Ainsley 18 months

Ainsley is now 18 months so I thought I'd record her developments. She is signing and talking more than ever. She has a very shy personality, especially around new people. Most of the time she clings to me when she meets new people and needs time to warm up to people before giving them a smile. But every once in awhile she will surprise me. She likes to say hi to people at the grocery store, sometimes to the point it makes people uncomfortable because she has said "hi" to them about thirty times and they've answered back thirty times. I guess it doesn't get old to her.

It is fun to watch her imagination already starting to develop. She has become obsessed with her baby doll lately and will put it in her highchair, pretend to feed it food and a bottle, she'll wrap it up and rock it, pat it's back, put on and take off it's clothes, brush it's hair, tuck it in bed, and take it on stroller rides. The first thing she says when she sees it is, "Hi bebe." Ainsley is also beginning to like dressing up. She will pull clothes out of the laundry basket and put them on in all sorts of funny ways. She will walk around with them all day if I let her. She also loves wearing hats, my headbands, Tom's helmet, her tutu, necklaces, toy bracelets and more. She's definitely a girly girl....except she still has a huge fascination with balls. It is still the only thing she will play with when we go to her library class every month. She will hold one ball in each hand and just watch the other kids play. She's an observer, not one to get in on the action unless someone threatens to take her ball away.

She continues to love to watch Signing Time, but I have cut back to only letting her watch it once or twice a week because it got to the point where she was begging to watch it 4-5 times a day. She also loves to watch Elmo but it doesn't seem to capture her the way that Signing Time did. She'll watch for a few minutes before losing interest.

Ainsley eats like a bird. She does not like to eat and somedays I wonder how she sustains herself on little to nothing. Everyday is a trial of what am I going to get her to eat? There are a few staples she hardly ever refuses-cheese, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, and most fruit(not watermelon for some reason). But everything else is hit or miss. She'll love it one day and then not touch it the next. The only vegetable that she will almost always eat is spaghetti squash...probably because she thinks it is spaghetti (one of her favs) and not a vegetable. She will eat more spaghetti squash than Tom will. Meat is our hardest venture...I don't know when the last time she ate a real piece of meat...I have to try to sneak it into bites without her realizing it or she will just spit it out. Any of you other mom's have any suggestions on how to deal with a picky eater?

Other Funny things Ainsley Does/Says Now:
-When asked her name, she replies "Aga," for Ainsley. She also can tell you what her last name is "Weese"
-When asked, "Who is Tom?" She replies, "Daddy." She doesn't know who Beth is yet.
-Renamed her stuffed animals that we called "Doggie" and "Lambchops" to "Puppy" and "Baa"-still her two favorite things to play and sleep with
-Walks around all day saying, "Hi Mama" and "Hi Daddy"
-Calls both grandpa and grandma "Grandpa" and both of Tom's sisters "Annie"
-Recites her own version of the alphabet whenever she sees letters. It usually goes something like this, "A, E, O, Y, B, E, A, E, O, E, A, O, etc."
-The other day at church, she was standing in front of our pew during sacrament when all of a sudden she started signing the "Signing Time" song to herself. For those of you who have seen the show, she signed, "It's Signing Time with Alex and Leah, It's signing time with Alex and Leah, It's Signing Time with Alex and Leah, Come and play. Come and Play." Tom and I started laughing because since we know the song so well, we could totally tell she was singing it to herself in her head. It was pretty funny.
-Loves keys and will pick mine up and pretend to lock the door from the inside
-Likes to try to open the car door by herself but isn't strong enough, but gets frustrated if I try to help her.
-Loves to play on my cell phone. She will hold it up to her ear for 10-15 mintues and have a pretend conversation with Daddy, Grandpa, and Annie. She will nod and shake her head and say, "Uh, huh" and "No" like she's answering questions. But when they really call, she will hardly talk.
-Hides balls and other toys in our tupper ware cabinet
-Likes to put things in the garbage, I have retrieved at least 2 balls from the garbage can as well as tupper ware and silverware
-Loves to wash her hands and asks to wash them multiple times a day-she just likes playing with the water
-Absolutely hates naptime now-screams everytime she goes down and has to cry herself to sleep...she used to be the easiest thing to put down. Not anymore!
-Loves to pull her clothes out of the drawers and try them on
-Calls the playground, "Weee." Our new covered parking spot is directly in front of the playground and so as soon as she pulls in, she can see it and will start yelling "weee" from the backseat. Unfortunately, most days she is disappointed because we can't go to the playground everytime we get home.
-Is afraid of other babies and kids her own age, like I said earlier-she will just watch and observe other kids and if they get too close, she comes running back to me.
-Loves to play with the Thomas the Train set at Barnes and Noble and at the Library
-Loves walking down to get our mail and gets angry when I make her turn around to head back home, even though it is still a long walk home
-Pats our neighbor's stone puppy that is on the porch almost everytime we get home.
-Gets really scared and starts to cry if Tom tries to tickle me....we're not sure if it is my laughing that scares her or that Tom is wrestling trying to tickle my feet. She's protective of me:)
-In the car, if I reach up and put my hand on Tom's shoulder, she'll stick her arm out and yell "No." Guess even at 18 months she doesn't like PDA.


Trying on my clothes


Helping clean up

Pretending to type. Check out her curls in the back of her head

Dressing Up

Cheesy little one


Here is a list of the signs Ainsley uses by herself (without being asked)on a regular basis:
1. all done
2. more
3. please
4. thank you
5. sorry
6. eat
7. milk
8. apple
9. cheese
10. bread
11. orange
12. juice
13. water
14. grapes
15. candy
16. icecream
17. carrot
18. water
19. zebra
20. dog
21. cat
22. rhino
23. monkey
24. bird
25. duck
26. horse
27. fish
28. tiger
29. train
30. car
31. bike
32. bath
33. shower
34. potty
35. asleep
36. sad
37. coat
38. socks
39. shoes
40. boots
41. doll
42. books
43. wash hands
44. clean
45. soap
46. brush teeth
47. brush hair
48. washcloth
49. ball
50. Signing Time
51. Leah
52. Alex
53. banana
54. asleep
55. pillow

Words Ainsley says:
1. Hi
2. Hello
3. Bye
4. Daddy, Dad
5. Mommy, Mom, Mama
6. Grandpa, Papa
7. Annie
8. Shoes
9. Apple
10. Bubble
11. cookie
12. Elmo
13. puppy
14. baa
15. Ella
16. Lily
17. Up
18. go
19. No
20. Baby
21. Ball
22. Aga (for Ainsley)
23. Reese
24. hat
25. happy
26. ok
27. uh oh
28. yeah, yes