Friday, October 19, 2012

Autumn at 2 Years

So, I am taking a quick break from my 31 days of thankfulness to document Autumn's 2 year update.

We went to the doctor on Autumn's actual birthday (last Friday).  She always behaves very well at the doctor and the experience was overall good until she got her shot.  The doctor even mentioned that it's hard to believe Autumn was an IUGR baby because of how well she has grown in the last two years.  Here are her stats:

  • Height - 34.5 inches tall, 50th percentile
  • Weight - 25 lbs 9 oz., 25th percentile
  • Clothes - still in the same sizes she's been in the last few months (18-24 months in tops, skirts and dresses, 2T in leggings/pants).  She has some clothes that are a 6-12 months that still fit perfectly though, just depends on the brand/fit.
  • Teeth - we haven't visited the dentist yet, but hopefully will in the next month.  She brushes her teeth every night, but I could not for the life of me tell you how many teeth she has.  I'm hoping her dental exam goes well and that she shows no signs of having Daddy's poor enamel.
  • Sleeping - Autumn sleeps in her own toddler bed through the night.  Her bedtime is between 8:30 and 9:30pm and she usually wakes up around 8am.  She also takes around a 2 hour nap each day.  At school her nap is from 12 to 2, but on the weekends and on days with Grandma her nap schedule is more flexible.
  • Eating - Autumn still eats very well.  I haven't really found much she won't eat.  Sometimes she eats a lot during the day and then just picks at dinner, but I'm not worried since she snacks a lot and eats pretty well during the day.  Some of her favorite foods include: eggs (made by Daddy), fruit snacks (preferably the princess ones - she thinks they're all Belle), mandarin oranges in juice, bananas, cake pops, ice cream, fruit roll ups (the healthy less sugary ones), and macaroni and cheese.  She also loves her juice (still sounds a lot like shoes).  I give her water mixed with half a packet of propel for her juice most of the time.  She usually drinks one to two cups of milk a day and still prefers strawberry or chocolate over plain milk, but we try to limit the flavored milk to a couple of times a week.  This week at school she had peas in her lunch and her report said she ate everything except for the peas.  I had to send a picture of that report to Grandma Joy, since that is apparently where Autumn's distaste for peas comes from.
  • Language - Autumn's vocabulary has really blossomed over the last few months.  I was just thinking back to our Disney trip this summer.  If we were to go now (only 4 months later) the experience would be so different because of how well she can express herself.  She repeats so many words that we say and she also associates different people or things very well.  Like I saw the beach on TV and asked her if Abby (from Sesame Street) was at the beach (she was on TV) and Autumn said "Papa, Bobbi".  She knows that we go to the beach with them and made that association.  We've also been talking a lot about biting lately and how we're not supposed to bite people.  She will say "Mommy, Daddy, Bubba, bite."  I will repeat to her that she is right we do not bite Mommy, Daddy, or Bubba or any of our friends.  I think she's starting to understand.  She is saying at least 3-4 word sentences, some may be 5 words long.  It's so funny how before you're a parent you see another parent talking to their toddler and you have no idea how the parent understands the child, because you certainly can't.  Now I completely understand.  I am around Autumn so much that I can instinctively know what she is trying to say.  I sometimes feel like a translator though.  We're also still participating in a research study through LENA about language development.  Autumn's reports have all been very good and I am pleased with the feedback we have gotten so far.
  • Socialization - Autumn still likes to play by herself or with adults.  Her progress report recently said she doesn't interact much with the other kids at school.  I think there are a few reasons for this 1. for her age/development this is normal, kids play side by side before actually playing together.  She just hasn't moved from the side by side playing yet into the playing with other kids. 2. many of the other kids in her class have siblings and are used to playing with their older or younger siblings. 3. she is around adults all of the time (except at school) and is therefore very comfortable around adults.  Andrew kinda thinks she is an introvert, but I think we will see a big change in her socialization skills over the next few months as she grows and develops.
  • Play - Autumn loves to play.  She says "play" all the time.  She plays a lot with her princess castle that she got for her birthday (thanks Uncle Andrew, Kasey, Grandma T and PapPap).  She also likes to play with her new grocery cart and grocery set.  She and I will pretend to grocery shop for the items on her list.  She can easily identify each item and bring it to me to scan before putting it back in the shopping cart.  Autumn also likes to play with her microphone and her baby dolls.  She loves to dress and undress her dolls and pretend feed them.  She is all about pretend play these days.  It is so cute to just sit back and watch her play.
  • Potty training - not really any change from last month.  She is starting to get better about being able to pull her own pants/pull-ups down.  I think we will make some significant progress on potty training between now and the end of the year, since I will be on maternity leave for a while and can really work with her on it.
  • Other things of note - Autumn is starting to get opinionated about her clothes.  I moved all of her clothes down to her level in the closet, so she can actually help pick them out (without me lifting her up to look at them).  She almost always picks a character shirt (Minnie, princesses, etc.)  Autumn also loves shoes, especially her boots or her Minnie shoes.  She always has to pick out her shoes.Autumn has also done really well when she has been around the twins.  She wants to help though and sometimes that can get tricky.  She tries to put the bottle or pacifier in their mouths.  I think she will be a great big sister in a few days when Olivia gets here. 
Autumn, you are so sweet and loving, funny, energetic and full of life.  You make Mommy and Daddy so happy every single day.  We love you princess!

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