18 Month Update

Sleeping:

Elani has never been the best sleeper at nap time (30-45 minutes), but she has been sleeping through the night with no regressions since we moved her to her own room at 7 months. I had planned to wait until a year, but she found being in a room with us to be too distracting.

When Elani was 15 months old, I heard some sleep tips from Melissa Brown on an episode of the Mama Said podcast. I transitioned Elani from two naps to one nap and moved her bedtime from 7:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (sometimes earlier). It took a few weeks, but the results have been amazing. Elani now sleeps 13+ hours at night, naps for about 2 hours, and wakes up in a much better disposition.

Talking:

I know that it is different depending on the practice that you go to and even the doctor that you see within that practice, but our doctor asked us if Elani was using at least five words at her 18 month appointment. Elani had at least five words by her 12 month appointment and has, thankfully, continued to grow her vocabulary. Though I taught preschool and have an understanding of childhood development, it is still easy to get wrapped up in what you see other kids your child’s age doing on social media.

She is very good at repeating words, and has fairly precise articulation (though it is cuter when she doesn’t). She still refers to milk as “ma,” and, “no” is one of her absolute favorite words. Elani also loves to sing and she has recently started “reading” her books aloud (sometimes saying familiar letters or words and sometimes babbling). I will definitely be sharing items and activities that have been great for educational purposes.

Eating:

Though she is only in the low 20th percentile for her weight, Elani loooooves food. She still nurses three times a day, as well (that’s a topic of its own). A typical breakfast for Elani consists of one egg, a handful of blueberries or strawberries, and one other food item (avocado, graham crackers, yogurt, etc). Lunch is less uniform and changes a lot but she likes grilled cheese, pasta, chicken, and a plethora of other things. Dinners also change frequently because she normally eats whatever we eat, from grilled salmon, couscous, and steamed broccoli to tacos (minus the shell and lettuce).

Though I have not purchased any of the courses, I follow Feeding Littles on Instagram and find that they have a lot of great tips and tricks. Elani definitely has times when she decides she doesn’t want to eat something that she normally enjoys, but she is generally not very picky. Her absolute favorite food at the moment is applesauce, or apapapapa, as she calls it.

Playing:

Elani loves to play with her toys at home, but she is definitely best outside of our home when it comes to independent play. The excitement of new and different toys at a friend’s house or at the library keeps her occupied for much longer than at our house. Since she is not in daycare or preschool, I try to have her play somewhere other than our house at least twice during the weekdays. Winters tend to be cold where we are so we do not make it to the playground very often anymore. Crafts and and her sensory bin are always exciting though and she requests bubbles every day.

As with many toddlers, Elani is still working on taking turns, but she enjoys playing with other children. My husband and I align more with Heather Shumaker’s school of thought when it comes to “sharing,” which I can definitely elaborate on in a separate post. Let’s be completely honest though, as wonderful as toys are, she’d also be perfectly happy to play with a cardboard box.