Butterflies and Hair Bows: Avery at 18 Months Old

At 18 months old, Avery defies all expectations of who you think she is by looking at her small frame. Not only can she be quiet as a mouse but also loud as a crow, yes a crow with her high pitched yells coming in short bursts. She has a curious mind which gets her into trouble at times but she doesn't seem to mind it. As much as we tell her "no" or "stop" she doesn't seem to want to listen. We have started to place Avery in timeouts and she obeys by sitting quietly in the place we sit her in until it is time to get up and go back to play. This behavior is so unlike her sister who cries bloody murder when taken to a timeout.

I have to laugh at times at Avery's behavior because at this tender young age she already knows how to push her sisters buttons. Emily is going through a pacifier phase and Avery loves to irritate her sister by pulling this "puppy" out of Emily's mouth and then not giving it back to her. Other times Emily will tell Avery go night-night, meaning she wants her to lay down so she can pretend to put her to sleep by placing blankets on her and patting her back, to which Avery will monotonly tell her "no". This answer will set Emily off on a crying rampage and there is no getting Avery to agree to what she does not want to do. Although there are times when Avery is against her sister, most of the time she is following Emily around and picking up on her words and phrases. She is very bright and learns very fast.

For her 18 month appointment Avery came up in the 15th percentile for weight, 43rd percentile for height, and 54th percentile for head circumference. All of this tells us what we already know, Avery is petite, but she is on track for her own measurments. Normally Avery is not a very picky eater but lately she has been going through a phase where she picks at her food and will only eat mostly fruit and of course snacks. Her doctor said it is normal and that Avery is doing very well for her age. She was very impressed at her speech when she spoke to the doctor, telling her "thank you" when she received a Dora sticker.

At this time in her life Avery does not have a long attention span. She will watch the beginning of Dora the Explorer and then walk off after the theme song has played. If you don't sit and play with her she is off trying to find something interesting to get into or stacking objects. Stacking objects or placing objects in a row is something that Avery loves to do. After she is done she may place them back in their proper place but most of the time she leaves her creation out. She is also into books and loves to bring books out for you to read, especially books where you have to recognize objects, such as "Baby's First Words." Our baby is growing up and becoming a little girl.