Before Delaney is reciting
soliloquies and applying for college, I wanted to give an update on her recent
developments. She has changed so much
and is changing every day.
At 18 months,
Delaney as 21 lbs and 29 inches. She is
petite and still small on weight and height, but staying on her growth
curve.
At 19 months,
Delaney is:
-
TALKING! We do not understand everything that she
says, but she is definitely communicating with us. She is even stringing together 3 word
sentences (we get into Brice’s car to go out and she says, “Daddy car! Mommy car no.” She answers all yes or no questions and will
answer most questions with some sort of answer.
She talks pretty much all day long and expresses her opinions strongly
(surprise surprise). My mom is the most
fluent in “Delaney” because of her mixture of Japanese and English words.
-
Going by “DD.” When thinking of baby names, we never
considered the level of difficulty for a toddler. We DID consider calling her Laney as a
nickname, however Delaney refers to herself as “DD” and it stuck. If asked her name, she says “DD.” Whenever she wants something, she points or says the word and then says, "DD!!!!"
-
Is becoming more
possessive, right on the devopment schedule.
She has a pink bike that she takes to the park sometimes. Other kids take an interest and she screams
out from the top of the slide “DD Bike!!! DD Bike!” She is learning more about sharing and taking
turns, and is patient and understanding when wanting to play with other kid’s
toys. She is also unbelievably great
about waiting her turn when going up the ladder or going down the slide. Ilma
is constantly teaching her social protocol at the park.
-
Has OCD tendencies. DD turns into Lady MacBeth if there is a spot
of dirt/paint/food, etc on her hand. We
are trying to teach her how to cope better, since part of being a kid is
getting dirty and we want her to be comfortable with this.
-
Loves to play
Hide-and-Go-Seek. She asks to play in
English and Japanese.
-
Is selecting her own
outfits. And even selected my outfit and
Brice’s outfit earlier this week! She
mostly demands to wear a specific color or her Elmo shirt. Her shoe fetish continues to be strong,
especially now that she has learned how to put some of them on and off on her
own.
-
Knows all of her
colors. She learned her colors in about
a week and can say all colors. Her
favorites are Purple and Green.
-
Remembers events from
earlier in the day, week or even month.
-
Continues to have a
gourmet pallete. Her recent favorite is
braised beef short ribs. She also loves
Indian food, peas, apple bars from Trader Joes, Pirates Booty, rotisserie
chicken, salmon, rice and ketchup. She
looooooves ketchup.
-
Has clear preferences
for certain people. Her heart belongs to
Dash (our next door neighbor), and the mere mention of his name will send her
into a grinning, giggling, blushing frenzy.
It is unbelievable. We are
grateful that he is so sweet with her and sees her almost every day.
-
Is sleeping 11-12 hours
a night (down at 7pm, up at 6/7am) and a 1-2 hour nap in the early afternoon
(1pm-2/3pm). Fortunately no signs of
her trying to climb out of her crib, but we are bracing ourselves as she has
the strength to do so if she ever figures out that it is a possibility.
-
Holds my hand at all
times. I didn’t know what a gem this
was, but when we went trick or treating, all of her friends were running
around, but she really just wanted to walk with me and hold my hand. I love it and hope this is a phase that never
ends! It definitely makes going for
walks and going places SO much easier, not to mention making me the happiest
and proudest mom in the world!
-
Continues to be very
attached to me, although there is an ebb and flow. I cannot complain about getting to hold and
cuddle her as much as I do. Yes, as much
as I travel, out of sight, out of mind, and she doesn’t miss me at all when she
is with Brice, Ilma, Poppie, my mom or whoever else is watching her.
-
Is interested in doing
more fine motor skill activities such as drawing with Crayons, playing with
Playdoh, building a tower of blocks, etc.
-
Went to the zoo for the
first time! Unfortunately Brice and I
could not go as we were working, but my parents took her and she had the time
of her life. She saw many animals and
asked for “MORE!” of each one. We are
excited to take her back soon.
-
Has shown a lot of
interest in the potty. We got her a
little potty which she immediately understood and pees in usually once a day
when she is getting ready for her bath.
She has done other business in the potty too which is pretty
miraculous! She is still so young so we
are not pushing potty training AT ALL, especially because we know that we will
be running to find a bathroom every 10 minutes once she starts. For now, we are just teaching her about it
and she enjoys it as one of her activities.
We are really excited for the holidays, as Delaney will have
a completely different experience this year.
We are enjoying every second with her!
