I can’t believe that Lelya is now a one & a half year old. But I can say that 18-month-old Lelya is the best Lelya yet. Although I say that every month, I truly mean it this time. Minus the tantrums. But even those are really funny.
A few fun facts about the little tyke:
She’s obsessed with anything with wheels. Cars, trucks, trains, etc. and is totally content spending her entire afternoon wheeling them around any & all flat surfaces she can find. She’s fascinated with closing open doors, drawers, cupboards, and lids. Also with putting things away. We finally trained her not to “put things away” in the trash, after losing (& replacing) 2 sets of keys, 2 bottles, our TV remote, and a new iPhone. Her favorite movie is Madagascar (I & II) and putting it on has a similar effect to sticking an IV in her. She will totally glue herself to the TV and turn bug-eyed during intense scenes. It’s the best babysitter ever. She is going through a “Daddy’s Phase” which of course I am jealous of, but I also adore it. She doesn’t spend nearly a tenth as much time with Aziz as she does with me, yet every evening when Aziz comes home, Lelya will hear the keys & door and lights up with more excitement than I can get from her all day and runs to the door like a maniac all giddy and laughing and holds her arms up to Aziz to be thrown in the air and get smothered in his kisses & hugs. It’s adorable, but the worst is when we are both home and I am carrying Lelya and Lelya will reach out for Aziz to hold her. Wth buddy?! Sigh… I guess (hope) my mama’s girl phase will come eventually. She’s still sleeping a sweet 12-13 hours straight through the night…going to bed @ 7 and waking up @ 7 or 8. (Awesome). Transitioning over to one long(er) nap a day around 11 am-1 pm which I love. She’s 31 inches tall (2’7”) and 24 lbs 10 oz. 50th percentile for her height, weight, and head circumference (I guess she doesn’t have an alien head after all). She’s still size 4 in diapers, and clothing size 24 mo. – 2T. Drinking whole milk about 3X a day. Eating everything – Especially loves her some guacamole, chicken nugs, bananas, strawberries, cheese, & yogurt. Only things she does not like so far are lettuce and mushrooms. She surprises me with her taste for olives and anything really spicy. May have something to do with my diet (or lack thereof) during her pregnancy. She loves to share her food with you and will open your hands and put some of her snacks in your palm so you can eat with her. She handles getting her blood taken like a total champ and a million and a half times better than I do just watching her. Maybe that means there’s a good chance she’ll be a doctor. Not talking yet but she babbles like crazy and says things all the time that closely resemble the English language. This may be because I spend so much time with her and am imagining all this in my head but for example, when I hand her something she sounds like she says “thank you” and after sneezing she’ll say something that sounds like “bless you” and after you say her name I swear sometimes she turns around and says “what?” I think it’s only a matter of months until she is speaking full sentences and telling me all sorts of crazy stories.
My goals for her (us) over the next couple of months:
- Teach her Spanish & French as she learns English. Plan is to get a bunch of Disney DVDs in español & français and books with Spanish/French subtitles. I’ve already started translating a few of her baby books.
- Get her totally weaned off the pacifier. We’re off to a small start. No pacis during the day and only @ nighttime. Soon we’ll kick the nighttime paci so we won’t have a 4 yr old kid running around sucking one of those darned things.
- Get her to walk everywhere alongside me holding my hand. Maybe impossible.
- No more TV until she’s at least 2. Doctor’s orders.
- Learn how to give kisses. I want her to lay me big, fat, sloppy smooches right on the peckers. Awesome.