PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: Height: 34 in. | Weight: 27 lbs. | Head Circumference: 19.25 in.
Just as I suspected, she sprouted a few more teeth this month so she now has 16 teeth (3 of which have broken the skin and are still growing). Brushing her teeth was a bit of a struggle this month (due to Terrible Two’s I’m sure), but she is now totally on board with me. Let’s recap the progression of what happened:
– At first, I would brush her teeth, then let her practice. That worked for a couple months.
– Then, I had to mix it up and buy her new brushes (with different characters on it so we could rotate them). That worked for like a month.
– Then, I bought her a new flavor of toothpaste. That worked for a couple weeks until she squeezed too much of Thomas the Train out. Darn.
– Then, I tried letting her brush, then mommy would try and so forth. I even tried brushing her teeth with 2 brushes at the same time, which made her laugh. I would make ridiculous faces and noises to get her to open her mouth. That worked for about a month.
– And the final straw was that one (or two) times I had to pin her down on my bed and brush her teeth. She didn’t like that at all. So, now when she puts up a little fight, I remind her that we can go lay on the bed and she promptly says “no.” Haha
SCHEDULE: Her eating and sleeping schedule is still the same, but it’s a bit of a struggle to get her to drink her milk. She averages about 15 oz a day, BUT on the days I notice she’s drinking less, I offer her more dairy in other areas (like cheese or yogurt which she would never pass up). The doctor said it’s totally normal, but to try and get her to drink at least 16 oz a day until she’s 2. Again, I think her saying “no” to milk is a way to branch out on her independence. I would love to get her on a smoothie once a day so I can sneak in her milk that way. Last week, she was a bit of a diva, but we will go ahead and blame the sleep regression for that. She was SUPER needy and made me sleep in her room for a couple days (for naptime and bedtime). It was brutal.
EATING: She never stops eating, and that’s the way I like it 🙂 She started trying new foods and has enjoyed testing out new flavors. She LOVES the lentil soup from a local spot we frequently visit (Phoenicia’s Deli) and this morning I let her try toast with some cream cheese and she gobbled it up. Still loves her fruit and veggies and I’ll occasionally treat her with ice cream here and there.
LANGUAGE: She knows her shapes and colors (even though she will tell you everything is purple). When I “tested” her while we were coloring, she pointed to every correct color I asked her 🙂 As for her vocabulary, I had an on-going list of words she was saying, but I have lost count. It’s gotta be almost 200 words from both languages. She is talking…a lot…and I am hearing more and more 3-word phrases. She mixes her Vietnamese and English when she talks and I think it’s the cutest thing. I was lucky enough to FINALLY catch her on video counting 1-10 in Vietnamese, but I haven’t had any luck with the English version. (You can check out the video on my Instagram.) She knows when I’m recording her and will run away. My favorite phrases she’s learned this month are “I love you” and “hold me.” I’ve been teaching her for weeks to say ‘I love you’ but she would only say ‘I youuuu,” but she surprised me one day after one of our walks. Highlight of my day! And as for the ‘hold me,’ I think she just picked it up from our talks.
POTTY TRAINING: I still haven’t fully started yet, but we have had more success this month with it. I think last month she only went twice; this month, she went 5-6 times.
WHAT’S NEXT: I am teaching her to count with objects, learn the ABC’s (she only knows A-D), have more socializing time, and keep the tantrums to a minimum (haha)
She is growing up so fast. What a beautiful girl.
Thank, MJ!
She is adorable!!! I can’t believe she’s already 19 months!
Yes, time really flies.
Love the updates! Gives me a heads up on my little guy. She has the cutest smile, Linh!
Thank you Annie!
She is so adorable! That’s so great that she’s learning Vietnamese and English at the same time!
XxMO
madame-ostrich.com
It’s so great what she picks up. They are like sponges at this age.
she is SOOOOOOO cute! And i love that she is bilengal already. I have been practicing spanish with G a lot and she has started saying more and more words, but none in Spanish. I haven’t been as diligent I suppose.
also can i just say that these monthly posts help me SOOO much. you are such a great mother and i love that you are truly taking pride in teaching marli and watching her learn and grow. i also love that marli is 4 months ahead of georgia so i can just copy what u do! haha. way to go mama. you are amazing!
Anything to help and I totally stalk mommy bloggers who have older toddlers than Marli. It’s always nice to hear from others moms about their experiences 🙂