Lana turned 18 months old a few weeks ago while we were in Hawaii, but we didn’t have her well check until last week. As the doctor said, it was her last baby appointment (!!). So here are the official stats:
- Height: 33″ (85%)
- Weight: 24 lbs. 10 oz. (75%)
- Head: don’t know the measurement, but it was 70%
We also found out she has a heart murmur, so she has an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist this week to get that checked out further. Fun, eh? Her pediatrician said they are extremely common and it’s probably nothing at all to worry about, but she’s now heard it since her 12 month checkup so wants to know what exactly is causing it.
She said it’s probably one of two things: either a functioning murmur, where it’s simply an extra sound she hears in there, or a VSD (ventricular septal defect), which is a (hopefully) tiny hole in the wall between the heart’s chambers that is allowing some blood to move between the chambers irregularly and causing that extra sound. If it is a small VSD, they generally close naturally by age 2-3. Of course I hear “something’s wrong with her heart” and instantly want to freak out, but I’m just assuming it’s no cause for alarm until I know certainly otherwise.
But other than that, this kid is getting crazier and more amusing every day. Her big personality just keeps growing right along with her little body, and her vocabulary is now pretty impressive. I’m not going to try to list every word she knows in the interest of saving space, but she can basically get whatever point she’s trying to make across fairly well. Usually with a little screaming involved, but c’est la vie with this one.
Most of her words are very recognizable, and she still signs “more”, “please”, “all done”, and “milk” most of the time as well. Her laugh is infectious, and I love when she and Della play together and Della really gets her on a roll. It usually involves Della making her stuffed green monkey “Nigh-Night” dance or flip or somehow fly through the air. She also tells knock-knock jokes. You’ll have to ask her the one about the orange next time you see her.
She loves to color, read her books, watch Team Umizoomi on our tablets with Della (yes, we’ve caved to the age of technology and allow our toddlers to watch shows via computer. they’re good shows, though, so i don’t mind when they’re actually learning lessons), dance around to music, run around outside, blow bubbles, and just play in general. Many days I’ll put on music and just let the two of them play in the living room when I need to get stuff done, and it’s wonderful.
She climbs, she runs, she crawls around pretending to be a puppy dog, and we discovered in Hawaii that she can practically swim. The first day I had a couple little inflatable sit-in rafts for her, and by the end of that afternoon she wanted nothing to do with them. She wanted to dive right into the “deep” water with Della. So I got her a pair of inflatable arm floaties, and the rafts were history. She plowed off the shallow steps into the rest of the pool with the confidence of someone who’d been in the water for decades. I was blown away, especially since Della still doesn’t even want to put her face in or jump off the side. Lana floated, knew how to kick her legs and paddle with her arms, flopped off the side into whoever’s arms awaited her, and didn’t even flinch when she inevitably dunked herself under a number of times. It was awesome. I said had there been a diving board, she’d have lined up to fly off that thing, too.
Her sleep has been iffy lately, but I discovered that an 18 month sleep regression is nothing surprising or cause for worry. It started a few weeks ago, right around the time both the girls got sick before our dreadful flight to Arizona. Lana had started crying at bedtime, and it would take numerous tries to even get her in her crib without a screaming fit. Then she began waking during the night, sometimes a handful of times, when normally this kid sleeps for a solid 12 hours no problem. Fortunately the wakeful nights have started subsiding a little, but they still suck. And with the two of them sharing a room, I can’t just let her cry herself back to sleep, because Della needs to get sleep, too. So fingers crossed that her night-night will all go back to normal soon.
I think that’s about it. She’s definitely a charmer, this one, especially when she makes her goofy little faces at you and wants to give you a nose-rubbing “ug-a-mug-a”. But don’t cross her, or else you’ll have one helluva temper tantrum on your hands. Fortunately Mama doesn’t give in to those. Sorry, my dear, I’m much bigger and smarter than you. A crying, noodle-boned 18 month old isn’t going to outplay me.
Man, do I love this silly little bean!
I don’t have a comparison photo this time, but here is Della’s 18 month post if you’d like to compare entries.