth for any damage. Once we convinced the missionaries that it was a good time to leave (quickly now) so we could care for the kid, she was lucky enough to get some baby motrin, a popsicle, and extra time with the Little Bear DVD (which she would watch non-stop if I let her). All things seemed to help. No permanent, or temporary, damage.

this morning

This morning I woke up to feet banging on the wall, little covered feet because we live in the northeast, and when it's only been in the mid-50s all day, warmer pjs are required for my little one at night. Bang, bang, bang.

My first thought was that we'd somehow missed our alarms, what time was it? 5:55. We had not missed our alarms at all. I decided to ignore the banging until she got cranky. After all, banging on the wall is not a way to communicate with us, it's just something she does to have fun. (She is truly fond of her crib, especially now with her animal sheets. She points to her animal of choice, and then we sing a song [Yes, that's a giraffe, which reminds you of a horse, "I want to take my horse and buggy...] Sometimes she doesn't want to get out, but she does want company.)

The noise faded as I fell back asleep, and when the alarm went off 5 minutes later, it was gone, and 2 1/2 hours later she's still asleep, which means I got to rethink my wake up time, and sleep in an extra hour, plus take a shower, read my scriptures and pray, and may even get a little work done, all before her day (really) starts. Excellent.