Sleep- Aurora is a fantastic napper. She will take a 4 hour nap if I let her. She usually wakes up around 8 am (sometimes earlier sometimes later). She stays awake for about 5 1/2 hours and naps around 1:30/2pm. She stays asleep until I wake her up at 4:30 when daddy comes home. As I said she would easily sleep longer if I let her, but then she would be difficult to get down at night. Bed time is around 930, but she often fights it and stays awake in her crib until 10pm or later. She will go to bed easier if we go out in the afternoon, but living in Alaska that isn't always an option. Her bedtime is later than I would like, but the only fix would be taking her nap away. I would rather her still nap and go to bed later.
Eat- Aurora eats breakfast pretty much right after we wake up for the morning. Her favorite breakfasts are; nutrigrain waffles, yogurt and a banana, bagel and cream cheese, any fruit especially oranges, and apple cinnamon oatmeal. Lunch is right before nap time so she's nice and full (and has no excuses). Favorite lunches are; peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, or any fruit/yogurt/cheese/cracker combo. In the past she usually got a snack after nap time, but recently she will eat dinner better if she does not get a snack. So we eat dinner at around 630. She still loves chicken nuggets with a vegetable (green beans, broccoli, carrots, corn, peas) and some sort of pouch (apple sauce, pear/spinach/pea, etc.) she has tried and liked cheese burgers, and quesadillas as well. Our trick to get her to eat meat and veggies is allowing her to dip it in ranch. She will eat anything dipped in ranch haha. If she's really not feeling chicken then we resort back to a grilled cheese or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (if she didn't already have for lunch). She still isn't a big fan of any meats, but I still always ask if she wants to try whatever we are having. She is great at using a fork, and can even use a spoon with sticky things like yogurt. We are in a mix of still using her high chair and letting her sit on a regular chair at the table.
Play- new toys she loves; puzzles, kitchen and play foods, lots and lots of coloring and stickers, little people play sets (princess castle and farm), she has an indoor slide she can climb and slide down on her own, and she has started imaginary play with baby dolls and stuffed animals. She loves her mickey, donald, and pluto stuffies and has to sleep with them every night. Obviously she still loves TV, and can also play on an iPad. She loves ABC mouse and any fisher price apps. Another new play adventure for her is being enrolled in gymnastics and soccer. She does struggle following directions and doing scheduled activities that constantly moves and changes. She is more used to wondering her playroom doing whatever she wants. I want to get her involved in more things like this so she can grow.
Milestones- Since 18 months she has talked A LOT. She talks in sentences, and does a very good job at trying to get her point across. She knows some basic emotions such as happy, sad, angry which I try to help her understand as much as possible. She can also sing full songs such as old mcdonald and twinkle twinkle. We have introduced the potty, and she has peed in it a couple of times. My take on the potty is to introduce it and encourage her to use it as much as possible, but I am not forcing any 3 day training quite yet. If she wants to try great, if not then it's no big deal. She has not attempted to climb out of her crib once (knock on wood) so my thought is "if it aint broke don't fix it". I don't want to move her to a toddler bed unless I have to. I have no issue her staying in her crib as long as possible. Aurora will become a big sister in July!! We take care of baby dolls to practice for her baby brother. We also read lots of books and watch some shows about it as well. I believe she really is excited for a baby and will love him and think he's adorable...until he tries to take any of her toys lol.
Stats- 25 pounds, 32? inches, 3T clothes, size 6-ish shoes
