Alma turned 16 months yesterday!
RAWR!
This past month was kind of rough – lots of teething and grumpiness, and not a lot of sleeping. But the best part about toddlerhood (or probably any stage of childhood) is that things change quickly and often. Things are slightly improving in the sleep department this week, so I’m hopeful that we are over the worst of it (for now!).
Sleep
We fell off the sleep training wagon this month. Or Alma threw us off, I don’t know. Sleep was not great. About every other night, Alma would wake during the night, screaming. I tried doing progressive checks, like we did when we first sleep trained her, but the screaming just continued. It was definitely a ‘something’s-wrong-i-need-you’ cry. So I picked her up, nursed her, sometimes took in her bed with us if that wasn’t enough. She rarely would fall asleep in our bed though, so we’d just snuggle for awhile, and then I’d take her back to her crib. She’d cry for a few minutes, but not the frantic cry from before, and then fall asleep on her own.
Also, she started getting up painfully early again. 5-5:30am. Sometimes earlier! Naps were averaging 1.5 hours, too – much less than usual.
The past three or so nights/mornings have been better. Mostly sleeping through the night, or a short night waking where she gets herself back to sleep. Wake-ups have been right around 6am. Still early, but manageable. Naps have still been hit or miss this week – a couple days of 2+ hour ones, then she’ll have 1.5 hour nap day.
One thing I’ve been trying is getting her outside more, like I mentioned in my ‘june goals‘ post. I don’t know if I can credit that to the sleeping progress, but I’m certainly going to keep it up. It helps that the weather has taken a turn for the gorgeous.
we have so many parks and natural areas for alma to roam free and (hopefully) wear herself out!
Overall, though, she is still sleeping slightly less than she has been (and less than the recommended hours for her age). So I’m a little worried about that. She’s averaging 12-13 hours total for nap and night time, whereas before it was 13-14. I’m doing all I know to help her get sleep, though, so I’m trying not to get worked up about it.
Eating
Not much to report here. I’d say Alma is a pretty typical toddler-eater. Likes things one day, refuses them the next (and the next, and the next). Eats pretty lightly, but it seems to be enough for her. We’re still waiting on her top first molars to fully emerge (one side is through on each, but those teeth are big!) and then I expect we’ll see some more interest in trying different textures. For now, she still loves pouches the best! If all else fails, she will suck down a pouch or two and call it a meal.
or sometimes a bowl of peanut butter is lunch around here
She has been a very demanding nurser this month. Also due to teething, I suspect. A lot of the time, I think it’s just for comfort, because she doesn’t try very hard to get milk once she’s latched on. But, that’s fine with me – that is a valid part of breastfeeding! And I know our days are numbered, so I’m not pushing her to stop. Sometimes, when she asks a little too often for my liking, I take her out for a walk around the block, and she forgets all about it for a little bit.
I don’t even keep track of how often she nurses anymore – do I count the times she doesn’t even get a let-down, etc? Somewhere between 6 and 10, probably.
Development
Alma’s climbing abilities have reached new heights, literally. She’s been known to get on top of the dining table a time or two.
She is picking up new words left and right, though you have to be around her a lot to understand most of them 
But we know what she’s saying (most of the time) and it’s so fun to have “conversations” with her! I can’t wait until she can tell me more of what’s going on in her little mind.
Alma got five new teeth in this month! All of her first molars are poking through, and her top eye-teeth (canines). Her bottom molars are almost all the way through, but the tops have a little more to go. So the total is 14. Crazy, because two months ago, she only had 7!
We are still struggling with Alma pulling other kid’s hair. It’s gotten to the point where I’m just not taking her to things like story-time at the library, or indoor play parks because I’m constantly shadowing her, trying to intercept her grabby hands. And most of the time I do, but when I don’t, it’s mortifying. When she grabs their hair, it’s so hard to pry her fingers off without pulling more hair.
I don’t know what else to do, except wait it out. We tell her to give gentle touches (which we practice a lot at home, and she understands what that means). We sign “hurt”, and show her the face of the child (who is most likely crying), and tell her that they’re sad. I also take her away from whatever activity she’s was doing. Nothing seems to be working so far.
She is starting to get the hang of puzzles and shape sorters. She gets frustrated with them after awhile, but she seems intent on figuring them out.
We always take a walk around the block everyday, and I’m so impressed that she’s still great about holding my hand. Even if I need to let go for a second, she just stops and holds her hand out, waiting for me. I’m sure we will hit the ‘escape’ stage soon enough, but for now, we are really enjoying our strolls!
Her favorite toys by far are her two babies. She loves to snuggle them and carry them around with her. They often have to ride along in the stroller or car, too.
snuggles!
I took her to see her pediatrician yesterday for a little rash on her arm (turns out it is eczema) and she weighed in at 22 pounds 1 ounce. Still hanging out around the 55th percentile for weight.
Alma’s personality is constantly sprouting, and I love it! She is such a funny girl. Here’s a few shots of her silliness:
perfect place for a stacking ring
hiding the corner – from what? i don’t know. (tippy toes!)
who needs utensils?
loves to put clothes on her head
and play in baskets
and boxes
Schedule
Alma’s schedule has been all over the place, but this is our general routine:
- 6:00am: wakeup, nurse (maybe a little earlier)
- 6:30am: breakfast, then play while Andrew & I trade off getting ready for the day
- 8:30/9am: nurse, then head out for swimming/park/neighborhood walk/playdate (has snack while we’re out)
sand box play @ cafe au play
- 11:00am: back home, light lunch
- 11:30/12pm: nurse, down for nap
- 1:30-3pm: wake up (wide range, her naps have been unpredictable)
- 2pmish (or whenever she wakes up): nurse, play around the house
- 3:00/3:30pm: park/farmer’s market/sensory table play on patio/neighborhood walk (snack while we’re out)
sensory table water play
- 5:00pm: nurse, play at home (usually rowdy play & reading books with daddy)
- 6:00pm: family dinner, followed by bath every other night
- 7:00pm: start bedtime routine
- 7:30pm: goal to be asleep! (sometimes a bit later, usually not any earlier)
Posts
A quiet month:
Happy 16 months, Alma!