Amazon Signs

Hi Shira,

First the stats. You're just over 17 months old. You weigh about 27 pounds, you have 16 teeth. You are 32½ inches tall and have grown 2½ inches since November which is why we're having to put things higher and higher to keep them out of your reach. You just had a check up at the doctor and you are in the 95th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. You're a big girl. We had a measuring on your height chart recently and I noticed that you're quite a bit taller than Sidra was at the same age.

Your mother is worried that you haven't articulated too many words yet. I keep telling her that once you start the new words will come in a rush. You are very good at many other nuances of communication (tone, body language, signing) I am sure that the oral part will fall into place without difficulty.

You've always been your momma's girl. You really want her attention most of the time. It's her departures that cause your meltdowns and her you want when you're needing some holding or comforting. However, when I was home for the whole week on spring break I did break that spell a little bit. You were more willing to be comforted by me or hang out with me instead of your mom the last few days of the vacation. It was, mind you, only a slight thaw in the ice.

You do look up to your sister, too. You adore her and while you don't watch her every move so much anymore you certainly aspire to be like her. You guys do some things together that are fun to watch. You sort of grab Sidra's hips and steer her around or you'll push her while she's on the Arieal scooter. I haven't yet really been able to catch it on video because of the spontaneity but it's clearly a something you both enjoy.

During spring break which was almost a month ago now, we successfully ditched your binky in a cold turkey intervention. It was pretty easy and only took about 2 days to complete. However, since phasing out the binky there have been some times when you've been yelling that i'm sure you would have been quieted by the pacifier. Now the only fail safe method we have of calming you down is turning on a 'Signing Time' episode. Remarkably, that has worked every time. I almost wish you would do a thumb suck or something sometimes to sooth yourself. I know you would respond to it because occasionally when I hold you and you are wailing you will sort of nibble on me. I don't allow you to continue but it makes me believe an oral soother would work for you.

You like swimming. You are still very dependent on an assistant when you are in the pool but you like the water and don't mind getting your head under. You don't care too much for your water wings, though. I don't know if it's the discomfort on your arms or just a little too much freedom that bothers you but you prefer being held when we're in deep water and standing on your own on the stairs. You haven't quite figured out why the bottom drops out from under you when you step off a stair, though. The last time we were at Kahneetah you were able to stand up in the shallowest part of the pool and you really liked that. We'll need to go back soon.






Love, Aba