Communication and Elimination

In other Orlaith news, she is growing leaps and bounds in the communication department. In the last 2 weeks, her vocabulary has exploded. She is starting to repeat new words like crazy. I have been trying to keep count, and I think we are up to 50-60 words now. Some of her newest words include alligator, hot dog, bow, bubbles, hurry, yay, eat, agua (Spanish for water) and Elmo! In addition to that, she also has around 50 ASL signs.

She has also been learning colors. Right now her favorite is purple, with yellow as a close second. We have been working on her ABC’s too. She has had the tune down for 3-4 months, but now she can say a lot of the letters. Her ABC’s go something like this “A, B, C, D… L, M, N, O, P”. It is pretty cute! We are trying to fill in the blanks. She will get it when she is ready!

We have been pre-training for the potty since she was 15 months. The pre-training consists of several tactics to get her familiar and comfortable with the potty. Luckily, we use an in-home daycare so her pre-training is being reinforced while she is there. If we were in a regular daycare, she wouldn’t be in the right class for potty training. Orlaith took to the potty the first time we put her on and she peed! Since then we try to put her on the potty at least 6 times a day. We also read potty books and watch a potty video. I know a lot of parents do not let their kiddos watch TV. We didn’t either, but made an exception for potty learning. It turned out to be a big help. I have taken the last week of June off of work, so we can have our Potty Party day and officially potty train. Orlaith will be 18 months old, and more than ready by then. This link outlines the basic method we are using.

It has kind of been freaking me out to think that I have less than 2 weeks left of cloth diapering. I know it is a logical next step for us, but I will miss the cloth diapers I have grown to love. I think a lot of cloth diapering mamas can relate to my feelings. If not, I promise I am not crazy for missing diapers! I also know that this is the last piece of being a baby that Orlaith still has, and it is about to be gone. It is hard to face the facts that my “baby” is not really a baby anymore. Sigh. Here goes nothing!

The Signs of the Times

Orlaith is growing by leaps and bounds. Her vocabulary and understanding of the world around her amaze me. She is up to about 26 words and 29 signs! Some of those words overlap, but a lot of the signs are things she cannot say yet. I cannot explain how easy it has made things! We are able to communicate most of her needs, and in turn she typically remains a sweet, calm baby! We start the second level sign class later this month. I can’t wait to learn more things to teach her!

Orlaith is developing a very outgoing personality, just like her Daddy. She loves saying “Hi” and “Bye” to anyone passing by, in restaurants, the grocery store, Target, you get the idea! And if the lucky person she chooses to greet doesn’t respond, LOOK OUT! She gets very upset, and will scream and squeal to try and get their attention. This tactic usually works to get her the attention she wants. It is very funny!

Here are some other things she has been doing lately:
Sneaking up on Mommy and Daddy – she’s not very quiet about it yet, but we still act surprised!
Acting like she is sleeping – She will close her eyes and pretend to snore
Walking with her eyes shut or a blanket over her head – I am not sure what this is about but it’s funny!
Climbing… on everything…!
Putting any kind of bag over her arm, and telling us “Bye” and waving – She is trying to mimic me picking up my purse or the diaper bag.
Singing – She doesn’t really know all of the words, but she is dead on with the tune! Her faves at the moment are ABC’s, Twinkle Little Star and The Farmer in the Dell. She also tries to sign her ABC’s when she is singing the tune.
Kicking and throwing her ball – Daddy can’t wait to sign her up for soccer
Dancing to anything with a beat – I play music while she plays and she will stop and get her groove on whenever the mood strikes her. She has a great booty bounce, and likes to drop it like it’s hot! Mommy can’t wait to get her into dance class!
She is obsessed with babies – There is a new baby in daycare, and now everything is “baby” this and “baby” that. She can recognize a picture of a baby, and she gets so excited to see one! She even loves on her baby dolls, rocks them, kisses them and pats them on the back. So sweet!
Animals – she loves cats and dogs! We have cats, and her in-home daycare has a dog. She is actually very gentle with them, and one of our cats loves to play with her! She also looks out of our living room window saying “ruff, ruff” when she hears the dogs bark next door… which is A LOT… ahem.
Uh uh – Her new favorite answer to every question you ask! Even if she wants something, she will tell you “uh uh”.
Eating with a fork – if she can stab it with a fork, she can feed herself! We are still working on the spoon, because she can’t quite get the hang of keeping it right side up so she doesn’t spill. We still haven’t mastered a straw yet. In time, in time!

We had a bad string of ear infections that lasted from November until last week. We even visited the ENT to talk about tubes. At the time she had 4 ear infections (1 double and 3 in her right ear), and was on the verge of a 5th. The ENT did recommend tubes, but we decided to wait a bit and see what happened. They also did a hearing test, and there was no major issue there. She had trouble hearing very low tones, but that was due to the fluid in her ears. She can hear just fine, and there is no delay in her language development at all. She did end up getting that 5th ear infection, but she cleared it on her own WITHOUT antibiotics. This was a great sign! Brian, the pediatrician and I decided to wait and see if she would get one more before deciding on tubes. Our hopes are that she can make it to the Fall without another one.  She might get one or two more infections in the Fall before she turns 2, but then the occurrence of ear infections drops drastically. So keep your fingers and toes crossed for no more ear infections! I do not want my baby girl to have surgery, no matter how safe and common the procedure is!