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Friday night, for the first time since she was born, I didn’t nurse Anna before bed. At 19 months it was time to be done. She probably would have kept going if I had been willing, but I was ready to be done. As I read her a story and rocked her for a bit before putting her in her crib I found myself feeling a bit sad. Even though I was ready to be done it felt like the last piece of her babyhood slipping away.
The process to get to Friday night when we were officially done breast feeding started about a month ago. Slowly Anna had been dropping nursing sessions on her own since she turned 1. We were down to the last 3, the hardest ones in my experience, for them to give up. The first one we worked on was her before nap nursing session. It was by far the toughest, and although she no longer asks to nurse before nap time it is still a struggle to get her to fall asleep. A few days after we ended to before nap nursing she decided to give up the first thing in the morning session on her own. It was nice not to have to battle her on that one.
Once we were down to just the before bed session I took a break for a couple of weeks from the weaning process and let her adjust to the new normal. I knew on Thursday it was the last time I would nurse her. I had picked Friday because I figured if it was a real challenge to get her to go to sleep it would be easier when we didn’t have to get up early for anything the next day. Surprisingly, she was fine with it. We read a story and then snuggled and rocked in the rocking chair for a bit. She was out within minutes of me putting her in her crib. And, she has continued to do well every night since.
I am proud of myself for making it another 19 months. Breastfeeding this time around was a much easier than last time as it didn’t come with any of the early struggles I experienced with Maya. It wasn’t challenge free but the challenges that did come up were easy to get through thanks to the 19 months experience I had nursing Maya. I’ll miss my quiet time with Anna all snuggled into me that nursing guaranteed daily. Although, Anna loves to snuggle so I’m sure there will be no lack of snuggle time with her.
Anna’s favorite activities are those that require quiet concentration. From birth her personality has been that of quiet observer. As I watch her take in the world I can almost see the sponge within her absorbing and expanding. She is happiest reading books, coloring or building with her duplo blocks. She will concentrate for great lengths of time on these activities, taking pride in her work and gladly showing off what she has created with a very proclamation of “Look!!” as she holds up her creation for all to see.
So, yesterday, since Maya had the day off school and I was trying to come up with an extra fun activity for us to do I decided to let both girls paint. Painting has always been one of Maya’s favorite things to do, but, up until now I had not let Anna in on the fun. I taped together several pages from the big coloring pad Anna got for Christmas and I let her have at it (knowing a great mess was likely).
From the first stroke Anna was in heaven!
The look on her face was priceless. She was so proud of herself 
Part way into our painting project she realized that Maya’s pictures were much more colorful than hers and started to ask for more colors. She asked for “boo” and “low” (blue and yellow). Eventually her little paint tray was filled with every color of the rainbow and she was delighted!
I’d say painting is likely going to be a new favorite activity for my budding little Picasso It won’t be long now before crayons no longer cut it and she is asking for paints whenever the creativity bug bits.
Anna sure comes by this love of colorful creation honestly, her big sister is quite the little artist herself.
Happy 1/2 Birthday Miss Anna B!
Wow, 18 months already! Time flies when you are having barrels of fun.
It is crazy to think we are already halfway through Anna’s second year. I mean wasn’t her birthday just yesterday! Every day she is more toddler and less baby. As she sits and talks to me in her own little way of half real words half baby speak I am in awe of how quickly time is rushing by. But, no matter how big she is getting (in her own tiny peanut way) she isn’t too big for snuggles. And, boy, does she love to snuggle. Where is that pause button?
More to come later this week on her 18 month stats and what she is up to these days once she has her well child check up on Thursday. For now I’m going to go back to snuggling my still sick and teething 18 month old snuggle bug.
Love you baby girl
When I had Anna at the pediatrician for her 15 month check up the doctor asked a very standard question “So, is she running and climbing.” My response, well it wasn’t so standard, “Climbing, yes, she’s climbing. Running, no. She actually isn’t walking yet.” After a brief conversation about what she was able to do, like pulling up, walking while holding onto something, etc the doctor recommended that we have Anna evaluated by early intervention if she wasn’t taking independent steps by 16 months.
Fast forward to mid-November when Anna hit the 16 month mark. She still was not walking and had only taken a few independent steps. I phoned and got her all signed up to be evaluated by an early intervention physical therapist. Turns out they won’t just evaluate one thing so I had to prepare for a 2-3 hour evaluation that would include gross and fine motor development as well as language development. It seemed a bit overkill to me considering she can hold a crayon with an almost perfect tripod hold, can use a spoon and has a very large vocabulary and speaks in several word phrases regularly, but whatever. When I made the appointment the first available evaluation appointment was in mid-December!
Our appointment was supposed to be next week, but then Anna decided it was finally time to give this walking thing a try
I can’t tell you how happy I was to see those first little steps. It is always exciting when your child starts taking their first steps but when you wait so long to see them they seem that much more special. Every day she is getting better and better. She still prefers crawling, but each day walks more independent steps than the day before. Our appointment with early intervention has been canceled. Just as I suspected all along, she just needed to do it in her own time.
A couple of weeks ago the lovely Anna B turned 15 months old!! I held off writing a post about it because I wanted to include information from her 15 month check up that took place yesterday. It is truly crazy to me that she is already 15 months old. It feels like she has always been a part of our family and yet if feels like she was just born. Time is a funny thing.
Weight: 18lbs 11oz (3rd percentile)
Height: 29.25 in (25th percentile)
Head Circumfernence: 17.5in (25th percentile)
As you can see she is still my itty-bitty little Anna Banana. She is destined to be tiny. Her weight barely changed from her 12 month check up but the doctor wasn’t concerned at all, especially since at this age weight typically plateaus due to an increase in mobility. She is definitely tiny but also healthy. I get comments from people all the time about how little she is, especially when they learn she is 15 months old. But, she can stay tiny for as long as she wanted, it is easier to pretend she is still my little baby.
Her check up went really well. It was our first time going to our new pediatrician here in Seattle and I loved the doctor and her staff. It was a great visit all around. Anna is way ahead with her verbal development. She has about 15-20 words and animal sounds that she can say and is adding new words and sounds almost daily. She can also string a word or two together as well. Her communications skills are incredible. Physically she is doing very well also. She looks and is super healthy. Her fine motor skills are great and she is right on track being able to use a spoon, a cup and can even hold a crayon properly and color, something she loves to do.
The only concern the doctor had was with her gross motor development since she isn’t walking yet. The doctor wasn’t overly concerned since Anna can climb, as she demonstrated in her office by climbing up on the chair, and is walking with help and cruising very well. However, since she is 15 months old and hasn’t taken an independent step yet she did refer us to an early intervention program here in Washington. She recommended that I give her another 2-3 weeks and if she still isn’t taking independent steps by then to schedule an evaluation with a therapist with the early intervention program to see if there is something going on and to see if she would benefit from therapy. At this point I’m not overly concerned about it. Anna walks well when holding onto something and is consantly improving her balance. She loves walking and will crawl over to me throughout the day grab my hand and say “walk”. I know she is going to get there, she is just doing so at her own pace. That being said I am not opposed to having her evaluated either because if there is something going on and she could benefit from some intervention, I want her to get it. We’ll cross that bridge if and when we get to it.
As for life with Anna it is just as amazing as it has been from the start. She continues to be sweet and loving, she loves to snuggle. She is also funny and loves to make people laugh, especially her big sister. Her favorite activities are reading books, coloring and playing quietly with either her doll house or her farm. She plays very well on her own but also loves when we play with her as well. Maya is the person that can get her smiling and laughing the easiet, but also the person that ticks her off the most as well. Siblings!! Every day she is learning new things. This is such a fun age.
