Aveline is 18 Months

Aveline turned one-and-a-half years old on Saturday. So, of course, we had another half-birthday to celebrate! On Saturday morning, we all went to a fabulous local doughnut shop, Revolution Doughnuts. Elsa was excited with the anticipation Avie was oblivious to, and decided much in advance that she wanted a dark chocolate-frosted doughnut. Once there, and after standing in a line that stretched outside the door and down the sidewalk (in not so warm morning temperatures), I let Avie point to what she wanted in the case. After asking a couple of different times, she clearly liked the looks of the pink-frosted doughnut with sprinkles on top (a cake doughnut with real raspberry frosting and, of course, the sprinkles). Jarrett ordered some ungodly concoction called "The Bar Snack," available only that particular weekend. It was to die for -- one of the yeast-style doughnuts, topped with caramel, pretzels, peanuts, and dark chocolate. He also ordered a salted caramel cake style. I ordered one of the low-gluten doughnuts, which is pretty hearty with dark chocolate frosting and chopped nuts on top. And then I cheated with one of their Buttermilk fried doughnuts (and also the few bites of "The Bar Snack"... and now have a patch of eczema on my knee to prove it). Avie ate a fair amount of her raspberry doughnut, but also thought my chocolate-covered one was quite tasty too. Needless to say, after all of the doughnuts and coffee drinks (milk for the girls), we were all quite full, with blood sugar levels out the roof.

I had started some prep work on building a sandbox in the backyard earlier in the week, and we pretty much finished out the project over the weekend. This meant for some nice time outside in the beautiful weather on Avie's half-birthday as well. She adores being outside. So she was very pleased... especially with raspberries in hand.

 And then there was St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, so it was a pretty full half-birthday weekend.

I have a decent amount of catching up to do on all things Aveline, I suppose, considering I completely missed the 17-month post. She had a doctor's appointment on Friday with the nurse practitioner, Susan, and she weighed 23.5 pounds (40th percentile), was 32.2 inches tall (60th percentile), and had a head circumference of 18.75 inches (80th percentile). She stood on the big scale for the first time in the doctor's office, of which she was a little timid of at first, but then she got on, completely naked, rolls and dimples and all. And then she walked (still naked) down the hall to the examination room, with much laughter and doting following her all the way. It was so cute. She received one vaccination (DTaP) and got sort of wide-eyed at point of contact, but did not end up crying at all, once again. I have been slightly concerned about a pop I have felt in her left hip every so often for some time now. And I think I've been more concerned about it only because at some point when Avie was much younger and was in with Dr. Owen for an appointment, Dr. Owen thought she felt something while checking her hips, but then after repeating it several times, decided it was nothing. But because I have felt it here and there since, it's been at the back of my mind. So I voiced my concern to Susan, and she checked her out and said she, too, felt the pop. She had Dr. Owen come in and she felt it as well. However, she said Aveline's hips look completely aligned, she does not have a limp of any sort, and walks and runs with no problem, so she really thinks it is nothing. But she does still want us to get it checked out with an orthopedist, just to check that box. So we will do that sometime soon. I also need to take both her and Elsa to have their blood drawn (ugh) to test for lead (and to re-check Elsa's iron levels). But other than the hip thing (and assuming that really is nothing to worry about), Avie seems completely healthy.

Aveline is so fun right now. And I could really just stop with that. What else can I say? I love this age. She is saying many words and tries to repeat a lot of what we say. She also speaks in "Avie speak," where it sounds like she is speaking in complete sentences, but it sounds more Chinese than English. But there are clearly phrases she repeats -- we just cannot quite translate them yet. She loves to climb the stairs, and giggles and squeals all the way to the top. She rides around on her little bee caster riding toy like it is no problem now. Avie does love being outside and gets very upset if anyone goes out without her or if you close the door to the screen porch without her having the chance of going out there. She still loves baths. She still loves her Mommy Shirt and Bunny, and sleeps with them every night.

Avie is in a bird-loving phase right now. It was dog barking; now it is bird tweeting. If she hears a bird, she will start signing for "bird" and will say "tweet, tweet, tweet." Then, when you acknowledge, "Oh, yes, a bird!," she will say "Up! Up! Up!" and immediately want you to pick her up so she can try to see the bird out the window. Sometimes we can spot it; sometimes we can't. But just picking her up and giving it a try seems to satisfy her.

The girl still loves music and loves to dance and spin (slowly and clumsily) around. And she is still enjoying her music class on a weekly basis. She seems to have rhythm. We don't know if this is normal for babies or not, but she really does seem to be able to keep a beat. She loves the xylophone.

Avie also still loves the books, and seems to be sticking with her previous favorites. I read "Spot Loves His Daddy" three times in a row tonight. And then it was on to "Goodnight Moon."

She is showing some interest in potty training, but she still seems so young to me, I can't even fathom starting that task. But, regardless, perhaps I will give it a shot soon.

One of the more funny things she has done recently (under Jarrett's care -- I missed it) was to hold one of the remote controls up to her ear, start pacing around the living room and chatting: "babalada... ummm.... adababala... ummm...." She was most definitely acting like me, with my pacing-while-talking-on-the-phone habit.

She is starting to get some opinions of her own, for sure. And she is becoming more picky with the textures of foods, spitting things out or throwing them on the floor if she doesn't like them. Or, if she becomes irritated while eating, she starts swiping everything in front of her onto the floor. Not fun. Overall, though, she is still a pretty good eater. And I'm not giving up on the things she is turning her nose up now.

She was one out of eight baby models last month, here at our house, for a Cradle&Thread photo shoot. That was such a fun afternoon! (Photos are by Brita Photography.)

Aveline has a smile like a little joker. And a sparkle in her eyes that won't quit. She is charming. It makes my day when I walk in the front door to "MAAAAMAAAAAAAA... mama, mama, MAAAMAAAA!!!," with that little body running toward me. Does it ever have to end?