What a Difference One Year Makes

Gentry Claire - January 2013

Gentry Claire - December 2013

I can't even believe the difference that ONE year has made in this little girl. I mean, seriously, is that even the same child? The change from a baby to a toddler is pretty drastic when you look at it side by side like this.

Gentry Claire turned 18 months old on December 27, which just happens to be my birthday. We share a half-birthday - kind of neat! Here is what she's up to these days: 

- Size 18 month clothes
-Size 4 diaper

-Weight: 25 pounds, 11.5 ounces on January 3
-Height: 33 inches tall
-One nap per day, after lunch, usually for 1 - 1.5 hours
-You LOVE milk and ask for it all the time. Milk and water are all you drink.
-You are a great eater and will try anything we put in front of you. Favorites are spaghetti, chicken, broccoli, quinoa, and beans.

-You have so many teeth that I've lost count on when they are coming in. 
-You love to walk, run, and climb. Your favorite is climbing in kitchen chairs and you've fallen out a few times, but it doesn't stop you! 

-You LOVE to be outside and cry when you have to come in.
-You love coming to school everyday and rarely cry when I leave you (at school or the church nursery). 
-You like playing with your new toy kitchen and dollhouse that you got for Christmas. You like playing with animals and making animal noises. Cars and trucks are a favorite, too and you make a "rrrrrr!" noise when you drive them around.

-You repeat everything we say - or at least try to. You have started saying "night night" at bedtime, "up mama" when you want me to hold you,  "ok" when you hear us say it, and "baba" for baby. You have a ton of words right now that I can't even remember them all. 
-Pinky Poodle is still your favorite lovey and you can't sleep without him. 
-You "take roll" at dinner each night (we are staying with my parents right now) and you go around the table and say, "Gigi, Paw, Dada, Mama, Scou (for Scout, our dog)." It's really funny. 

-You still use sign language a lot when you want "more" or "milk" even though you can say those words clearly. 

-You had fun at Christmas and can now point out "ights!" (lights), "tee!" (tree), and "hohoho" (when you see a Santa face.

-You are feisty and get upset quickly when you don't get your way. You lay flat on the floor with your face down and cry. It's funny, but we try not to laugh in front of you. 

-You got a pretend jar of salsa in your dish set for Christmas and I told you, "oooh, that's my favorite." Now everytime you get it out you run to me with the jar in hand and say, "mama! mama!" It's neat to see you associate two things. 

GC at 15 Months or "Trying Not to Forget These Days"

Gentry Claire turned 15 months old on September 27. What? 15 months? How can that be? Everyone says that the time goes by fast with a little one and they aren't kidding. It REALLY flies by. I can't believe that we have had this little girl in our lives for over a year, but I am so very thankful. I can't really remember what life was like before her!

Here are some stats and facts about our girl:

- Weight: 23 lbs. 11 oz. (82nd percentile)
- Height: 30 3/4 inches (58th Percentile)
- You have grown 3 inches in 3 months - crazy!
- You had 3 immunizations plus a flu shot at your appointment and cried for maybe 15 seconds
- You are wearing some 12 month, but mostly 18 month clothes now
- You take one nap each day, usually 1.5-2 hours
- You LOVE to eat most anything. Favorites are still bread, pasta, cheese, and green beans
- You only drink milk and water
- You have 2 molars that are coming in
- You love to walk and run, you also try to hop and can march, but only lift one leg up in the air - it's pretty funny
- You like to give "high fives" and "fist bumps" (Aunt Molly taught you those)
- You don't cry at school drop off, but do when I drop you off in SS, but settle quickly
- You like to climb, especially on your little table and in and out of your pink chair
- You love to be outside sliding, blowing bubbles, riding in your car, or just running around
- You are talking up a storm and babble a lot, though we don't know what you're saying
- Words you say: NO!, mama, dada, more, something that sounds like "Scout," bubble, bath, nana for banana, go, book, milk, wawa for water
- You cried out during the night the other night and we both clearly heard you say, "Dada!" through the monitor
- You know the signs for milk, more, apple, red, yellow, eat, water, cracker, cheese (I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting)
- You like to get ALL of your toys out of the cabinets and then kind of wander from one thing to the next
- You like looking at books and singing. After we finish a song you say, "Yay!!"
- You throw your arms in the air when we say "Touchdown!"
- You are becoming more independent and definitely let us know when you don't like something
- "No." is your answer to anything that sounds like a question
- You get up around 6:45 during the week, but usually sleep until 7-7:30 on weekends
- Your bedtime is around 7:30 each night

There are other things I'm sure I'm forgetting. It's hard to remember everything you say and do! You are a VERY busy girl and keep us on our toes, but we love it!

Our girl in her favorite chair with her favorite lovey, "Pinky Poodle"