18 months old

Ava turned 18 months old earlier this month, and I'm a little late in posting.  A certain 18 month old keeps me on my toes all day long, and I am exhausted by the end of the day!  This month brought us a little one who likes to climb!  

 It got to the point that I had to rearrange our kitchen chairs so that I could get things done :)  Otherwise, I was constantly lifting her off of chairs!

Chairs off the floor makes it easy to clean!

We had her development assessed by Early Intervention, and they asked if she was climbing.  I said "oh yes she is!" to which the case worker replied "we like to hear that while parents don't!"  I'm glad that she is hitting all her milestone when she should.  The case worker and therapists that assessed her were pretty amazed at her receptive language considering how long she has been here.  They were also impressed with her fine and gross motor skills and her ability to mimick sounds and words.  Therefore, she was given great scores and doesn't need Early Intervention!

She loves to climb the ladder on our play set and go down our slide.  I'd much rather she climb that than our patio table or coffee tables!

 

 

Besides climbing, we've seen her doing this a lot too......

Her desire to explore seems to be getting her into lots of things she should't.  We have to keep the bathroom doors closed so she stays out of the toilet.  One morning I turned away from her for a sec, and then found her playing with a box of corn starch.

This is fun!

Am I in trouble?

We've had some fun firsts this month also....

First time making cookies with Mommy

First sink bubble bath

Love how she wants to eat the wash cloth.
She's always done this...I wonder if she did
the same thing with her nannies?!?

This month she has become much more vocal in showing her displeasure.  I'm sure she is feeling more comfortable with us and feels safe in showing us how she is feeling.  Plus it could be the start of typical 18 month/2 year old behavior.  Lately, she doesn't really want me to take her picture because she wants my phone or camera.  Which led to this meltdown....

I want your camera!

Please, can I have the camera?

This month has been harder mostly do to poor sleeping.  We keep praying that she will turn a corner, that she feels safe and secure knowing that we will be here in the morning. Jeremy and I are now taking turns sleeping in her room on an air mattress when she wakes up at 2 or 3 a.m.  She did cut one bottom eye tooth, and the other one is probably coming through soon.  So teething plus still transitioning does not make for happy bed fellows.  Luckily, her waking at night doesn't seem to affect her personality at all.  She is happy while mom and dad look a little worse for the wear!

Finally, one day before our 3 month Gotcha-versary, Ava received her Certificate of Citizenship.  This shows she is a US citizen, allows her to get a social security card in her name, get a passport in the future and help us in re-adopting her so that we can get a state issued birth certificate for her.

It's been a month full of growth and change, and we feel blessed to get to witness it.