Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Life With Nia: 19 Months and a Visit to Maryland

Sadly, this post has been delayed as I'm without my DSLR temporarily - it's having an error so it's back with Canon and I hope it will be fixed and returned quickly! I've also been without my BlackBerry for over a week now as it fell into the toilet and I missed the delivery to my parents' house (I waited allllll day and of course they delivered it in the evening after I had already left to return to NYC - this after showing it was out all day for delivery as of 5a.m. O_o) so needless to say it's been a bad technology week. (AND on a sidenote if I get one more person telling me to call them after I clearly tell them via email I'm without a phone I'm going to lose my mind!)

Anyway, we were in Maryland visiting my parents for the weekend, and I did get some great pictures when my camera was working so that's good news!

I wasn't able to get my usual monthly chair photo, but hope to capture it when my camera's returned ASAP!
 Here's the official update: 
  • Toddler's Weight: Nia's gained 3 lbs since her 18 months appointment and is now 26lbs
  • Toddler's Height: At her last appointment she was 33 1/2" so I'm sure she'll be 3 feet or more by her 2nd birthday
  • What size of clothing does toddler wear? 24 months for sure and 2T socks (I overheard a fellow mom at a playdate say 2T and 24 months are not the same - all I know is my child has long feet!)
  • Any milestones toddler reached during the month:  
    • Still showing an interest in the potty and getting very vocal about it! She's also using going to the potty as a distraction when she wants to get out of doing something (ex. going to bed, eating, etc.)
    • Nia's very much still obsessed with breastmilk and from what I've researched she will not self-wean at her age so it's going to require some tough love from me; she gets mad when I deny her but including her in the kitchen activities has continued to make her more interested in eating solids
  • Special outings toddler had during the month:  
    • A visit to Maryland over the weekend to see family; here are some highlights:

Mr. Love Bird's brother's family came over for a visit the night we arrived

We enjoyed monkey bread at Miss Shirley's the next day

She couldn't get enough of the monkey bread
Nia had fun getting spun around by "Papi"
Exploring with Papi
We met up with a fellow Destination Wedding friend, Normailed and her daughter Elena for a train ride
After we hung out at Wild Wings to watch some basketball
Nia makes her stank face
  • What are your thoughts about the past month? Nia is a very passionate child! All the playdates we've had as a result of our new moms group are helping her socialization and weaning. She loves making friends, kissing and dancing but gets very nervous about receiving public attention. She's not quite shy but gets an attitude about being bothered and has started hitting and being quite aggressive. It's kinda embarrassing for me actually! I've had someone ask why we don't spank her and advised that she "needs to be straightened out" but for us we can't justify telling her not to hit others then turn around and hit her. It would make us hypocrites and would be very confusing for her. Mr. Love Bird and I are brainstorming discipline options as we don't want to use her bed as "timeout" since that is her designated sleeping place and don't want it associated with punishment and we don't have stairs to place her on timeout on the bottom stair which is a popular technique I've seen used. If we stuck her in a corner she'd simply get up and run away and "time-ins" (holding her facing me) would be time intensive. We'll see . . .
Nia's a typical toddler and likes to play! We get a lot of discouraging comments indicating that she's overactive like, "Is your daughter like that all the time?" It's very frustrating, but her dr. assures me that she's super healthy and advanced!
  • What was toddler's routine? With the time change we haven't had adverse effects like we had the last go around. A couple weeks ago we were going through some sleep challenges with her waking up to play around midnight and wanting to play and a few nights (or mornings I should say!) at 3a.m. We had to revert to CIO for 2 nights and we were back on track as of last Tuesday and haven't had a problem since. Nia goes to bed around 8p.m. and is up around 7a.m.
  • Reflect about the highlights of the month:  
    • Definitely getting out and exploring our new surroundings and meeting new families. Nia and I get out 2-3x/week and she usually doesn't want to leave our outings when it's time to go. That's a good sign that she's having fun!
  • Did any big changes occur? Nope!
    • What are toddler's favorites - toy, food, person, etc... 

        Nia also loves her Uncle Tanner! (He just loves waiting for her to drop food!)
      • Still loving Elmo and her dad! Nia looks for Elmo underneath tables especially when we're out to eat. It's very odd!
    • What I'm looking forward to? 
      • Still learning to braid

    My mom braided Nia's hair
      • Going away for a brief overnight trip next weekend for the Toni Braxton/Babyface concert and leaving Nia at home; I'm not one of those moms who is bummed about being away from my child. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!! I'll miss her for sure but I'm excited to get a break. 
    Bed sharing when away from home makes Nia think she's at an all-night buffet!
      • Weaning - I just have to say that I've asked around, including my mom who had 4 kids, and it sounds like everyone just goes cold turkey with toddlers. After watching Nia's nursing habits my mom told me none of her children were as obsessed with nursing as Nia appears to be. Oh well.