Izzy is 18 months old. I know. Shocking. The time really has flown and each day I see more and more of the person my baby toddler is becoming. Each day provides me with both the opportunity to tear my hair out and cry with laughter at different things she does or the funny gobbledygook language she can spout along with her quite remarkable collection of funny faces. It’s a special time and although I miss my baby – I adore my little girl.

I last blogged about Izzy and what she does/doesn’t do about 4 months ago which you can read here and so much has changed.

Sleep

This is the big one, the topic every parent dreads but at the same time can’t wait to discuss. The question: Does he/she sleep though the night? The answer : thankfully still improving! We now get approximately 12-13 hours straight through each night ( well maybe 6 out of 7 nights) with the occasional 6am wake up for milk. It feels marvellous to have our evenings back although most of its is spent washing, cleaning, cooking or organising but it just improves day to day life when you get a full nights rest. I know things can change and its taken us a LONG time to get here.

Fellow mum/dad tweeters are often asking for sleep tips/bedtime routines and I rarely offer advice as after all it took us so long to get to a good place that I’m no expert but then you know what maybe I am – after all it took a long time – yes but we got there. We figured out ( finally) what worked and put it into practise so I won’t offer advice as such but I will tell you what we do.

Bedtime:

About 6pm Izzy has her supper ( unsweetened porridge or toast) and brushes her teeth, then we watch In the Night Garden while she cuddles her snuggly ( a pink fleecy square of blanket with teddy attached which she has had since birth) she is also allowed her dummy. She is only allowed her dummy to sleep ( has been this way since 6 months old) so she knows its time for bed. We then cuddle or read and normally these days she will go to stand by the door ready to go up to bed as she is so tired. I take her milk up with me then we have a quick cuddle before we put her in the cot and she takes her milk. I close the door and leave her to it. She normally drinks her milk them drops off to sleep. Occasionally she will stir after 10 mins as she wants her dummy but mostly from that point she will sleep till morning.

I think having a routine is a great idea although we aren’t rigid as we like to go away and need Izzy to be flexible. Having sleep cues such as her snuggly which she doesn’t play with during the day make her realise its bedtime and normally she is more than ready for her bed by 7pm. Lately she has started standing by the door to the stairs waiting for us to take her up and last night she very adorably pointed at the door and said all in one go “Gotobed” yes she said a 3 word sentence. First one ever and probably a fluke but ahhh so sweet.

Food

Izzy still has a great appetite. She will eat all day long if you let her and is very open to trying new things – I hope I have a miniature foodie.

An average day looks like this:

Breakfast : Fresh fruit or a fruit pot along with toast ( sometimes with peanut butter – which she loves ) and water ( we still don’t give juice as she loves water )

Mid morning : an Organix or Plum biscuit or some cheese or similar snacks

After nap lunch : this varies a lot but could be a mini chicken roast dinner, ravioli, gnocchi, lasagne or occasionally a buffet of crudités, meats and cheese – this is something she loves and if you add a little houmous she’s in heaven. Normally followed by a yoghurt and water.

Mid afternoon- fruit or a biscuit or carrot/peppers

Tea time: again this varies but scrambled eggs, frittata and cheese on toast go down well as she’s already had her main meal.

Just before bed:

Porridge – we use ready oats from Asda. They are cheap and she eats them plain mixed with full fat milk. Occasionally I add some cinnamon but she’s quite happy eating it plain.

Food she loves:

Any raw fresh veg
Fruit
Organix ginger biscuits
Homemade bread
Eggs
Peanut butter
A roast dinner with gravy
Gnocchi
Mummy’s comforting chicken casserole

Food she hates:

I am really struggling to think of anything although occasionally the texture of meat annoys her and she did not enjoy tinned macaroni cheese last week but I tasted it too and I don’t blame her.

Toys

At the moment Izzy loves throwing her ball about. On a recent breaks she loved the footballs in the play area so we bought her a 99p light plastic ball in Tesco and she just loves playing that with me and her Dad. She loves a felt In the Night Garden set that my mum found in a charity shop last year and will play with it for agessss. She is fascinated with blocks and stacking cups and is getting good at making higher towers – she also delights in pushing them over so they come crashing down around her. She can solo play really well but also loves interaction with us and her cousins. Books are still firm favourites which definitely pleases me as I’m such a bookworm. Right now we are enjoying Dr Seuss Oh the Places we’ll go and The Tombliboos waving game.

TV

I’m prepared for some of you to judge me when I tell you my daughter adores the telly. We don’t let her watch it all day long but on days when I have been ill or she has been then Cbeebies has certainly helped. Her favourite programmes don’t change much, In the Night Garden is still our nightly viewing and helps to get her sleepy. She loves Get Well Soon.. Especially Dr Ranj but right now the biggest smiles are for the main man Justin. If you have a child then you know Justin. If you don’t have a child then you probably know Justin. The man is everywhere. Justin’s house, Gigglebiz ( my fave ) and Something Special (Izzy’s fave). Her face lights up when she sees him. I don’t actually care if you judge me on this as Mr Tumble is a star, a teacher and well just generally pretty awesome. Just from watching SS Izzy has learnt some Makaton,she learnt the sentence “Over there” and can use it accurately so it’s clear she understands what it means. My heart melts a little when I ask her where is Daddy and she will point to him and say “over there” ahhhhhhhhh. She will also finish my sentence when I say Mr Tumble is…Funny! Or Mr Tumble makes Izzy…laugh.
If we let her she would watch it for hours. But we don’t. She gets some tv time, then play time, food time and book time. We don’t let her demand it although she occasionally points to it when it’s off but we ignore that and she doesn’t whine.

Talking

I try not to worry about how much Izzy can say, some days she says very little and other day she doesn’t shut up. Perhaps she has the perfect mix of her parents 😉 favourite words are Yes, Mam, Dad, Ta, Nana, Gone,Hiya, Upsy Daisy and occasionally No! Ha she also loves to make a big ahh noise when hugging or kissing and will also tap your back during a cuddle which is mega cute. She gets confused with hi and bye and still gets baffled by voices on the phone. On days when she is quieter she will always shock us by saying a two word sentence such as Gone Sam ( talking about her cousin leaving the room ) or last night we had Go to Bed. I think when she masters some more words we are going to have a funny little girl.

The other stuff

She wears mostly 18-24m clothes but lots of 2-3 too. She has hardly any baby fat left but she is so tall-Daddy’s girl.

She loves to give kissed through the gate to the kitchen or join in if me and her dad are having a cuddle – we call it the Izzy sandwich and she finds it hilarious.

She adores both sets of grandparents and is so sociable and confident I wonder where she came from.

After walking for over 9 months she can now run pretty fast which is fun. Not.

She can be a stubborn little minx and loves to run away with her hands tucked behind her with whatever object she has stolen hidden behind her.

She can now open doors and climb EVERYWHERE!

When I come home from work she is always waiting by the window with her Dad – her face lights up and I get lots of window kisses:

I still can’t believe she went from this:

To this:

To this:

I can’t imagine my life without her. My wonderful girl.