Stella's a Year and a Half!

Doing a chin-up. Maybe she is more athletic than us? Mommy and Daddy certainly can't do chin-ups!

Hard to believe, but Stella turned 18 months old today. We went in for her 18 month check-up and she is 33 inches tall, still in the 75-90th percentile, but her weight jumped up to 28 lbs, or the 90-95th percentile. Her weight had been around 75th percentile. Her head is 47 cm around, still in the 50-75th percentile. So she's growing nicely. We hid the pacifiers, so we didn't have any confrontations about that with the Dr. Yeah, we're wimps. Dr. Patil did say I should have Stella coloring for a few minutes every day to work on her fine motor skills, so I guess we'll have to work that in. She also said that I should be working on making her use her words for stuff. So I guess we'll work on that too, although we already have been. And I should teach her to throw overhand. I didn't tell Dr. P. that Stella is the product of two of the most uncoordinated people on earth and might never be able to throw a ball without looking like a spaz. She also suggested that I get Stella into a Mother's Day Out program so that she can be socializing with other children without me around. She said school may be very difficult for her otherwise. I had been thinking of that anyway, so I may start trying to find one. If anyone knows of good Mother's Day Out programs in South Austin, let me know!

There are many bloggers who write these great monthly letters to their children, full of sweet declarations of love and detailed descriptions of what their child has accomplished in the last month. I never remember all the little things Stella accomplishes over a month, but in honor of her 18th month birthday, I'm going to make a quick list of some of the cool things she can do.

She can say: Mama, Dada, Hi, Bye, Ball, Dog, Boy (taught her today), chair (also today), baby, wow, 'all gone', apple, eye, yeah, no. She is really good about repeating after you, but I don't know whether that qualifies as being able to say the word. She can: throw a ball, catch a ball, kick a ball, point to the following body parts on herself and Mommy and Daddy: eyes, nose, mouth, tummy, ears, head, toes, hand. She gives the world's best hugs and we're working on kisses. She has twelve teeth (4 on the bottom front, 4 on the top front, and two molars each on top and bottom), she loves to slide and swing, and she loves to run. Her giggle is the most beautiful sound on earth and she is also the most beautiful child on earth. I say that without a touch of favoritism:)