Growing Girl

I've found myself saying out loud a lot lately that Amelia is just growing. I sound like a broken record, but it's amazing to me. She has never visibly grown so quickly! She takes up so much room now in her stroller - I noticed it again last night when we went to pick her up at Nana's and she was sleeping in the stroller there (after being "wheeled" to sleep). People are even guessing her correct age or thinking she's older than she is! No more comments about her being small for her age, "petite", etc. I haven't done anything differently - she's been eating yogurt and meat since she was 9 months old - she's been offered meals and snacks about every two hours since she started eating solids regularly. Plus, she is really, really active - as usual! Last week at kindermusik a dad was there who hadn't seen her before and he labeled her a "livewire". Yep, that's my girl! A couple of weeks prior one of the moms said you could tell she would be a performer. While Amelia does like to be the center of attention, she still won't perform on demand - whether it's her turn to bang the drum at kindermusik or trying to take her picture. For now, it's still cute since she's otherwise obedient when it comes to asking her to bring me something, etc.

Amelia definitely knows what diapers are. This morning she took the zip-up bag that I use to hold clean diapers out of her diaper bag, took it over to the diaper holder on the changing table and proceeded to stuff it with clean diapers! Yesterday when I picked her up from Nana's, she woke up and was walking around playing. Then she raised up her nightgown and pointed to her diaper saying, "Die-die". At first we thought it was cute and then I realized, hmmm, maybe she needs a fresh one (even though Nana had just changed it less than an hour ago). Sure enough, it was wet - and still warm (I know, too much info) - which means she had just gone. Grandma also noticed that over the past few days she would start to grab at her diaper and get Grandma's attention if she needed a clean diaper. Maybe this means we'll be starting toilet training soon?

When I gave Amelia her bath this morning (Grandma bathed her this past week, so it has been a few days since Mommy did it) she had so much hair I realized it will soon be time to get her some baby shampoo. What's the difference, I wonder, in using baby wash on her hair or shampoo? I was able to get her hair wet enough with the washcloth and also was able to rinse it without using a cup of water (since I didn't want to leave the bathroom), but that was probably the last time. My baby girl is definitely growing up!

She's been pulling out her Amelia Bedelia book lately. While she is not named for the character, it was my first introduction to the name Amelia and I purposely bought her the book while I was pregnant. The other day I took her in my lap and read her parts of it and I told her that I read it to her when she was in my belly, too. It was only once, and I felt really silly at the time, but now I'm glad I did it because I have that prenatal memory to share with her now.

The week that Grandma came Amelia had been having diarrhea and I couldn't figure out why. She also wasn't eating as well. Nana even noticed - she kept her on Thursday while I went to the airport to pick up Grandma and when I got back Nana said, she only ate this much (which was more than she would eat when she feels sick but less than normal), and I'm used to her eating like a pig! (It's true - she can really put it away!) The next day she took two naps while Grandma was keeping her and I was beginning to get a little worried - except that when she woke up from her second nap she started eating like there wasn't enough food to be found. Then I checked her mouth and her bottom molar which had four little prongs sticking through before was now fully in! And I couldn't believe how much space it took up in her tiny mouth! So apparently it was a teething issue. I have heard that molars can be harder on them than the other teeth, and this was a first for us. Her recovery was good timing since we were leaving the next day for Nashville (Grandma's excuse for visiting was so she could babysit Amelia at the hotel while we went to the KY v. Vanderbilt game).