Avonlea Updates

The last several months I've been remiss in doing posts about the girls' various milestones and stats.  It's a little harder to do these posts for Madeleine, but Avonlea is still at a stage where new skills are emerging in an easily identifiable ways.  This post has taken me weeks of working on in fits and spurts but it was well worth it because I'll be able to enjoy looking back at it in a couple years just as much as I enjoy looking back at Madeleine's old posts now.


Communication
The area that Avonlea is most clearly and rapidly progressing in his her ability to speak.  She started speaking early and her vocabulary truly is amazing.  I feel a little silly saying that, but each kid has things that are their special skills and Avvie's happens to be talking!  I'm pretty sure that her conversational skills are a direct result of spending all day every day with me and Madeleine (and a fair amount of time with MorMor as well).  We are rather chatty folks and I think she just tries to keep up.  When Andy married me, it was quite a learning curve for him as he was never quite sure how to respond when I would ask him to tell me a story from his day, describe how he felt in any given situation or just request that he talk about whatever was on his mind.  Maddie is on my wavelength and can often be heard saying "Mommy, let's talk!  What should we talk about?  Let's talk about [insert anything from ice cream to God]."  Avonlea is obviously not talking like that (yet!) but she is using four word phrases/short sentences, can make (very) short inquiries ("Why?" "What this?" "What?") and has an ever expanding vocabulary.  So let's get into list mode and record that vocabulary.  This is in no way an exhaustive list, but it's the words we hear the most.
A lot of her words relate to food such as eat, pasta, pizza, cheese, chips, candy (indy), banana (nana), ahti (her made up word for liquid), apple juice (appjush), milk (mul), chocolate (choc--we hear this a lot and usually in the context of "EAT MORE CHOC!"), cereal (cerul), M&Ms (emem).  We do in fact feed her healthier food as well, but she seems to use the words for the unhealthy food more (although she does say hummus ("hummish") so adorably when I pull out the food processor and chickpeas)! Other words include: tissue, shoes, bow, hot, kitty (often pronounced "tia"), meow meow (what she often says instead of kitty), pumpkin (often said "putty", not sure why), pillow (po-po), pretty (sometimes used to mean pretty, sometimes used to mean princess), light, yes (said "yah", "yesh" or "yup"), no, chair, leaf, night night, bye, hello, hi, ouch, music (u-ish), TV, Minnie, sheep, doggy, puppy, bunny, read, book, more (sadly, she rarely does her cute little sign for more anymore), baby, doll, walk, stroller, door, garage (having an attached garage with a remote operated door has made quite an impression on both of the girls!), thank you, please (sometimes said without prompting, sometimes not said even when we plead), kiss, out, off, down, home, iPad, ball, bubble, peepee, poopy, all done, cheese, e-i-e-i (which is her code for a certain praise song she likes on a CD), happy (code for "I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy" or just to tell us she's happy), want (said "Wanney" as in "I wanney choc"), duck, quacky, horsey, toe, blue, pink, orange, purple, mess, dance, me, my, mine, Avvie, book, teeth, brush, piano, tights, clean up...Okay, this list is getting ridiculous.  I started his post weeks ago and every day she adds several words and speaks more frequently in short sentences so I'm going to stop listing.  Suffice it to say, she's talking and in sentences!
Obsession
Avonlea's biggest obsession right now is Minnie.  It's actually Mickey, too, but for some reason she only ever says Minnie.  She loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and goes crazy anytime she sees any Mickey or Minnie (or Disney logo or anything that even resembles the Mickey ears). Disney is pretty ubiquitous so you never when she'll point and start screaming "MINNIE!"  She has a few key things that she likes to sleep with and one is a Minnie.  For a long time it was a small Minnie that we got her in Disney World (which oddly was before her obsession and doesn't seem to have even been the impetus).  Now she's smitten with a Minnie that is dressed like a princess (she calls it "my pretty Minnie") that Donna got Maddie when we were at Disneyland last year.  One of the only things that will prompt our happy and agreeable girl to have a tantrum is if we tell her she can't watch Minnie on TV.  Oh the tears!
Sleep
Avonlea is still a great sleeper.  She takes an afternoon nap for 2-3 hours and often when I say its nap time she will gather her lovies (pig pillow pet (po-po), giraffe stuffed blanket, Minnie and currently a little white cat (meow-meow) and an Elmo book) and walk over to her crib.  She loves to get cozy with her quilt tucked around her, lovies surrounding her and book in hand.  If I forget something, she will call for it until I bring it, and then she will happily take it from me and go to sleep.  If that happened with Maddie at that age, she would not settle back down that easily.  The other night I had to go in Avvie's room a couple times to look for my phone and each time she quietly watched me and said "Night night" when I left and didn't make another peep despite the disturbance.  Speaking of night, she goes down nicely at bedtime as well.  She usually goes to sleep about 8, maybe a tad before, and gets up about 7:30.  She wakes up and says "Mommy, mommy, mommy" calmly until I get her, although occasionally she'll say "Minnie" instead...sometimes she wakes in the middle of the night and calls out for Minnie!  (Since I wrote this post, her obsession with her "white Charlie" as she calls her stuffed cat has grown and is with her for sleeping and at almost all other times.  Also, she has begun to request some nights "Rock, Mommy" meaning she wants me to rock her before putting her to sleep which I happily do!)
Food
Avonlea is still a great eater!  She is exhibiting a bit of pickiness about a few things and unfortunately I think a lot of this is prompted by seeing Maddie refuse certain things.  However, she still tries a variety of foods and eats a lot.  A current favorite is broccoli which she requests specifically.  She is learning to drink out of a little glass and while we won't be dropping the sippy cup anytime soon, if we're eating a meal we are defaulting to giving her a regular cup more and more.
Sense of Humor
Avonlea is funny!  She makes little jokes (as much as a 21 month old can).  If I ask if she has poopy in her diaper (knowing full well she does) she will often say no and giggle.  She'll keep saying no until I'm about to take her diaper off at which point she'll shriek and giggle "YES!" b/c she knows I'll see.  (Of course, the smell gave her away, but I guess I'll give her a pass for not understanding that yet.)  She has a funny throaty laugh that always makes me and Maddie giggle.  She and Andy have fun chasing each other around.
Best Friends
Avvie and Maddie are truly best friends.  When we drop Maddie off at school they often embrace and Avvie will sometimes cry.  If she doesn't cry, she'll keep repeating Maddie's name and "Bye Maddie" until we've driven away.  When we pick up Maddie she shrieks and tries to run into the classroom when she spots her.  Maddie's teacher and other parents have commented on how joyful Avvie is to see her sister.  (Maddie on the other hand is already old enough to be a bit embarrassed by the display.)  They play together so nicely.  Puzzles, dress up, "reading" to each other, taking care of baby dolls--they truly enjoy each other's company.  Maddie is very protective of Avonlea.  For instance, at the library there is an automatic door and it makes Maddie nervous.  If she sees Avonlea heading for it, she will grab her to stop her.  (Other times we've actually seen her wrestle Avvie to the ground when she felt Avvie was heading towards danger.)  This is not to say they don't fight.  We've already had some knock out, drag down fights over toys, but they generally work it out.
The Stats
Finally, here are Avonlea's stats from her last two doctor appointments (I don't think I ever posted them and since this is her baby book, I can't stop myself!):
At her 15 month appointment in the beginning of June she weighed 23 lbs 12 oz (75th percentile), was 31 1/2 inches (90th percentile) and her head circumference was 18 1/2 inches (80th percentile).
At her 18 month appointment at the end of September (which makes it closer to her 19 month appointment) she weighed 25 lbs 4 oz (50-75th percentile), was 32 inches (50th percentile) and her head circumference was 18 1/2 inches (50-75th percentile).  I'm not sure if she's moving more towards being an average height and weight (remember these days or these?) or if that just reflects different charts used by our new pediatrician.  Either way, she's clearly growing!

And here are some pictures of our sweet girl.  She bring much happiness to our family.  Andy, Maddie and I are all often giving her kisses, telling her how cute she is and laughing at her antics.  Avonlea is a perfect combination of sweetness and spunkiness!