Oops.... guess I procrastinated on finishing this post for way too long! She's already 20 months old.... oh well. I was going to find pics, but I'll just have to post those later.
What was Ruth like at 18 months?
She was:
32.5'' tall
29 lbs
That put her in the 75th percentile for height and the 95th percentile for weight.
She wears a size 3T/4T for tops and dresses. And a 2T/3T for shorts/skirts. And her little feet are still size 5!
During her 18th month doctor's appointment, the doctor confirmed that she's at or above normal in all stages of development... except speech. Not surprising. He suggested we seek ECI help for her speech development, claiming she may have a similar problem as Nathan (motor planning issues). But the doctor didn't really seem to listen to me - he just assumed. We're going to hold off on calling Easter Seals till she's 2. Because Ruth has no other signs of motor planning problems, like Nathan did/does.
Ruth has the most incredible balance of any baby I've ever seen! She's a pro on the stairs - going up and down. She loves to try to balance herself on anything - curbs, toys...and mommy's & daddy's belly are her favorites. And she's a pro at walking backwards (since she started walking, she does this thing where she walks up to us if we're on the floor, she turns her back to us, takes three steps backwards and plops herself right on our lap. Its pretty funny to watch.) She also loves to disobey and stand in the shopping cart at the store... or sit on the edge, just to show off her impeccable balance.
Ruth has awesome fine motor skills, too. She loves to find teeny tiny pieces of trash in the carpet and hand them to us. Some so small we don't think she actually handed us anything until we look closer. She loves to take part in pulling off a link of our never ending paper chains - we started one for Nathan's birthday and now we have one counting down till we leave to see grandparents.
And she has awesome fine motor skills around her mouth, too - She has been able to use a straw successfully since she was 10 months old. And she can say tons of different sounds, and mimic a lot of phrases we say. Nathan, even at 2 1/2, could only make the "Da" sound for 99% of things he said. So Ruth doesn't appear to have the same issues he had, at all. But all the doctor saw was that she only had 2 words at the time of her visit - Momma and Dadda - and big brother has a motor planning problem. I want to find a new pediatrician... but I'm hoping our current one just retires this year to make that easier ;)
We're not worried about Ruth's speech. She's the 3rd child - and has a stubborn streak in her that we see daily. Why does she need to talk - we all do it for her? ;) I've been convinced, for the last month or two, that when she starts talking, it'll be in complete sentences right from the start. Don't get me wrong, if she seems to need ECI help, I will certainly call for an evaluation. I'm just going to give her a few months.
You see, in the last two weeks (when she was 18 months old), she added to her vocabulary. "All done", "tickle tickle", "watch this" and "I want that" are new words/phrases she says all the time now. And this morning, she handed me her flip flops and said, "let's go" - not sure where she wanted to go, but it was clear she didn't want to stay home.... ha
You have to listen closely and understand the context to catch most of her new words. And she mimics a lot of words - so I'm only counting words she says on her own, without prompting - I'm not counting words she likes to mimic, like "amen", "I love you" and I'm pretty sure I even heard a "gramma" once in there last week ;) She'll get better, I have no doubt. She's learning FAST.
Ruth's favorite things....
* keeping up with her brother & sister
* playing with a baby doll, taking turns feeding it and sucking on the play bottle/sippy cups herself... hehe
* dancing
* wearing necklaces - she LOVES them and once she puts them on, she leaves them alone. Amazing!
* pretending to be the tickle monster, and/or getting tickled herself
* getting her toenails painted. As soon as she sees nail polish, she plops herself on my lap and sticks her feet in my face. ha! She's only had her toe nails painted 4 times, over the last 6 months. But she knows what it is, loves it, and holds still so I can paint her tiny little nails!
* she's finally just now getting into books. Until recent weeks, she would hand us a book, sit down to "read" it and lose interest half way through the first page... now she wants us to read her books all day, usually the same ones over and over. I currently have "The Icky Sticky Frog" memorized...
Ruth's favorite foods....
* ANYTHING. She eats it all! Even broccoli ;) Her downfall is that if there's something yummier looking that's not on her plate, she tries to get out of eating what's on her plate in favor of the food she doesn't have. So we've learned, if we're having fruit or dessert during dinner time, no one gets it until Ruth is done her dinner first ;) It's working well to bring those things out when everyone's done.
* She seems to be more of a meat, bean & fruit person than a bread, potato or cake person.
Ruth's favorite people....
*Mommy..... it seems like her attachment to me is only getting stronger. I try hard to not pick her up when she wants - but when there's a dozen other things demanding my attention, it's just easier to pick her up so I can get the other things done without her hanging on my leg, getting stepped on, and screaming bloody murder. I know... bad mommy, I need to get better at helping her break that habit. Especially when she's in a mood to only be held for 30 seconds, then again 2 minutes later for another 30 seconds, etc....
* Ruth also loves Mrs. Casey at church, and depending on Ruth's mood, Casey's teenage daughter, Grace. They're the only other people she'll reach out for, besides Mommy & Daddy. It's great to know she loves her nursery workers - but she only sees them a few times a month now because she's outgrowing some nursery rooms (depending on the event going on).
UPDATE AT 20 MONTHS:
Ruth is still in sizes 3T/4T. But her feet finally grew into size 6 shoes just last week! She still tries hard to keep up with her big brother and sister, and we try to let her attempt to do whatever they are doing - at least attempt it, if possible. She's still a great eater and is learning to pay attention at story time more and more. She has a contagious laugh, loves to be tickled and is fearless around water. She can point to her eyes, ears, nose, toes, hair and belly. And she's picking up new signs (baby sign language) with ease! She loves to dance and sing and attempt simple hand motions. Her other favorite things are feeding baby dolls, running, tickling, "helping" set the table, pretending to be a puppy, and "cooking" in the play kitchen. And she's very slowly losing her mommy-attachment. She feels the need to be picked up just a little less each day, which is good. She's starting to get more attached to Daddy again, like she was when she was younger. She'd turning back into a Daddy's girl - in a healthy way. New words that she'll say on occasion are: please, book, cup, and hi. But mostly just lots of mimicing. Oh, and shaking her head, "no" is her favorite response to any question you ask her. "No" could mean anything - yes, purple, doggie, milk, pick me up, etc. So it's always a guessing game lately. Mostly, Ruth is still a wonderful baby girl who is quickly turning into a big girl before our eyes. We are so blessed with a content, compliant, little girl that loves to keep us all laughing!
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