18 Months

Eighteen months. That’s how old my girl is. A year and a half?! When they say the days are long and the years are short, they’re not kidding… Here’s a quick update about Miss V.

Looks & Colouring

Her eyes are still bright blue, but take on a green colour when she wears green.

Her hair is still a dark red, and long enough for pigtails that leave a little triangle of shorter hair above the nape of her neck. I’m debating on whether or not I should cut her bangs (fringe) because they’re always in her eyes. Hair bands are usually removed within 10 minutes of tying a ponytail.

Incredibly, she seems to tan. Not a whole lot, but the creases in her arms are a much paler than the rest of her arms. Considering we live in Southern California, I’m very happy about this.

Her teeth are less gappy than they were, but I still joke that her (four-upper-teeth) smile is like Wallace’s from Wallace and Gromit.

She looks a lot like her dad, but I see flashes of our donor. It doesn’t bother me — I like seeing the wonderful woman I chose to replace my genes. Having said that, Nellie and I do look a lot alike. The egg donor coordinator gasped when she first met me, because we look so similar. Recently, I was showing V pictures of Nellie and she pointed to a couple and said “Mama!” As a friend of mine put it, “I see similarity in [your and Nellie’s] angular features, but more so in the fierceness.”

Height & Weight

33.67″  & 27 lb 12 oz
85.6 cms & 12.59 kg

She’s about 90th percentile for weight and 93rd for height, so tends to be quite a bit bigger than most of her peers. She’s outgrown most 2T clothing and has been wearing 3T for a few weeks. I am pleased about this. Even though her dad is 5’8″ and our donor is 5’7″, I think V’s height is a classic example of epigenetics (I am over 6′ tall). They say a two-year-old is half their adult height, so I reckon she’s on track to be about 5’9″.

Likes

Talking, cuddling her dolls, books, drawing, shoes, oatmeal, peas and corn, being outside, swings, spotting bugs, hugging people and random objects, baby dolls, teddy bear, and toy cow.

Dislikes

The vacuum cleaner, the coffee grinder, bubbles, and Elmo (thank god).

Personality

I think she’s an ambivert like me — basically an outgoing introvert. She’s exuberant when the mood strikes her, but is prone to wide-eyed watchfulness with new people. She’s very affectionate and talkative with people she knows, but tends to clam up with someone she doesn’t know or hasn’t seen for a while.

She has a great sense of humour, it’s easy to make her laugh. She doesn’t have a deep belly laugh like a lot of kids, it’s a pretty goofy laugh, and it cracks me up!

She’s fiercely independent, which means dropping her off at the YMCA’s ChildWatch is a breeze; and she plays by herself well, which is wonderful when I am trying to work.

She’s still breastfeeding a few times a day — around 5am and before naptime, and maybe a couple of other times if she asks persistently or needs comforting. I am weaning slowly. It’s a bittersweet time.

She seems to have a high pain threshold (she doesn’t cry when she bumps herself) but is very sensitive to others’ emotions (looks worried if a baby cries).

She needs mental as well as physical wearing out, which is very much like her dad. In terms of her personality and interests, she’s actually quite a lot like me.

Communication

This kid is a chatterbox! She’s exceptionally verbal, which is great because it definitely reduces (although obviously doesn’t eliminate) tantrums.

Both DH and Nellie have strong language skills, but this is another area where I think I’ve been able to wield my influence. Like me, V loves reading, and I encourage her to play with books. We read a couple times a day every day, and I also test her vocabulary (hey, I studied Spanish and French at university 😜). It was only when I had to complete a MacArthur-Bates questionnaire that I realised how many words she can say… 130!

* Neh-neh = breasts / breastfeeding
* Kiki = squeaky rubber elephant
* Wu-wu = our dog, Banjo’s nickname
* “Boom Boom” = Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book
* “Poodle” = If I were a Poodle book
* “Old Mac” = Old MacDonald song
* “Carl” = the rottweiler from the Carl book series

If anyone would like to see a photo of my lil cutie, I’ll email you one.