Growing Girl

Lately in our house, it seems like we can't feed Amelia enough. One morning, between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. I fed her:

• a baby cookie
• part of a piece of cheese
• three strawberries
• a banana
• a scrambled egg

Then yesterday when I took her to the gym, she ate a whole snack size bowl of cheerios and craisins... this was after she had a banana for breakfast. I informed the childcare provider that I had fed her before we came, and what I had given her, you know, just in case she thinks I'm starving the little munchkin. Her eyes got big, saying "My TWO YEAR OLD can't even eat a whole banana."

I seriously don't know where she puts it all. She is a total peanut at only about 20 pounds at 14 months. Along with some serious smashin' in our house, we've had to abruptly move her up to the next size of diapers, due to her peeing through her diaper and pants every day. It's no surprise either. We always leave a sippy of water in the living room for her so she can drink as she is thirsty. I finally kept track one day of exactly how many fluids she's drinking:

About 45 ounces of milk and water a day. Holy cow. I don't think most adults probably drink that many fluids in a day.

To complete the tri-fecta, she's been sleeping an insane amount, at least for Amelia. While most toddlers sleep 11-12 hours per night, with a couple naps thrown in during the day, our daughter has never been one for sleep. It is a rare occasion when she sleeps a full ten hours at night, and she never sleeps all the way through the night. Generally, she sleeps 9:00 p.m. until 6:30 a.m. I've read all the sleep theories and tried many suggestions and solutions, but at this point in her development, I've deemed her a person who doesn't need much sleep and have accepted that fact. We've also learned that contrary to general sleep advice, we cannot put Amelia to bed early. Should she happen to fall asleep prior to 8:30 p.m., she will almost certainly be up in the middle of the night.

Therefore, when she fell asleep Monday on our way home from dinner with her aunties, I was just a little concerned that I couldn't wake her. She had fallen asleep at 6:45 p.m., so I was certain that I would be up at 2:00 a.m. I tried to wake her up, tickling her cheek, talking to her... alas, she continued her slumber:

I sighed, and off to bed we went at about 10:00 p.m. To my surprise, she slept till 5:30 a.m. Unfortunately for me, I woke up about every hour after 2:00 a.m. because I kept thinking about how she'd be up soon. Oh, how the mommy mind never rests. Apparently this still was not enough for her, as she took two naps that were both two hours long that day.

I guess maybe mothers are reading this saying, "Yeah, yeah, a growth spurt, this is like, the most boring post ever." Well, A) I'm totally putting off my resolutions post because it entails plastering half naked chubby pictures of myself on my blog, B) she is a total peanut and it fascinates me that she can eat like a five year old at only a year of age and C) oh, I haven't said yet, she is WEANED, thank you God, and all I keep thinking is how she used to nurse, and nurse, and NURSE when she was an infant going through a growth spurt. So, I am joyously giving her as much food as she needs right now while I think about the glorious freedom that I'm enjoying since ending my time as a giant milk machine.

One last update. Since Amelia is past a year, I get this question several times a week: "Is she walking yet?" Well.... no. No, she's not. She is making gains every day towards that milestone, letting go of the furniture to stand and occasionally flinging herself towards the couch from the foot rest. But, no true steps yet. Amelia appears to be terribly cautious, with no interest in doing anything physically that could cause her to fall down. So, until she is certain that she can walk without doing too much harm to her little frame, she continues to go around and around and around our foot rest all day, often with a book or toy in one hand while the other hand helps her balance on the furniture. She did finally get brave enough yesterday to figure out her walker: