She's really vocal and likes to attempt to repeat the things we say to her. I try to make a point to name whatever she's holding or pointing at so that it will click sooner rather than later. This past month she started waving and playing with her tongue. One day as she was eating, she randomly started sticking her tongue out and hasn't stopped since. Now, when we least expect it, she'll start jutting her tongue out. Waving is hit or miss, but when she gets it right, it's absolutely adorable.
Allie eats almost everything we eat now. I still think this has been the best age by far to take her out to restaurants with us. She is independent enough to keep herself entertained. She eats from our plates or we ask for an avocado or some fruit and she snacks on that while we eat. We're trying to introduce her to as much as we can...in hopes that in a couple of months she won't be a picky eater. The only thing we've given her that she didn't seem too sure of was tomatoes. She ate them, but we got lots of these faces...
She's also 100% on formula now. It's really convenient in some ways and completely inconvenient in other ways. We were able to transition to sippy cups, which has been WONDERFUL...though I've had a really hard time finding ones that we liked. I bought some of the Nuk Trainer Cups (and she now gets 6 oz. of formula 5 times a day). I really like that they still show the measurements on the side and have a soft spout. But I find them in the bottle section, which makes me think they're not true "sippy" cups. Allie is always interested in what I'm drinking so I'm hoping I can get her to use a straw sooner or later. Another super helpful thing that we bought is this snack and formula dispenser. It's nice to be able to carry around just what we would need for 1 or 2 bottles, as opposed to carrying around the whole container or buying those single serve packets. We've tried both Enfamil and Similac. I haven't noticed much of a difference in Allie between the two but I like Enfamil better just because I find it's easier to mix together.
We've had a tough time in the teething department this month. She really didn't have any issues at all with her first 4, but this 5th one really bothered her. There were a few days that he teeth were so swollen it looked like she had Chiclets in her gums. We could tell she wasn't feeling great. She was still active and interested in things, but just didn't react the way she normally does. Thankfully after about 2 or 3 rough days, her top left incisor popped through. The right side was swollen in this picture as well but it hasn't seemed to start bothering her yet. I'm guessing it will happen soon.
Summer is almost here in Bakersfield. A lot of Allie's 6-12 month clothes were pants and long-sleeved onesies, so I moved her up to her summer 12-18 month clothes. She's still in size 3 diapers. She wears size 3 or 9-12 month shoes if the occasion calls for it.
She is still saying "Dada" and has recently added "Mama" "Rara" "Bada" to her "vocabulary" over the past couple of weeks. She's still super flexible and has always been so easy to travel with. We went to San Luis Obispo the weekend before Easter and had the chance to hike a little and use our backpack again. She's a lot heavier than she was back in January!
We also were able to fly home to visit family and friends for Easter. During our trip, we took Allie to the Houston Zoo (our membership to the local "zoo" got us in for free!). It was great to see Allie experiencing the zoo just like we had as kids.
While we were in Texas, we were able to take the obligatory bluebonnet photos and Allie enjoyed her first Easter Egg hunt. All in all, it was the perfect trip. We came back a little bit tanner and a lot more homesick.
