19 months

Here is Cameron's 19 month update.

Actual age: 19 months

Adjusted age: 16 months

Weight: 23 lb 1 oz

Height: Probably about 30 in

Diaper size: 4

Clothing size: 18 and 24 months

Medications/medical concerns: None, Cameron was on albuterol but her cough is gone! The rash on her face is also gone.

Sleep: She sleeps from 8 until 8 or 9 in the morning. She naps from about 1 to 2:30 or 3.

Eating: Cameron is eating great. I am giving her puree pouches and she is liking those a lot, it definitely seems like the best way to get veggies in her. She will eat pretty much any fruit that you put in front of her. She loves pretty much everything at the moment and is eating practically more than I do!

Developmental milestones: She has made huge strides in language and communication since last month. Most of it is highlighted in the language post from a few days ago. She has a handful of unprompted words and repeats all kinds of words. She has tons of gestures now too, including pointing and reaching for things she wants which she didn't do for a while. She also has started imitating all kinds of things that we do. She tries to brush her hair, put on jewelry, put on shoes, talk on the phone, put on clothes, etc. I can start to see that she has a very clear cognitive understanding of the world and the things around her. She has very clear preferences, and a great memory. As far as motor, that seems to be on the back burner, which is understandable given that she has mastered all the major milestones in that category.

Teeth: I said 10 last month, but really I think it is 9. She doesn't really let me look well enough. I know that one of the molars has popped through, but don't have confirmation on the other three. I can feel the ridges getting close but they haven't officially popped. The one that has come through is on her top left.

Best moment this month: As the weather changes, Cameron gets to spend more time outside. She absolutely loves it. So there really isn't one specific moment, but just spending time outside with her in general. She loves to play with sidewalk chalk and run around the yard picking up sticks.

Language and non-verbal communication, 18.5 months

Over the past month or so Cameron's language and non-verbal communication skills have kind of exploded. It is so much fun to watch! It is getting hard to remember and keep track of all the things she is doing so I wanted to get it all down in a blog post.

GESTURES & ACTIONS
When asked Cam will do the following:

• Blow kisses
• Give high fives
• Wave bye-bye (she also does this without being asked in the appropriate situations)
• Brush her hair (go find her brush and *try* to brush her hair)
• Ride her elephant (if I tell her "go ride your elephant" she runs over and gets on her rocking elephant)
• Point to her nose
• Point to her belly
• Clap
• Dance
• Find the baby (run to the mirror in her room and point to herself)
• Bring me a book
• Put her arms up (when taking off her shirt I'll say "arms up!" and she puts her arms up)
• Come here (of course only when she feels like it)
• Give me something (I'll say "can I have that?" and she gives it to me)
• Shake shake shake (gets her maracas)

PROMPTED WORDS

Cameron understands the meaning and will say the following words when prompted:

• Night night *nyny* (I say "want to go night night?" and she says night night)
• Belly *bebby* (I ask her "where's your belly", she points to it and says belly)
• Nose *no* (I ask her "where's your nose", she points to it and says nose)
• Clap *clap* (when I ask her to clap she will clap and say the word clap)
• Dance *dah* (when I ask her to dance she will dance and say the word dance)
• Shake *shik* (when I tell her to shake her shakers she shakes them and says shake)

UNPROMPTED WORDS

Cameron says the following words without prompting in the appropriate situations:

• Doggie *doddee*
• Dada *dada*
• Mama *mama*
• Baby *baby* (when she sees herself in the mirror)
• Ball *bah*
• Bye bye *bah bah* (she says this if I am putting on her coat or someone is opening a door)
• All done *ahda* (she sometimes says this when she is done with her food)
• Nana *nana* (for banana, this one is questionable)

I think she is doing great and is just where she needs to be. It's a lot of fun teaching her words and actions and seeing her language and communication develop. She is getting a lot better at trying to tell us what she wants (pointing at items she wants, going to the fridge/high chair when she is hungry, saying my name when I have an object that she wants, etc). They say at this age a child understands most of what is said to them and I feel like that is true. They also say that up until a certain age (maybe 3?) only 50% of what toddlers say is understood by others. It's interesting how parents can pick up on words that other people would never understand. For example, when Cameron says "doggie", she really says "doddee", so it kind of sounds like "daddy" but we know what she means. She says it SO consistently every single time she sees the dog that I am sure that's what she is saying. Plus when she actually says "dada" it sounds different than her words for doggie. Anyways, I may end up doing this type of post monthly depending on how fast she is making progress. Like I said earlier it's getting harder to remember what and how many words she has and I would like to keep track of it so I can look back.

Happenings lately

We have been busy over here! Here is what's been going on.

The weather has been getting nicer and Cam has been getting outside!! She is loving it. She throws a temper tantrum as soon as we start walking towards to the door to the house because wants to stay outside. Then when we're inside she walks over to the doors and bangs on them because she wants to go back out. I never knew how much easier life would be with a toddler once going outside was an option. Cam loves walking and running around as she pleases, going to the park, and going on bike rides. There is so much more to do to keep her entertained. Here are some instagram photos from our activities outside:

We took a walk down to the lake to admire! I love living so close to the beach.

Cameron is always walking ahead of me!

Walking in the street. Little girl, big world. (We have no sidewalks but get almost no traffic on our street)

Swingin'

Comparison from last summer! Crazy.

Grilled cheese at our favorite restaurant, Jake's on the Lake. We took a bike ride over there.

Ready for a bike ride!

The other thing that has been going on is some sickness! Yuck! Cameron has had a very mucous-y cough for over a week now. I took her to the doctor on Tuesday and she was wheezing so she was prescribed albuterol breathing treatments 4x a day. She is actually doing quite well with her treatments! At first she was very unhappy but now I just put on a movie and she sits and watches while I hold the mask over her face. It's been a couple days and the cough doesn't seem much better so we will probably end up back at the doctor. Her pediatrician is hoping it is simply acute bronchiolitis and not the beginnings of asthma. Asthma is very common in micro-preemies because of the disruption in lung development so we will see. I would be sad if Cam had astham because of prematurity but it's not the worst diagnosis in the world. Who knows whether her current lung issues are a results of prematurity or not. Either way it doesn't bother Cam! She is as happy and active as ever!

Hanging out in the waiting room for the doctor.

Meeting her new nebulizer "ClawDia"!

Getting a breathing treatment and cooperating like a big girl :)

In other news I went back to work. I am only working two days a week so I don't miss out on much time with Cameron which is good. Otherwise we are just enjoying life and the weather!