18 Months

Kariana had her 18 month check-up this morning and Dada tagged along for the ride to Dr. Koush's office. While we are waiting for the doctor, I always feel sorry for Kariana. She looks so exposed naked as a jaybird but for a diaper. Today she didn't seem to mind and she was glad to have Dada along for the ride. There is nothing exciting to report. We were in & out in 30 minutes and the good news is Kariana is done with her shots until she is 4 years old.

Here are Kariana’s 18 month stats for the record:

Weight: She remains consistent at the 25th percentile, 22 lbs. 8 oz.
Height: She's above average at the 60th percentile, 32 inches.
Head circumference: She continues to have a big head at the 90th percentile or 19 inches.

11 teeth (upper and lower incisors and 3 molars)

Size 6 shoe

I’ll also take this opportunity to try to continue to document the words that Kariana is saying. I use the word “word” loosely, because a lot of what she says are not really words but sounds. For example, instead of saying the word "dog," she makes a "woof woof" sound. These are the words she uses with some confidence and that somewhat resemble the English language.

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Shoes (sounds like “ouosh”)
4. Boots
5. Poo Poo (pointing at the toilet or her diaper even if there is no Poo Poo in it)
6. Raccoon (sounds sort of like “cocoon” and we still giggle when she says it)
7. Hello (sounds like “elo”; this one took me a few days to figure out)
8. Amen
9. No No No No (said very fast and sounds like “Nah Nah Nah Nah”; always said while emphatically shaking head)
10. Knee (pointing at her knee)

11. More . . . more (honestly today is the first day I've heard this one; we were eating ice cream)
12. Two (something that sounds like "two" when we are counting "one-two-three" except that she says "two-two-two" but I think she might be getting the idea of counting)

Here are the sounds she loves to make.

1. Woof Woof (we’re limiting this to just dogs now which I consider progress)

2. Woo . . . woo (the noise the fan makes when it goes around and around)
3. Meooow Meooow (when pointing at the cat)
4. Nah (when pointing at horses, zebras, donkeys and elephants). This is probably the result of Mama not knowing how to distinguish the sound these different animals make so they all sound like a horse's "nah".

5. Hoo-hoo (when pointing at an owl)
6. Sniff Sniff (while wrinkling nose and pointing at bunny rabbits)
7. Sniff Sniff (while wrinkling nose and pointing at flowers). You’re probably asking how flowers are distinguished from bunny rabbits but I promise there is a difference.
8. Vroom Vroom (bouncing up & down and pointing at buses, trucks, cars, etc.)

9. Shhh (after singing Rock-a-bye Baby; indicates her dolls are asleep)

Kariana’s doctor says the word explosion occurs between 18 and 24 months and to expect at least 50 words by 2 years. We're getting there.