So yea, its been a doozy! But we survived it and are settling into the 'new normal' here in Thailand. We are oh-so-homesick but with the way things stand this is the first time we aren't desperately trying to get back to the US. Things in Thailand are stable. There are some things that are a hassle (wearing masks apparently indefinitely in 100 degree heat, often having to make reservations for every little thing, having to show passports, supposed to check in with an app everywhere we go, etc) but we are able to gather with a small group of friends, go to play places, etc, all while feeling reasonably sure that we aren't at risk for contracting Covid-19.
Juliet and Jonathan have birthdays 3 days apart so we smooshed them into one combined celebration. Last Saturday we met with some friends for brunch at our favorite watering hole, Sweet Poppy, and then everyone came to our house for cake.
Juliet demolished her smash cake. I'm not surprised.
For her actual birthday we lathered her with gifts and took she and Forest to Harborland (a giant indoor play place) to play.
I haven't been so great about keeping up with milestones and all the little details this time around, so here's my best attempt at it...
Stats: 31.1 inches (>97%), 25 lbs (>97%). So basically she's off the charts. She's technically overweight but the doctor wasn't concerned since her height and weight have both skyrocketed over the first year and she's very proportional. Plus he said most bigger babies can be hindered in physical movement and since that's clearly not the case with her, her chunky cheeks are not an impediment to her gross motor development. He made many comments about her strength and muscle tone. We are thinking she may have a future in the WNBA. Her head circumference is 46 cm which is around 80%. She's wearing 18 month clothes and size 5/5.5 shoe.
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| she looks especially large compared to her petite nanny (and her petite momma) |
Schedule: Juliet is toying around with the idea of dropping down to one nap a day. I'm trying to hold on to the double naps until brother is back in school (August 11) because it's nice to have a morning nap to spend 1-1 with him and then a second nap for he and I to have our separate quiet alone time. She struggles with very early mornings (looking back I used to stress about Forest waking at 6:30 and only getting 11 hours of overnight sleep- Juliet is 'sleeping in' if she makes it to 6:15 and 10.75 hours overnight). We are averaging the following:
6/6:30 wake up
7 breakfast
9 snack
9:30-11 nap
11:30 lunch
2- snack
2:40-4 nap
6 dinner
7 bottle
7:15/7:30 bed
When she isn't fighting naps she's a fairly talented napper. I wake her from most naps just to keep on schedule for an early bedtime.
Feeding: We are trying to transition Juliet from formula in bottles to cow's milk in a straw cup and it's not going well. We had success mixing it with formula and giving it to her in a bottle and now she will take straight milk in a bottle and is starting to drink a few ounces here and there from her cup. She also loves banana milkshakes (frozen banana blended with whole milk) so we are cobbling together enough ounces to reach the minimum suggested. Forest just switched cold turkey to milk in a cup and never skipped a beat so this has been a curveball.
Juliet is...um....persistent. Which is a positive spin on 'strong-willed/stubborn.' Forest was always wild and challenging but mostly because he was high energy and just extremely motivated to always have fun- not because he had super strong opinions about anything. We can already tell Juliet is WAY more opinionated and not as easily convinced to do something just because I turn it into a game. She's also cutting her one year molars so I know that isn't doing us any favors with the whole 'changing up eating and drinking habits' issue.
She eats fairly well. Loves chicken, beans, sweet potatoes, squash, yogurt, most fruit, etc.
Favorite book: This breaks my heart but Juliet is not a book fan! She likes to flip through them but can't be bothered to sit still long enough to read through one with me. I definitely have to speed read if I want to finish a book cover to cover with her. Her favorites are definitely the touchy feely books. If it doesn't have some sort of tactile, pop-up, or lift-the-flap feature you can forget about it! Her favorites are the Jellycat line 'If I were a... (bunny/panda/lamb/etc' and the Usborne 'That's not my... (bunny/panda/lamb/etc' series.
Favorite toy: Soccer ball (or balls in general)!
Forest gave me reading, but Juliet is my great hope for giving me sports. She always has a ball nearby and she will just kick it around the house. She also enjoys the play kitchen and the only thing she'll focus on for any real amount of time is taking out the play can goods and taking the tops off and putting them back on or pushing around the shopping cart and piling in everything she can.
Favorite foods: Chicken, avocado, sweet potatoes, fried rice, French fries, kiwi. And blueberry shortcake, obviously.
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| cake drunk |
Words: Juliet was really picking up words at a fast rate but seems to have plateaued a bit. Her favorite word is definitely 'this!' and she uses is to communicate fairly efficiently. I want THIS. I dropped THIS. Look at THIS. She also says daddy and momma consistently and has several words for brother. Sometimes brubba, sometimes baba, sometimes 'dada' (Nepali for brother), and then sometimes a very clear
'bruder'. She has also said (but not consistently)- cat, that, ball, baaa (like a sheep), done, down, dog, book, three (if you count 1,2, she will sometimes say 'three!'), jump, bye, hi, eyes, buzz (like a bee), baby, uh-oh, bubbles, and fish. So I feel like she says a lot but it's really sporadic and mostly just a bunch of 'this!'. I feel like she on the cusp of a language explosion but time will tell.
New skills: Climbing and getting down safely. Coming along with her soccer skills too!
She's making progress with spoons and forks. She's starting to stack rings on her stacker toy but she's got a super short attention span so trying to work with her on puzzles/sorters/stackers is generally a non-starter.
Dislikes: Being confined whether that's in the car seat or high chair or baby carrier or mommy's arms. She's a wiggle worm and can't stay still. She also hates milk apparently.
General observations: Juliet is busy, active and fearless, just like her brother. I have anxiety about this, for real. I was hoping a girl would be a bit more mellow but so far she's been a carbon copy, but more advanced physically.
She's so persistent. If she's learning a new skill she will practice it over and over again. We have a step going down into the bathrooms here so one day she just practiced going up and down that step probably 20 times in a row. Since she's an avid climber, we've had to work with her on turning around and scooting backwards to safely get down and she would randomly practice backward scooting on the ground.
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