Emilia's 18 Month Update!

It has been a long time since I did an Emilia update! You can read her last one (at 12 months) here, where I promised to do another at 18 months so here it is! I can't believe she's 1 and 1/2 already! 

Routine: Emilia's routine has changed quite a lot since the last update as she now takes her naps after lunch instead of before. I found that as she grew older and was able to stay awake for longer, this just suited our whole family's routine better. She still wakes up about 9am, sometimes a little before then - in which case she plays by herself in her cot until I come in and get her at 9. She eats breakfast at 10am and lunch at 2pm. Her nap time is now from 3-5pm. I'm lucky that she still seems to want/need to sleep at least 2 hours a day (sometimes a little more!) which has been amazing in this late stage of pregnancy being that I can take a nap then too! Dinner is usually around 7-8pm and then bedtime is 9pm.

Sleeping: As I mentioned above Emilia is still taking 2 hour naps in the afternoon. She takes this nap in the same place she goes to sleep at night - in her cot in her own room with the door closed. We still use the AngelCare monitor but not the sensor mat. Her bedtime routine hasn't changed, except for the fact that obviously she's not breastfeeding anymore! I think she stopped a little after 12 months...she dropped her bedtime feed surprisingly easily and I just replaced it with a bedtime story. She always gets a bath after dinner, then lotion & pj's, storytime with Mommy and her dad rocks her for a little bit before putting her down. (I used to do this but can't anymore because of my back :( ) 

Eating: As she's gotten older, I've noticed Emilia has definitely become pickier about food. It doesn't bother me too much as she always drinks lots of milk throughout the day but sometimes it can get a little frustrating. I've found that she eats a lot better when she gets 3 square meals rather than having snacks in between (she's not a snacky toddler) and her appetite is quite small so I'd rather she didn't get full up on snacks! She normally eats porridge with whole milk & 1/2 banana for breakfast with orange juice, a little sandwich (usually ham & cheese) for lunch followed by a yoghurt/maybe some fruit and then eats whatever we're having for dinner (her favourite thing is pasta though!) followed by fruit like grapes/apple/raisins and maybe another yoghurt. She does get treats now & then but it depends on her mood - sometimes she doesn't want any! She drinks whole milk with lunch & dinner and after her nap. I've noticed her favourite foods are red grapes, raisins, sweetcorn, pasta, peas, banana and ham & cheese toasties! She also likes those Rice Krispies Shapes but I give them to her more as a treat because they're quite sugary.

Sizes: Emilia is wearing 18-24 month and some 24 month clothing and size 5 nappies (Pampers Active Fit). I just swapped out her wardrobe and got so emotional...she's so big now!

Milestones

• The biggest milestone I can think of is her speech/vocabulary. The amount of words she comes out with on a daily basis is amazing! I think a lot of this has to do with her love of books & reading. I've always read to her since she was a tiny baby and she learns so many words that way!

• She can recognise people she knows from pictures and photographs, like my mom & her aunties. She will also relate people in her life to certain experiences...for example we ate a restaurant about a week ago where we had only ever been with my mom before. All of a sudden she started saying "Oma...Oma" even though my mom wasn't there. Then she said "Erika" who had been with us for lunch that time too!  

• I mentioned in my last update that Emilia had started walking. Since then she has become so confident on her feet and races around everywhere! She loves going for walks and picking up sticks/flowers, pointing out birds/doggies etc. It's nice to be able to do more outside activities with her now that the weather is getting better! 

Personality: One of the most interesting things I've seen in Emilia's development has been her personality. As a baby she was always very smiley, content and happy which she thankfully never lost as a toddler. But now that she's older I can see much more of a personality forming...she is pretty feisty sometimes, will perform on cue if she knows she's in the centre of attention, she is very confident and not afraid of strangers or different situations...yet at the same time she is also very kind, loving, affectionate and gentle - especially towards animals, other children and babies (woo hoo!). I'm really curious to see how she develops as a big sister and I know this month has a lot of changes in store for her! (Hopefully positive ones!)

That's all I could think of for now - feel free to ask me any questions below! And don't forget to watch our 18 month update video we filmed together here!

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xoxo

Anna