A Thin Red Line: Mom: Toddler Stats at 19 Months

Susan is officially closer to 2 than she is 1. And once she reaches 2, I will probably update her stats a little less often (like maybe every three months). She is having a huge developmental spurt, both in terms of her fine motor skills and her gross motor skills. It is so amazing to watch this transformation. I mean, we see her every day and even we can tell just how much she has changed from the previous week. So we can imagine what it must be like for family members who only see her every few weeks.

We are really enjoying Fall around here. It used to be my third favorite season (with winter in dead last) but now I would have to say that it is tied with spring for number 2. Duke had its first Bye weekend at the beginning of the month so we enjoyed a fun family weekend and rode on the Pumpkin Patch Express at the Museum. This Sunday, we are taking Susan to the State Fair with Uncle Philip and his main squeeze, Meagan. And then the Halloween festivities will begin. The Cooks are coming, my parents will be here, and so will Philip and Meagan. Susan will have quite the posse accompanying her at the 5.5 houses she will be trick or treating at. After Halloween, Chris and I will get to enjoy THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS of Susan-free fun while she is off having a blast in Tupelo with my parents. And let's face it - Thanksgiving and Christmas are really right around the corner. And you know I am already planning for them! We have lots of fun planned for the Cook family so stay tuned.

Weight: Probably around 31 pounds. She had a little tummy bug two weeks ago that really affected her appetite so I don't think she has gained any this month.

Height: Just by looking at her, we can tell she has gotten taller so I would say somewhere around 35.5 inches? She does not really fit on the changing table anymore but oh well.

Teeth: 18! That's right folks - our 19 month old only has two more teeth to go. And our biggest hope is that they are here by Christmas. Or at the very least her second birthday so that we can put all of this behind us. Because yes, these molars take FOREVER to erupt and are more painful then the rest of them combined!

Clothing Size: 2T

Shoe Size: 7

Sleeping: Oh how I miss sleep. These molars must be really painful. And they look painful. I mean, everyone just take a second and feel your own molars. Now imagine those big ol teeth erupting into your gums. Would you be able to sleep after the Advil wears off? So some mornings (last week) our little one was waking up very unhappy at the crack crack of dawn, aka between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Every. single. morning. Thankfully, she would also go back to sleep after a little breakfast and advil around 7 or 7:30. But man, when she slept until 5:30 a.m. yesterday and today, Chris and I were doing the happy dance. Nothing like waking up at 4 a.m. to let you appreciate 5:30 a.m.

Diaper Size: 6

Favorite Toys: Books are still number one. We go to the library every couple of weeks and get a new set and she loves it. She also loves her Mega Blocks (mostly she loves to take the bag and dump all the blocks out). She loves to "col col" (color) upstairs in the Play Room where her table and chairs are. And That Damn Truck has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity lately as she loves to ride it (scoot around) downstairs on it.

Likes: She likes to climb stairs whenever she has the opportunity, which is not a lot at our house. We have a huge staircase that is pretty steep so we have gates at the top and bottom. But she loves to climb them at my parents or outside on our back deck. This is lovingly referred to as "stair duty" which got its name when I would climb the stairs at my grandparents house back in the day. She also loves to go to our neighborhood park and swing, slide down the slide and climb the various ladders. She likes to request songs now, so sometimes she will say "Row Row song" and start dancing or if you are singing a song she doesn't want to hear, she will say "No Star song."

Dislikes: Susan does not like to leave the park. She also does not like when we have to body block her from doing some dangerous activity, which is predominately sneaking off to climb into her booster seat at the kitchen table. Many a fit and tantrum have been thrown over that but the newness seems to have worn off. Either that, or the firmly worded message from her parents has finally sunk in.

Milestones: She is saying complete sentences and loves to repeat every thing we say. She seems to learn a new word every day. She can count, which is what we taught her to help her be patient while she waited in her booster seat the 2.5 seconds for us to bring her food to her. Her current counting sequence is "2, 3, 5." She is still learning new animal sounds. The cow says moo, the sheep says baa, the lion says roar, the snake says sssss, the duck says quack quack, the horse says neigh and this weekend, she learned what a turkey is and that the turkey says gobble gobble ("gah gah"). She is understanding concepts. For example, she will walk into the dark bathroom and say "dark" and then point to the light switch and say "On."

We have also been three weeks "incident free." That means she isn't biting anymore! We are so relieved. I guess it could still happen again but it is a relief to pick her up and not have to hear about any incidents.

Favorite Memory This Month: The Pumpkin Patch Express. We all love the Museum of Life and Science in Durham and have taken full advantage of our membership. Susan loves to ride the Choo Choo, walk the Dinosaur Trail to see all the "Ninos" (Dinos), and she really loves the Farmyard. The Museum also has special seasonal events like the Pumpkin Patch Express in October and Santa Train in December. Members get to buy their tickets early. We picked the first weekend in October because that was Duke's Bye weekend. We have been reading about Pumpkins and Halloween with Susan since mid-September. She loves Five Little Pumpkins, Happy Pumpkin Day Mouse, Clifford's First Halloween and Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch. She points to all the "Pumpkas" and can even point and say "Ghost" when we read Five Little Pumpkins. So she knew exactly what the pumpkins were as the train stopped at the pumpkin patch. She was a little overwhelmed but we picked out a pumpkin and decorated it with stickers. Then we played games. Susan loved playing the ring toss with the spider. We even got temporary tattoos. It was a really fun day and I can't wait to do Santa Train in December.