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Harlow James: 20 Month Update

Hi! How was everybody's weekend?? We spent ours with my in-laws here in Asheville and did fun weekendy things like eat chicken wings, play in Harlow's swimming pool, and take Sunday naps on the couch. Despite my Sunday siesta, I was dragging allllll day...because I have a toddler and there's never a dull moment with a 24 pound ball accident ready to happen!


As I'm writing this, I'm sitting here laughing at the pattern that's emerged every time I decide to do a Harlow update post. The first one I did at 15 months was late bc the doctor's office. Same thing this time! I started my draft at 18 months and we just now went to the doctor for her checkup (summer schedules + doctors offices are hard to compromise). It finally happened and Harlow's latest stats are in -- as well as her last vaccine until she's four! Sooooooo excited about that! Especially since this last one made her hyper for a couple days...anyone else ever noticed that right after a vaccine? It's mellowed out since then, so we're good :) In fact, we're real good...here's what we're up to!

How She's Growing...

Right on track! Our pediatrician said you couldn't ask for a more perfect growth curve. I'll admit it, I'm proud of that! It's so crazy to see how far up Harlow's percentiles have jumped since she was a newborn. In the first several months of her life, Harlow measured around the 10th percentile in every category except head circumference. Now, she's above average in all of them....and yep, still exceeding in head size haha!

  • Weight: 24 lbs 4.5 oz (63th percentile)

  • Height: 2 feet 9 inches (76th percentile)

  • Head: 19.5 inches (99th percentile!)

What She's Saying...

Have you guys heard about Jimmy Fallon's new book coming out this fall? It's called Everything Is Mama and that's pretty much where we're at right now LOL! Sometimes it's confusing trying to figure out what she's actually saying, other times it's sweet, like when she wakes up in the morning and she starts calling for me.


Suddenly she's dropping all kinds of new words on us! Like the other day she just started naming off the parts of the face -- eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hair. She's also really into naming off her grandparents and she always does it in sets. Dee Dee always goes with Doc, Pop always goes with G, and so forth. Other words in heavy rotation are "uh oh," "bye bye," "baby," and (unfortunately) "no." She's definitely a little sponge and repeats a lot of what we say or ask her to say. And I know sometimes she rattles off sentences that we just can't decipher but she definitely knows what she's saying.


She's also doing just about every barnyard animal sound now and can ask for some foods by name. Like milk and cheese. She gets soooo excited when she asks about her cheese. That's my girl!

Games We're Playing...

We're entering the dress up phase and I'm loving it! Every day she has to get my silky bathrobes and drape them over her shoulders like a cape. Sometimes she accessorizes with her sequin puppy purse and star-shaped sunglasses. She loves to take them with her everywhere she goes around the house!



Another thing she's doing a lot is miming our actions. Brushing teeth, combing hair, washing hands, loading the washing machine, picking up her toys (this one is so helpful!), mowing the grass, and so forth. We got her this bubble mower to play with outside, and I want to get her this little Dyson that actually sucks up dirt! No, I don't want her to have it to transmit some idea of female domestication. It's merely a tool that she can use to mimic our behaviors, which is an important skill on the spectrum of toddler development. Also, I wouldn't mind if she just so happened to suck up some tufts of dogs hair floating around the floor hahaha!


We just ordered this play kitchen along with kid-sized pots and pans and faux food. I really like this fake food set because it's divided into the four food groups and has a variety that she can pretend to cook, put in the fridge, etc.


Singing songs with hand motions is another big favorite of hers, as is dancing, playing "where's Harlow?", tossing the frisbee, and kicking her big bouncy ball around the yard. When we're outside she mostly wants to play with the water hose or in her inflatable pool. We got the sprinklers out the other day and she was so excited she fell down and busted her mouth. I proceeded to have a heart attack and call my dad (who's a dentist) to be sure she wasn't going to lose a tooth or anything. So the sprinkler hasn't come back out quite yet, but it will...



We haven't done much with coloring or art supplies yet because she hasn't shown much sustained interest in them. A few scribbles here and there and she's over it. However! If you've seen any of my Insta Stories on the mess she makes with her yogurt, I think she might really enjoy finger painting. I also just picked up some chalk for some good ol' driveway decorating :)

Books We're Reading...

This girl loves her books! So much so that we've been reading longer format toddler books for awhile now; some of the younger board books just aren't as interesting to her anymore. I always keep a collection of books in my Amazon cart to buy here and there to keep our rotation fresh and interesting.

Recent fave stories are:

  • Our Great Big Backyard, a story about a screen-obsessed girl learning to unplug and enjoy the beauty of the world while on a road trip with her family.

  • I'd Know You Anywhere, My Love, another keeper from Nancy Tillman about a child's imagination running wild and a mother's unconditional love no matter what her child decides to be.

  • Ada Twist, Scientist, a tale by the creators of Rosie Revere, Engineer that follows little Ada Marie as she works to solve the problems and questions tumbling around in her mind.

  • God Loves Mommy & Me, the sweetest story that talks about the simple ways mothers love their children and all the blessings God bestows on us through the beauty found in Mother Nature and within our families.

I also recommend these eight stories we love reading with Harlow in this post I did on "Books To Add To Your Toddler's Library."

Clothes She's Wearing...

I tend to buy the majority of Harlow's clothes at the beginning of the season whenever there's a big sale or discount code floating around. We're good on summer clothes so now I'm starting to look at fall. OHHH EMMM GEEE there are some things out right now that are cute cute cute! I saw this Baby Gaga tee during the Nordstrom Sale and bought it on the spot! The polka dot sweatpants are from Zara Kids.


I enjoy buying pieces for her that look like things I would wear. Gosh I wish they'd make some of these cute kids clothes in adult sizes! Some companies do, like Lola and the Boys -- you will see some of their stuff in Friday's post on kids clothing companies you should know about!


Current faves for fall are:

Battles We're Fighting...

As the French say, oh la la! The toddler feistiness is in full swing! It rears its head in so many ways. Sometimes she just ignores me asking her to do something. Or gets frustrated and mad cries for like eight seconds. And just the other day she started screaming at me after I repeatedly told her to stop making a mess at the dinner table. Mama don't play that game.


My girlfriends warned me that around 18 months kids start understanding their individualism at the same time their motor skills are really improving. AKA -- a fire could light any time. (Not literally. Well I hope not literally!) Either they're not interested in what you want them to do and they're gonna tell you about it, or they're not happy that their tiny bodies aren't capable of doing the really cool stuff their brains want to do. And then there's the fact that they understand more than they can express. That sounds miserable to me, so I get it.


But that doesn't mean I don't get worn the eff down! Just the other day I texted Mike at 8AM and said I was already on the brink of tears from what a tough day it had already been. My coffee mug was still over halfway full and I was desperate for reinforcements! And it was a Friday no less! Dang you know the S has really hit the fan when it's Friday and you're grabbing a box of tissues before Kelly & Ryan come on!


We have so much fun watching Harlow grow up and experiencing all sorts of fun new things with her. But it's not all sun beams and ice cream with an almost 20 month old. It's a fun age but dang, sometimes I just want to eat my meal without getting milk flung into my hair or make it through a three minute news segment without having to rewind it fifteen times! Small prices to pay tho :)

***

It's hard to believe we're nearing the end of referring to our little girl in terms of months! Soon she'll just be 2...and then 3...and then bigger than I want to think about. It's not easy watching "my baby" grow up but honestly there's nothing better than watching her develop new skills and develop into her own person.

Thanks for coming by the blog today! Have a beautiful weekend!

💜 Brooke & Harlow

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