18 Month Update

First, the stats....

Weight - 26lbs, 12oz (this would explain the burning arm and sore back when she forces me to lug her around)

Height - 32 1/2 inches


Now the update. This is what Jaynie can do now....

Colors -
She knows red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, white, brown, and pink. She's amazing. She constantly points stuff out to me. "Red car! Pink shirt! Purple binky!" It's incredible. The Doctor was very impressed when, during our visit, Jaynie started walking around the room and naming the colors she saw. When I asked if that was normal, she said "No, that's not normal." and gave me a look like "Wow - you're really in for it, now."


Left and Right -
Joe is teaching her Left VS Right. It was decided that he should be in charge, since I still don't know mine. It hasn't clicked for her yet that one entire side of her body is the left and the other is the right, but she's starting to memorize which is her left foot, which is her right hand, etc. So if you ask for one or the other, she'll get it right about 85% of the time. I figure she'll have this nailed by next week. (At which point, Joe informs me, she'll officially be smarter than me.)


Numbers -
Jaynie can count to ten. She can also count to three, and to five. This is important - at first she'd just rattle off onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten every time. Now she's starting to be able to stop at whatever number you ask for. She's also starting to actually count things. I see her all the the time, lining up toys in a row, counting. "Ooooone. Twooooo. Threeeeeee."


Letters -
Jaynie will ask for "ABC's!", and can recite them up to G. If you sing, she'll sing along at odd places - like she knows "Y and Z!" She's also starting to be able to recognize A, B, and C written out.


Body Parts -
She knows head, hair, face, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, forehead, eyebrows, tongue, teeth, cheeks, chin, neck, shoulders, back, chest, belly/tummy, arms, elbows, hands, fingers, butt, legs, knees, feet, and toes. Yesterday she came up to me and did "Heeeeaaad.... knees and toes". She totally skips shoulders, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless. She also has started saying "Mommy's BIG belly!" instead of just "Mommy's belly". Everyone's a critic.


Table Manners -
Jaynie is totally capable of eating with a fork. It's just, most of the time, she chooses not to. She's slowly figuring out the spoon (For a long time she'd just try to spear whatever it was, as if she was using a fork. Not a really effective way to eat yogurt.) I've started giving her a little bowl of ice cream a couple of times a week - I've found that this is really helping with the spoon thing. Seemed all she needed was proper motivation. She feeds herself 100% of the time, even if it is with her hands. She also drinks from a straw like a champ, and is getting better and better at drinking from a normal cup, or out of a water bottle.


Locomotion -
Jaynie can walk, run, dance, evade me by ducking and moving out of reach, spin around, climb onto anything, give hugs, kisses, "swim" in the pool, clap, kick, stomp, wave hi and bye bye, and basically get into and onto everything in the house. She hasn't mastered jumping yet - one foot always stays on the ground (which is actually really, really cute.)


Communication -
Everywhere we go, other parents say to us "Wow. She's talking really well for her age!" A normal conversation will go something like "Mommy open crackers please." (while holding out the zip-lock), or "All done Wiggles (stupid kid show). Hi-Five (other stupid kid show) please!" She's also great at memorization. She will "read" you entire books if she's heard them often enough. Moo, Baa, La La La is the best. She just kind of skips the words she doesn't know, but if you are familiar with it you can totally recognize what she's saying.

She knows animal noises for just about every animal on the planet. Even ones that don't make noise (Example - did you know that the correct answer to "What does the turtle say?" is to make kissy noises? Who knew!)

She's beyond asking to watch a movie. These days, she'll ask me for a specific movie or show, sometimes even for a specific part. The ones she watches regularly (there's a few Sesame Street videos that generally get turned on once a day around here) she knows dialogue, too. She'll be sitting there, happily chatting along with Big Bird, doing all of Grover's lines - it's a riot.


Memory -
Jaynie remembers the people we visited in Florida last month, and will call them by the correct names when she sees a picture. She will remember if I told her she can have ice cream after her nap (and wake up going "Eye Beam! Eye BEAM!") Twice now she has recognized a picture of a baby when I've only told her who that was once. Both stories are identical - she's pointing and saying a word over and over that I can't figure out. Finally she gives me another hint ("Alex pink hat!" "Dakota green bow!") and I get it. She's calling the baby by name. (It should be mentioned that while she sees Alex regularly, this is a pic from last winter and she's unrecognizable as a little muffin swamped by a hat and binky. Dakota she has never actually met, just seen a picture and (apparently!) remembered the name.)


Musical Talents -
One day she started singing and she really hasn't stopped yet. We tend to listen to the same few kid cd's in the car and in her room over and over. A couple of weeks ago she started singing along. Turns out she's really been paying attention, because she knows all the songs. She may not get every word right, but she nails the number of syllables, and she's actually usually in tune. Now she's starting to sing on her own, without the background music. Favorites include Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Three Blind Mice. You have not lived until you've heard this kid say "Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!" So freaking cute. She also dances like a fiend when the mood strikes her. Sometimes, there is no music playing. I guess she hears it in her head.


Vehicle Recognition -
Jaynie can spot "Mommy's car" or "Daddy's car" from a block away. In fact, there was one day a couple of weeks ago that we were pulling into a restaurant parking lot when she yelled "DADDY'S CAR!!!" Turns out Joe was eating lunch there, too. Good thing she spotted it, we might have missed him! When asked, she'll let you know that Daddy's car goes "hoot hoot" and Mommy's car goes "VROOM VROOM!" Joe says "Well - it does have those two extra cylinders."

She also loves to "drive" either car, while they're parked in the driveway. She'll turn the wheel, push all the buttons on the dash, turn all the dials, demand that the radio be playing and then mess with the volume... it's a good time.

Sense of Humor -
This kid cracks herself up. Sometimes, when you ask her for a purple block, she'll bring you a yellow one... then just watch you like "Do you notice anything strange about that block, Mommy?" Then crack up and give me the right one. Also, she laughs at all the appropriate places during her movies. Unfortunately, she also thinks it's hysterical when she either passes gas or burps. She'll laugh then try and do it again. Great.


Fashion Sense -
Jaynie has definite ideas about what she wants to wear every day. If I flat out ask "What do you want to wear today?", a lot of times she'll have an answer. ("Flower dress! Turtle shirt! Dorable outfit!") If I give her choices, she'll really give it some thought before picking. In fact, she likes to hold a shirt or dress up to herself and look in the mirror. I am not making this up. She'll kind of tuck it under her chin and wander off to admire herself.

If I'm folding laundry, or going through some new clothes, or in any way flaunting cute stuff in front of her she'll demand to be changed into the new outfit. She grabs at what she's wearing and announces "ALL DONE!", while simultaniously trying to put the new item on.

She likes to pick out her own shoes. Some days, this spells fashion disaster. Some days, she surprises me. (Last week she was wearing a dress and pink sandals. She saw a purple outfit that she simply HAD to be changed into. A few minutes later I find her in her room, pink sandals off, attempting to put on her new purple ones. Holy cow - she's better at coordinating a look than her father.)

One last thing should be mentioned here - the kid now owns five pairs of sunglasses. (I only have two! What is wrong with this picture?) Every day she lets me know which ones she wants to wear. Sometimes, what she wants are "Daddy's orange glasses!" (big wrap-around shades) that look absolutely ridiculously cute on her. She's a glasses hog - five pairs just aren't enough for a fashionista like her.


I think that's it. And now, I'll leave you with a nice story....

The other day Jaynie heard someone pass gas. She got all excited, looked around, and shouted at the top of her lungs.... "DADDY!!!!!" That's my girl.