Anna at 19 Months

Anna is a little girl bursting with energy. She loves to run around the living room and play. She is now more of a little girl than a baby. It is very neat to witness the transformation of her going from baby to a little girl. She now treats her baby doll a little better. She used to throw it out of its stroller, but now she gives it water to drink from a cup and handles it much more gently.

Her language development is a little slower than I expected it to be. She has said quit a bit of words but she doesn't re-visit them much. The one she uses most frequently is eye. She points to her or someone else's eye and says eye, eye. She says momma and dada but not very frequently. She has tried to say I love you before by saying I you when we have said it to her. She says various other things but they usually don't return. She knows what we are saying to her, she will point to almost anything when we ask where is is. She knows all of her body parts, including her hair and tongue.

She is still so in love with the kitty. Every time she sees him her face lights up and she gets very excited. She is a little rough with him though. She likes to kick him and we try to get her to stop but she doesn't always listen. She also loves turning the TV off, over and over again. I tried to put tape on the off button but she just took the tape off. She is learning to break through barriers now with a lot more ease than I have been used to.

She went for her 18 month appointment a few months ago and her weight is still in the 2ND percentile. I don't like this, it worries me a lot, but I feel better because mom keeps reminding me I was identical to her as a baby. I hate more than anything when people tell me I need to feed her. If they only knew how much I work on that everyday. She usually eats decent amounts. I try to keep feeding her throughout the day. I add carnation to her whole milk. I do everything I can. Sometimes she eats great and sometimes not so well. I can't physically throw her on the ground and shove food down her throat. Her doctor is having me bring her in between appointments for weight checks. I am worried but I also know she is very healthy. She always has a ton of energy and she is reaching her development milestones at a great rate.

Putting her in her crib at night has been very challenging lately. We used to go through the whole routine of reading and singing to her in the rocker, then Andy coming in and rocking her for a few minutes, then we put her in her crib and she went to sleep. She is no longer going to sleep when we put her in her crib, she stays up crying for hours. We are going to start putting her to sleep an hour earlier so she has longer to go to sleep before Andy has to be asleep.

Having Anna in our life is such a joy I would never have been able to imagine before we had her. Some people talk about all you have to give up in order to have kids but I feel as though it isn't such a sacrifice because she gives us so much more in return. She has brought to our lives a smile that gives off so much light it melts every worry in the moment she is doing it. We give up certain freedoms we used to have such as being able to go to the movies or grab a drink at the bar, but that is now replaced with pride for wonderful little girl whose life we get to shape everyday. We also get to relive our childhood through her. We are so proud of the wonderful little girl we are raising.