Dear Avery -
You turned 18 months yesterday. What a relief! You keep growing and growing and with no setbacks *knock on wood* - ahhhh, I can breathe a little easier now that you’ve reached this age. You’re a little sturdier so I no longer freak out about accidentally breaking you.
At your 18-month appointment today, Dr. Dilloway said you are the picture of perfect health. You are still taller than you are heavier on the percentile scale, which is definitely much preferred than the other way around, and you are still above average in height and weight . But your weight- and height-gain have slowed down A LOT. I think you only gained 3/4 of a pound and 3/4 of an inch since July, when before then, you were averaging 1 lb/month weight gain. Well, the furrow between my brows must’ve gotten deeper as your pediatrician spoke because she quickly reassured me that this slow down is normal.
A concern I brought up at this visit is your lack of verbal communication. The only words I’ve ever heard you say are Da Da (for Dad) and Ba Ba (for Bubbles or Banana). The rest of your communication is babble or The Point and Grunt. Fortunately, as frustrating as it is sometimes to try to understand, most of your communication I am able to decipher. Eventually. I think. You’ll let me know in the future how close I am to some of these guesses.
These days, you most often point to your head and grunt. I guess it’s because some of your fondest memories involve your head somehow. There was the time waaaay back in August when you got close enough to Gibson for him to nuzzle your head. Yes, it’s been many, many weeks ago, but since that day, you’ve been pointing to your head and then grunting as if to tell and retell about the time you and Gibson bonded. Or, it could also be the time when your lolo gave you a kiss on the forehead. And still of course, the culprit could be the Dr. Seuss classic, “The Cat in the Hat“, that you simply adore. Whenever we read the book, you squeal with delight as you point to the cat’s hat, then your head, then the cat’s hat again, then your head again.
So yeah, when you do the point to your head and grunt thingy, I just pick an experience you’ve had and we just talk about it. I ask you questions, and each time you reply by repointing to your head and regrunting. Sometimes you include a really big smile or a laugh. Other times you just walk away from me and start playing with your toys. But always though, we have a great time just shooting the breeze.
And although you can only utter 2 words, you can point out about a million things. You know practically every part of the body, about 10 animals, 20 things in nature (ie. grass, leaf, moon, stars, etc.) and most household and food items. You also can follow instructions really well. Except of course when you’re having too much fun, then you just tell me no.
Your pediatrician said that because you seem to have the ability to communicate in other ways and is making some effort to verbalize, that there’s no cause for worry. She said start to be concerned when you are 2 1/2 and are still where you are now.
Let’s see, what else is going on with you? Oh, the school thing. You do really well, Aves, extra-especially when you don’t spend 3 1/2 hours out of 4 crying. This is your third week and I really thought by now that you’d be used to being in school. But noooo, I think it is getting worse. It’s become so bad now that when we approach a brown building, any brown building, you start crying and dragging your feet. Oh boy. I hope it never comes to the point when I have to toss you over my shoulders or drag you by your feet to get you inside the school. That would so not be good for my hairdo.
Love,
Mommy
P.S.
We were at Springton Manor Farm today when I asked you where my car was. Guess how you responded? Yeah, yeah, yeah, you pointed to my car and then you grunted. But you also said, Dare. Yes, you said Dare (as in There for those who aren’t as good as I in figuring out baby talk). Music to my ears, Lil’ Dude, music to my ears.
