17 months

Doesn't she look like such a big girl here? Look at all those teeth! Where has my little baby gone?!

We are officially into our new house! We decided that this week it actually feels like home. We still have a lot to do, but it is home. Andi loves to climb up and down the stairs…but will sometimes ask for “help” or “Mommy carry.” If she says, “walk” she means it and wants to walk on her own down the stairs (supervised of course). I will try to post some pictures of the house soon. Remember, it is still a work in progress. We love it! Plenty of room to grow and great school district for Andi.

Andi is now putting words into sentences. She narrates as she does things, which is so cute. If she is going to get a book to read, she will say, “pick a book.” If she is hungry, she will say, "Hungy! Andi’s hungry.” She likes to tell us when she sees someone sleeping; “baby sleeping,” Pearl sleepy.” She will also say to Dave, “Wake up, Daddy!” “Mommy help.” When she wants to do something, she will say, “Andi’s turn.” Her vocabulary is incredible. She amazes me each day with a new word or phrase. I am in awe at how smart she is. Really! Andi also likes to give ownership to objects. “Andi’s toy,” “Mommy’s shoes,” “Daddy’s hat.” Andi continues to love reading her books. She now knows the titles of many of her books. As she brings one to me to read, she will say the title of the book: “Animal Homes,” “Wake Up!” “How Do I Love You?” “Curious George,” Caillou,” Wow! And some books she gives her own titles.

Lately, Andi likes making sound effects. When we lock the car and it makes a beeping sound, she says, “beep.” When we turn on the car, she will say, “vroom.” When she drops coins into her piggy bank, she will say, “cink.” Etc. Pretty funny to hear her try to mimic sounds she hears.

Have I told you that Andi makes a pretty good pouty face? It is a face to say, "Really? Did I say I wanted to do that? Are you talking to me? Hmmm, let me think about this first...."Here are some prime examples.

Andi can now climb onto our ‘big man chair.’ She climbs onto its ottoman and then up onto the chair.

Andi has been trying to show us how strong she is. She will “flex her muscles.” She will put her hands out in front of her, make fists, and squeeze her hands closed as hard as she can while grunting. She will even try to pick up big things and say, "Heavy! Uh!" Pretty hilarious! She will even try to pick up big things and say, "Heavy! Uh!"

Andi is still sleeping in her crib. She likes to have a pacifier or two and any stuffed animal and blanket in bed with her. She giggles when I pull the blanket over her. She likes Rock-a-Bye-Baby best for her nighttime lullaby, and will remind me to sing it to her by saying, “Rock a baby.” She also enjoys having a couple of books read to her before bedtime.

Andi now LOVES water. Before these past couple of months she was not a fan of water. In fact, I would say she hated it. I think she actually was just not sue of it and needed time to check it out on her own and decide if she wanted to check it out. Now Andi loves the pool and splash park. We went to the splash park by our new house last weekend and she had a great time. Later that same afternoon, we went swimming at Nana and Pap’s house. What a fun day.

Andi had to deal with some sickness this month. Last week she had bad diarrhea and got a really awful diaper rash. Poor baby! We are still dealing with it. She does not want to get her diaper changed or sit down in the bath (she usually loves bath time). We have been giving her Pedialite and using Zinc Oxide cream for her little bottom.

Andi likes to jump on the bed. In the mornings when we go into her room, she will smile and say, “jump” while bouncing up and down in her crib. She will also try to jump on our bed if we let her. I think we have been reading, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed as few hundred times and she gets the part about jumping on the bed, but not the part about falling off. J

Have I told you how much Andi likes Elmo’s World? She loves it. She will ask to watch “Elbo Bo.” I recently bought her a few new videos off of EBay (she had three that I got at a garage sale) but thought she had worn them out so I got her five more for cheap on EBay. Needless to say, she loves them too. When Andi was sick last Monday, she snuggled in our bed and watched her favorite, Elmo’s World. Sweet girl.

Andi did much better this past month about drinking milk. After reading Caillou (he drinks milk in one of the books), Andi actually asked for milk. So we went downstairs, got some milk, she drank it, and said “Nummy!” Yay! I have learned that I cannot trick her. If she asks for water, better give her water (not milk). She prefers milk from a straw (usually out of her Elmo cup) (better tell her it is milk before she drinks it or it will catch her off guard and might spit it out or vomit), wants water in a sippy cup, and juice is preferred in a juicebox. What a funny girl! I will occasionally give Andi a bottle just to make sure she is getting enough milk for the day. She does LOVE cereal. To Andi cereal cannot be dry, must be in a bowl with milk (which is great b/c it helps her get her milk requirements. If given dry cereal she will ask for milk and say “Cereal! Milk!” Dry cereal to Andi is a snack. We have eaten donuts a couple times and Andi is a fan…so much that she asked for them a couple times this week, but I had to tell her that was only for special days and she was happy with cereal. This girl would eat cereal (and milk) for every meal is I allowed it. Andi will also now blow on her food if she thinks it might be hot or if she sees me blowing on the food or telling her it is hot.

Andi continues to be an excellent sleeper, sleeping through the night about 11 hours straight. Andi has been waking up each morning around 6:30-6:45 (which is actually a good thing since we are going back to school-starts tomorrow!). Her bedtime is typically 8:30 pm. Andi still takes two naps a day, most days. This past week (on Thursday) Andi did not get a nap (I guess she was excited to spend the afternoon with Papa). Guess what…Andi fell asleep in her highchair at the dinner table at 7:00 pm. We put her in her crib and she was out for the night! Didn’t wake until the next morning around 6:30.

Since I started work this past week, Andi has been staying at Nana’s house. Andi loves it there, and I know that my mom loves Andi. I am so blessed (and so is Andi) to have Nana to care for Andi while I am away at work. Nana will read Andi book after book after book after book. Andi did not complain once when I dropped her off this week. She happily walked into Nana’s house and made herself at home; began playing with her toys and did not even give second thought to me leaving. This is great, made that transition a lot easier for me. I have been anxious about leaving her and going back to work, but I know she is in good hands.

Andi wears size 18 months shirts and onesies and 12 months dresses, shirts, and shorts. Size 4 shoes. She is in a size 3 diaper. Overnight diapers for bedtime.

Andi now has 12 teeth! Her bottom two molars just came in this past week.

Andi loves Bible class. She will excitedly exclaim “Bible Class” on Sunday mornings and want to take her Bible with her. She will say “Bible class” over and over in the car on our way there. Precious!

We love our sweet Andi more and more everyday. We are amazed as to how smart she is and how much joy and excitement she brings to our lives.