For the record...

Just want to get Ava's 18 month stats on paper...

Weight: 22 lbs (10-25th percentile)
Height: 30 3/4"(25th percentile)

She's tiny but the doctor said everything looks great!

Ava has been adding words to her vocabulary (or at least trying). She tries so hard to say stuff and most of the time we can't understand her but she does manage to get quite a few words out. Plus she still uses her sign language. Some words she says are blue (and most of the time it is in reference to a blue object), "addy" (for daddy), ummy (mommy), sheep, shee (for Shelby), ish (fish), bye, up, sie (horsie) - she says lots more but I can't think of them all right now. A lot of her words she leaves off the first consonant, therefore most words sound similar. She knows most of the common animals (and their sounds) and is working on colors.

Teething has been problematic this month and led to much interrupted sleep. Hopefully, we're getting close to the end of that. Poor girl knaws on anything that will fit in her mouth.

We also got rid of the paci in the last month. It went better than I thought but there are times when it would be nice to have it. More on this later.

Ava's eating is still very good. She's a little pickier but for the most part eats quite a variety. She is using a fork more and more and we have introduced a spoon with oatmeal. It's a mess and mommy ends up stopping it early. But she is doing good. I also realized a couple of weeks ago that we had never taught her how to use a straw so I've also introduced that. She's getting the hang of it but still wants to tip it up like her regular sippy cup.

She definitely is a little girl who knows what she wants and does her best to let us know. She is very serious, taking in everything around her but has a comical side and can get a tickle out of the littlest things.

We are having a great time watching her grow and explore...and are looking forward to experiencing the upcoming holidays with her.