Livvie at 18 Months

Livvie turned 18 months on September 7. So I'm a little late on this post.

She is a busy bee these days, always roaming, checking things out, seeing what Ben is up to.

LOVES: Her paci, her dollies, "reading" books, playing peek-a-boo, dancing (I use that term loosely), stacking toys, having "who can scream the loudest" contests with Ben, riding in her stroller, shoes.

HATES: Sitting in her high chair for more than 10 minutes, being told no, being taken out of the bath. She is pretty easy going. Crazy, but easy going, if that makes sense.



STATS: 23 pounds and 31.5 inches (about 50% for both), size 3 diapers (though we're using what we have left and then moving up to size 4), 12-18 month clothes (but she can still wear 12 month pants because her legs are short), size 4.5 shoe (moving up to size 5 for her fall gym shoes)

She's doing great in every area, except I worry a bit about her speech. She says very few actual words. Yes, no, dog, whoa, wow, what's that. She should be saying around 20 words. But then during her appointment, the doc made a star for her out of tongue depressors, and she said something and he said "she said star." Hmm, it didn't sound like that to me. I told him my mom is always telling me that she says way more words than we give her credit for. Daycare says she uses a few more words too. But she doesn't say mama at all. Which is just weird to me for an 18 month old. She knows I'm mama. She just won't use the word. And she never mimics words. She does mimic sounds, mostly Ben's.

I am debating getting her speech evaluated. Part of me thinks Liv has hit every milestone a little late, and this is just another example. And part of me thinks that I might as well get her checked out to be safe. I'm giving it a few months. Her doc said by 2 she should be saying 100 words and two words sentences. He says if we don't see her improving in the next few months, we should get it checked out. So we'll give it a while longer, and reevaluate.



Meanwhile, though she is a woman of few words, her comprehension is phenomenal. She understands everything you say to her. And she does communicate well, just not with words so much.

But one thing is for sure--she is as cute as a button and as sweet as pie. She is always smiling, laughing, and happy (except when she is throwing a fit, but those are very short-lived).