Thursday, July 12, 2012

Life With Nia: 23 Months

Notice anything new this month???




Nia's taken to adding other things to her monthly photos now (last month it was her Bible). When I tried to take away her doll so she could "help Mommy take a picture" Nia stood up in the chair and defiantly yelled, "NOOOOOO!" 


 

This past month went by way too fast mostly because of travel and preparing for her 2nd birthday. Honestly, I need more time! I blame Nia partly for her indecisiveness with selecting a theme (and yes, she is very aware of themes!). We're leaning towards a Thomas the Tank Engine party, but I know she really wants Spiderman (Mr. Love Bird does not like that choice!).

Here's the update: 
  • Toddler's Weight: She's gained a little over a pound since last month and is 27.4lbs
  • Toddler's Height: Tall. Her legs and feet are growing way too fast!
  • What size of clothing does toddler wear? Still wearing 24 months and not filling out in the width. For example, I purchased a 24 months swimsuit and had to get an 18 months one instead which fits her much better.
  • Any milestones toddler reached during the month:
    • POTTY TRAINING! This happened so fast because we simply could not keep a diaper on her anymore (she kept taking them off!), and we are now able to go out and about with her in panties (she's rocking them in the pic above). We've been putting her in a diaper at night and at naps and she keeps staying dry throughout and I'm so glad we haven't bought diapers in a month! So that's 6 months of disposable diapers preceded by a year of cloth diapering. 
Just her little head peeking out! We have rails to add but the company is taking FOREVER to send the missing hardware.
    • Sleeping in her toddler bed. This was a result of her climbing out of her crib although it was on the bottom rung and for helping with potty training.  

    • Eating and napping regularly! I think she's mourning weaning (it's been 7 weeks now since she last nursed and I'm long overdue on the full explanation of how weaning happened!), but has now taken to cow's milk like crazy. We were using protein powder but now she'll drink it without it. Also, with regular visits to a new pool near us she's napping 2-3 hours each day which has helped with my productivity. Going to bed at night especially with the toddler bed conversion has been a challenge though. 
   
  • Special outings toddler had during the month:    
My water baby is so confident!
    • Maryland pool party at my parents house (post forthcoming!) - Nia stayed dry on the bus ride too!
  • What was toddler's routine?  
    • Nia goes to bed at 10p.m and wakes up between 6 and 7a.m. We're working on getting her back to bed at 8p.m. but since converting to a toddler bed coupled with weaning and the new potty training success I think is causing her to be super attached. She just doesn't want to leave us at night and clings to me so very tightly when it's time for bed. I can hold her and within 5 minutes she's knocked out but gone are the days when I can lay her down and she falls asleep. 
    • Another challenge is that our neighbors complained to our landlord about the noise Nia makes - she wakes up angry and crying loudly and runs A LOT really heavy-footed. What's odd is they have a school-aged child so I think they'd remember what it was like having a toddler. They run EVERYWHERE. So needless to say we've been practicing quiet feet but honestly the more I tell her to have quiet feet, the more she runs. Typical toddler. We were CIO whenever she'd have sleep challenges but now with the neighbors complaint we can no longer do this so we've been hemmed in by them. It's a real pain giving into Nia's crying demands for fear of another complaint to the landlord. Ughhh. There's 6 months left on our lease so I'm hoping they go by very quickly and we can move (yet again) to a place that's much better insulated (our last building was so wonderfully quiet with super thick walls and soundproof windows).
  • Reflect about the highlights of the month? POTTY TRAINING!
  • Did any big changes occur? Just potty training (can you tell I'm excited???) and toddler bed. 
  • What are toddler's favorites - toy, food, person, etc... Right now she is obsessed with water and our new local pool. Everyday she asks to go to the "wah-der". Most days it's just the splash pad that's a 5 minute walk from our house. 
  • What I'm looking forward to? 
    • Her 2nd birthday
    • Taking her along to BlogHer '12 (can't believe it's so soon, but stay tuned this Monday for my epic how to do BlogHer/Blogalicious post!)