Adah is 18 MONTHS!

UPDATE:  We went to Adah's 18 month check-up on the 6/14/11. We decided to see a local doctor instead of driving to Waterloo since they recently started doing well-child visits in the office now. We saw Dr. John Epperly and he did an excellent job.  I felt like he was thorough and asked all the right question.  She had to have one shot which she of course cried through but did great!  We also got the ok to stop her Fer-n-sol (iron drops) since her iron has been low in the past.  She weighed in at 25.2 lbs. and was 31 5/8 inches.  Her head was 18.75".  She is growing nicely and seems to be ahead on the developmental charts.  The doctor asked things like, can she walk backwards, can she stack things, can she go down stairs holding onto the railing, etc.  Yes to all of the above!!  She is starting to talk more but still has a limited vocab and he thought that was just fine! Overall it was a great apt. 

Adah is amazing.  I love watching her learn and do new things!  Her smiles and giggles are so contagious!  I love this stage of life (I think I say that with every age).  Here are some things about Adah this month: 
Adah dropped the feeding before nap on 5/17/11 leaving her nursing in the morning and right before bed.  I say Adah dropped it but really I made her do it because I feel like I can't keep up anymore with trying to chase a three year old, keep up with a twelve year old and create life inside of me!  She still asks for it every day and I just tell her no and offer her a drink of water.  She will give me a pouty lip for a second and then take a drink of water and then I lay her in her crib!  I feel bad but I have no desire to give it to her at that time anymore.  I am very content with the two times a day because, although I haven't taken advantage of it, I could potentially feed Adah in the morning and not return until bedtime if I wanted!  Of course, that would require me to find a qualified and willing babysitter!  Any takers?  Just kidding!!
Adah got a new tooth (bottom right eye tooth) on 5/26/11.  This has not been an easy process and I fear what the other three are going to bring.  Adah continues to use sign language very well.  I wish she were talking a little more but she will get there and if she's anything like her sister we will one day wish she would forget how (just for a little bit)!!  She is talking more and more though and I am getting really good at figuring out what she is talking about!  Almost everything she says resembles what she is trying to say it's just hard to understand it.  And she is very willing to try to repeat after you when you ask her to!  Here is a picture of her getting ready to take a bath but she is asking me where the water is because I haven't started it yet!  She LOVES her bath, by the way!  I'm not sure if I have talked about this before but Adah lives for her bath!  We all take turns getting to tell her when it's bath night because we get such a rise out of her!  Have I mentioned how totally awesome Adah is at potty training?  She is staying dry ALL the time (more than her older sister)!  She wakes from her nap dry and wakes from a 12-13 hour night's sleep dry!  I am so impressed with her!  And even though she can't express that she has to pee/poop with the actual words, she does a really good job of letting me know she needs to go!  I am just never really sure what's going to come out! 
Adah has a lot of favorite things to do.  She loves to put things in and out of compartments, she loves playing with her babies and feeding them and taking their diapers off, she loves coloring, she loves to cuddle her mommy and big brother, and loves seeing her daddy in the morning and gets so excited when he comes home at lunch time, but I would have to say Adah's biggest thing she loves to do is ANYTHING her big sis likes to do.  She will follow her anywhere, let Kezzie beat her up/drag her around by her arm, do whatever Kezzie asks her to, pester Kezzie (because she likes to make her scream), give her hugs and kisses, and share her food and drinks with her.  She also really likes to read books with Kezzie!  She rarely complains through any of this, I guess for the mere fact that Adah just loves her big sister!  I realize this is the month that Adah should be getting her 18 month shots and a check up but unfortunately I will have to post an update because I couldn't get her in to the doctor until the middle of June.  We are giving our local doctor's office a try since we usually travel to Waterloo for all her check ups!  I guess it was a little harder to get into when I needed to!  We will also be getting her 18 month pictures taken soon so I will post on that in the near future also!