Olivia - 18 Months

Stats?
Weight: about 22 lbs 1 oz (20%)
Height/Length: 31.25 in (35-40%)
Head: 17.75 in (15-20%)
Clothing Size: 18 Months and some 18-24 Months 
Diaper Size: Size 4 and Size 6 Overnights
   
How is she sleeping?
We put her down for bed around 7:30 or 8 and she usually sleeps until about 7:30 or 8 (or whenever she hears Naomi get up).  She goes down for her afternoon nap at about 1:00 and sleeps until 3 or 3:30 usually. Sometimes she cries out at night, but its usually only for a few seconds (just enough to disturb our sleep - oh well). 

How is she eating?
We've put her on almond milk, suspecting some level of milk intolerance or allergy since there seems to be correlations between milk consumption and instances of vomiting.  The doctor gave us lab orders to go check it.  Otherwise, she eats cheese and yogurt fine.  She loves oatmeal and chicken the best.  She doesn't really care for veggies or fruits, but we keep trying.  Really, though, she can eat quite a lot.  Oh, and she pretty much feeds her self for everything - sometimes a bit messy, but learning is exactly that.  In fact, just like sister, any attempts to assist her with spoon-wielding will only result in even more mess as she shakes it away from you. 

Doctor Visit
Everything checked out great.  She is on her growth curve, on track developmentally, and passed her Autism screening, so that's all good.  No vaccinations this time.  They tried to draw blood in office to check for a milk allergy, but only succeeded in making Olivia cry.  :(  Sweet girl was happy as can be a few minutes after it was all over though.  We still haven't made it to the lab yet.  I can't believe that the next well-check will be when she is 2!

What new tricks does she do?
She is walking, working on stairs and loves to climb.  She pretty much wants to do whatever Naomi is doing.  She is talking up a storm and will repeat pretty much anything you say.  We honestly never tired to count her words the way we did with Naomi but I think we would have lost count by now anyway.  She calls Naomi, Neemuh, which is so cute.  Most of her words are still at that phase that only parents of little ones and childcare workers can understand.  It is nice for her to be able to communicate some of what she wants now though.  She can even string a couple words together to make short phrases.  She puts her hands together at the table for the prayer and can even say some of it, "Dear God, thank you, Mommy, Amen".  Of course my favorite is her little version of "love you too" - heart melting.  She's still a little fish and can swim for 10 seconds underwater.  We have to be careful when she "jumps" in the pool though, she sinks like a stone if she doesn't do a bit of a belly flop. She can follow simple, one step instructions quite well.  Really, in reading back to my last post at the year point, it's just crazy to think how much she has changed and how many new things she is doing in the last six months.  Second kid and the learning process never ceases to interest and amaze me. 

General Observations?
She's got most of her teeth except molars and maybe a couple of the incisors (not a big fan of having you mess with her mouth).   
Her eyes are still a blue green color so I think she will be our fair eyed girl.  
Her hair is growing slowly and has stayed on the blonde side.  
She loves bath time though I think she misses getting to have it with Naomi all the time (Naomi has had to start taking showers due to bath time behavior issues). 
I love watching her little personality develop and it is definitely shining now.  
She has opinions, can already throw tantrums (boo), loves to smile for the camera, loves to sing and dance, and has gotten a little more cuddly.  
She really wants to do everything that sister is doing and do everyday things like sister does them.  For a couple examples:  She wants to get dressed sitting or standing up like sister does and is getting pretty good in that area.  She likes to step up on her step stool to brush her teeth, spit in the sink and get a little sip of water from the cup.  

At this point, I know I'm just rattling on.  I could write a lot about our little girls and I want to try to remember as much as I can.  Since we make my blog into a book at the end of the year each year, I'm really trying to record as much as I can.  Just trying to soak in everything as these girls are growing up so quickly!

Well, as we say every night, sweet dreams!