SR is 19 months tomorrow

Enough about me already.  :)  I'm okay.  I'll admit that walking to Walmart this morning, doing the shopping, and walking home (all while pushing SR in her stroller) may have been was probably too much on the day after a medical miscarriage.  I did start the journey thinking about how nice the fresh air would be.  Walmart is only a five-ten minute walk from my condo, so it's not like it was a hike.  I also took SR to the park after her lunch and did go down the slide with her.  But I am okay.  I now have one more month of summer before going back to work, and probably until a period surfaces.  So other than my follow up u/s on Wednesday, I am actually able to really focus on SR during August - except that I need to start transitioning her back to daycare starting the third week of August and the last week I will be spending a lot of time setting up my classroom...I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Feeding a little pony all by herself.  She's so brave!

SR is turning 19 months tomorrow.  She just blows my mind.  Our new thing to do in the morning is to let SR have her milk in my bed and then put on Dora and snuggle.  She now asks for her "Kaiya" to come to bed too.  I wish she would bring her with us when I get her from her crib in the morning.  No, we're all snuggled in my bed and her milk is finished and I'm about to start Dora when she insists "Kaiya, mommy bed".  What's a mommy to do, but take the baby and go and get Kaiya to join us?  So as we're snuggled together, she rolls over to me and gives a big smile and says, "smiling".  She is quite the actress.  If I tell her to frown, she takes her smile and changes it to a serious face.  We had been working on our opposites with many books that we have.  She seems to totally understand the difference.  She is my joy.  I need to remember our snuggling mornings because when I go back to work, it will be me saying "here's your milk.  Quick, let's change your diaper and get dressed.  Okay, out the door."  No more snuggling in my bed.

It is very rare that someone else takes our picture.  We were out with two other choice mom families and Scarlett and I got on the slide.  One mom said, "Quick, look at me."  And she got a great spontaneous photo.

I love the way SR knows so many songs.  She will spontaneously break into a song.  If I try to make a request I get a "no, no" and she will tell me the next song she will sing.  If I try to join her, she only fills in the blanks.  She is definitely a solo performer.  At programs, she knows the words to all of the songs.  She no longer wants to sit with me.  Instead, she leaves me in the circle and goes to stand in front of the instructor.  But she never sings along.  She just stands and takes it all in.  In one class the instructor changed "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" to "Head and Shoulders, Bums and Tums".  At home, SR always sings the new version and then says "Funny"....at not even 19 months!

Hi Geese, Hi Ducks!

She is so aware of what people say and can answer questions.  I always say "Hi Babe" when I talk to her.  When we are out or at programs, she gets my attention by saying "Hi Babe" to me.  Well now, when she sees my mom she says "Hi Sweetheart" which is what my mom says to her all the time.  When I ask her a question, she thinks about her answer and then responds.  My dad was lifting her out of the car the other day and said, "It's raining.  What will happen to you in the rain?  You get..."  And SR paused, thought, and then said, "wet".  It's like that with anything I ask her.  She thinks and then gives me an answer.

My new favourite thing to do is find whatever clothes I can (even if I have to dig into my laundry hamper) and carry them to the living room and put them on my legs.  I can even put on my own headband!  Mommy, I'm dressed!!!

It's truly amazing how much she communicates.  It really takes so much frustration out of our life because she tells me exactly what she wants.  We go on the swing at the park and she asks first, "too hot?" because she knows I check it first.  She also talks about the temperature before washing her hands, taking a bath or eating food.  She'd say, "too hot?  too cold?  ok."  It's adorable.  But it doesn't explain all of the new tempter tantrums.  I think it's because she has now discovered that she does not get everything she wants just because she can ask for it.  I do try to give her warning before moving onto a new activity though.  She starts off by stamping her feet.  Then she falls to the floor and puts her head between her arms.  She cries real tears, but they shut down as soon as she is distracted.  Except for one melt down that I just let her cry and scream - it happened right after a nap so I'm not sure why - until she calmly asked for water and mommy's lap.

I'm going to be the basketball player my Zaidy has always wanted.  My mommy and uncle were too short and didn't have the skills, although my mommy was a terrific baseball player.  I am going to make my Zaidy proud...especially with the tall Donor genes I am getting.

I've already mentioned that she's learned 8 letters...she starts to point them out while reading now.  And she counts to 11.  While we read she will stop me on a page and say "count" - then will decide if "myself" or "mommy count" and who is the pointer.  She points to each item and says the corresponding number.  Some of our kindergarten students haven't made that connection yet.  It could be that I have modelled this from the start - it's the teacher in me, but I have never taught young kids...I'm a third grade teacher.  I just always model things....Scarlett is a good follower and has just caught on very young.

I'm so happy that I'm in my Zaidy's car and my mommy is sitting beside me.  It's funny to sit beside mommy during a car ride!

Aside from her early awareness of language and numbers - did I mention her 6 word sentence:  I know how to do it! - right now she has just become so cuddly snuggly.  She wasn't an affectionate baby - didn't need to snuggle against me like I see some of my friends' babies.  But now, she asks for huggies and kisses and offers them in return.  I will admit that when she saw me crying, she did say "funny" and "again" as I must have looked pretty silly sobbing...so while I'm trying to teach her empathy and I think she does understand love and affection, I'll give her the fact that I probably did look funny and I would want to see it again.

This blog has gotten very long...and I'm sure there is so much more that I haven't yet captured to describe my SR at 19 months.  I will have many more opportunities.

And now, off to climb into bed to read before I shut my light.  Six o'clock rolls around really fast - I'm not sure why SR stopped sleeping until 7:30 but it's making me crazy!

Would have been 10 weeks today...

It seemed that my post last night was very matter-of-fact.  Today I feel overcome by sadness.  It could be from the sheer exhaustion from two nights of no sleep, but I'm sure it's combined with the feeling of loss.  The loss of potential life.  The loss of a sibling for SR.  The loss of the add-on to my family.

The medication was not as bad as I had read about online.  There was cramping yes, but Advil seemed to work fine to combat that.  The worst part was the chills and the thirst.  There is nothing I hate more than being cold.  And as I barely drink anything normally, to be consuming so much fluid was really hard on me.  I think I put on 3 pounds of water weight last night.

But there was very little bleeding...not even sure I've had the proper clotting.  Part of never getting a regular period means I don't really know what I'm looking for.  I have an appointment scheduled with my RE for tomorrow afternoon, but I think I'll hold off...after all, I was only expelling a sac of 8mm...that's really nothing...plus lining.  I have a follow-up ultrasound next Wednesday to make sure everything expelled properly.

I am really hoping that things move quickly.  My numbers drop down, I get a period or my RE brings one on by the end of August would be nice.  September is such a busy month with back to school that if that is my test cycle month, although it would be stressful with back to school and early morning monitoring, I think it will go fast.  But I can't predict how my body will react.

The silver lining, if there is one, is that if I can conceive in October/November and I go to term, then I won't have to worry about having two kids in daycare at once...SR starts JK at 3 1/2 just as new baby would be starting daycare.  So that would be the silver lining.

I am also sad to think of the many women who have miscarriages.  It is just so sad to lose a life, no matter how far along.

I'm at my parents' now.  They are playing with SR for an hour and I am just taking some down time.  I feel badly b/c we missed our library program today.  I enjoy our programs together so much as I know our summer time is brief and soon I'll be back at work.  Actually I've been a bad mommy letting SR sit and watch TV throughout the day.  We did have many tea parties, played with the ball, tried on clothes, built a castle, but there was a lot of TV.  I guess on days like this I can't beat myself up over the extra TV time.

I'm going to try to catch up on some of the blogs.  Lose myself in your adventures!

Time to say goodbye!

I'll get right to the point.  My gestational sac was still the only thing visible and not nearly close to being big enough to be a viable pregnancy.  I was surprisingly calm throughout the entire u/s.  I went in feeling okay either way - surprising b/c I was awake most of the night - insomnia/worrying got the better of me and I read in bed from 2am - 4:30.  Then Scarlett woke up at 6 - her wonderful new wake up time.  Luckily we now snuggle in my bed until 7:30 while she watches Dora and I hold onto her and keep my eyes closed :)

I only cried when I came out of the u/s room and my mom asked me how it went.  The RE walked out of his office briefly to talk to the secretary and he motioned to me that he was so sorry.  He said he was just waiting for the report.


We decided to go the medicated route.  I took two Misoprostal vaginally at 3:30 - if nothing happens in 6 hours I'm supposed to take two more.  It's been more than 4 hours and the cramping is getting a little more intense when I stand up, but otherwise there is no bleeding yet.  I am probably looking at having to take the second two pills.  I only hope that SR sleeps through the night.  Depending on how painful this gets, I will have to decide if I'm going to take the Tylenol #2s that I was given.  I worry b/c it has codeine and I need to be able to be alert for SR.  After my c-section I just took regular Tylenol and Advil together every 4 hours and never took anything stronger.  Will the pain be more intense than that?  I never went through labour so I really don't know what to expect.  I do have a high pain tolerance.  I'm thinking I should just take some Advil now...such a hard decision.

Hopefully this will clear me out and my numbers will return to zero quickly.  Although I will grieve the life SR and I would have shared with this new little baby, I will pick up the pieces and try again.  I hope that I can get pregnant and carry a baby to term again.  If not, I feel so lucky to have my little "babe" who teaches me so much every day.

I think a hot cup of tea and relaxing with a movie - oh wait, big brother is starting soon - is in order for the evening.

I'm just soooooo thirsty today - I'm not sure why.  I usually don't drink very much at all in a typical day.  I wonder if that is a side effect.

Anyway, another hour and a half until I should take the next dose.  This is going to be a VERY long night and morning getting to SR if I'm not feeling well.  Hopefully this passes quickly.

Thanks again to all of you for your support and guidance.  I'm so glad to be a part of this amazing community!

It's been a long week...

I put SR down for bed at 7pm.  She called to me at 7:15 so we had to have a tea party with her baby Kaiya and her Dora, Boots, and Tico figurines.  It is now 8:22.  I have put SR back to bed but...first she was just singing "B-I-N-G-O" and now she's calling "Mommy, mommy!"  I love hearing her little voice and I feel badly not going to her.  She also had a longer nap today than usual.  I should have woken her up.  This blog may take me all night to write.

I have completely avoided turning on my computer all week.  I have relied on my cell phone wi-fi to do my basic email and many google searches.  This has been a very difficult week and a half since my last u/s.  My next one is tomorrow at 12:30.  Tomorrow I will be one day shy of 10 weeks.  If I indeed have a blighted ovum, then it is the cruelest thing the body could put a person through.  I have pregnancy symptoms:  round ligament pains, vivid dreams, nausea, road map veins on my chest and stomach.  But the worst is the cute little belly I have developed on my small frame.  If I am not pregnant, how cruel for my belly to grow and for me to feel my uterus growing and hardening.  So it is no wonder that I am convinced that there is still a possibility.  Would my uterus really grow if there wasn't actually a baby?  My uterus is tilted.  According to many many stories online, women with tilted uteruses sometimes don't see their babies until 12 weeks.

Tomorrow will either be very exciting or very disappointing.  I know that the odds are it will be a disappointing day.  But if there is any change at all from the last u/s I will really have to consider my options.  Before there was only a gestational sac.  If there is a yolk sac or a fetal pole, even with no heart beat, then I will seriously consider waiting another little while before giving up.

Again, many of your are thinking I am setting my heart up for disaster.  But I am strong willed.  If there is no progress, I will cry and pick up the pieces and get ready to try again.  But for now, I am still pregnant.

I have asked my mom to come with me tomorrow.  My dad will babysit Scarlett during her nap time.  She can't come into the u/s room (unless it's good news then she can come in at the end) but she can come in with me to hear what my RE has to say.  Especially if I'm upset, she can hear my next steps in the m/c process.  And she can be there for support for me.

I do have to say my emotions have been running on high all week....very high....it is very hard to wait like this...we all know it from our own two week waits and reading into symptoms that may or may not be real....that's what I'm going through only much more intensified than my real 2ww.

Some exciting SR news - she recognizes 8 letters and can point them out or give them to me when asked for them:  A for apple, B for Boots (from Dora), D for Dora and Diego, E for Elmo, M for mommy, O for cheerios, S for Scarlett and Savta (what she calls my mom), and Z for Zaidy (what she calls my dad).  She can also count to 11.

Tomorrow morning we will go to our Wednesday morning program - I planned the u/s for after so at least my morning would be full and I wouldn't lose out on my time at programs with SR while I am off for the summer.

I will blog again, hopefully tomorrow.  I am so glad for your support.  Even if you think I am crazy for believing this could still be real - but I know that it probably isn't....I'm not crazy...just an optimist with a tiny belly :)

Dora's Daddy and waiting for u/s

My little 18 month old knows that Dora has a Daddy.  I wasn't expecting to have this come up so soon.  She reads books about Dora and says "Daddy" when she sees her dad.  I'm not sure if she quite understands that people have a daddy like she has a mommy.

The clinic had told me to go for another beta test this week before my u/s next Wednesday.  I have decided not to go for the Beta test. First of all, it means taking time out from doing something with Scarlett.  Then I need to wait all day and worry about what the results will be.  When the results come in, either I will be extremely disappointed or overly uplifted.  In any case, there is no point.  I will wait until my u/s next Wednesday and see what turns up on the screen.

Some of you out there are going to think I am crazy, but I do go through moments each day where I believe there is a possibility that this pregnancy could work out.  I think I have to, b/c otherwise how could I justify going about my daily life with something basically dying inside of me?  So, while I continue to have pregnancy symptoms, that I know could be just the growing placenta sending signals to my body telling my body that I am pregnant, I need to have some hope alive that there is an actual baby playing hide-and-seek inside my uterus.  There are countless stories online about this happening.  If there is no baby, then at least I got through my week and a half with some semblance of sanity.

LIMBO!

Everyday I am so thankful for what I have in SR.  She is truly the love of my life.  The way she understands language, bursts into complete random songs, understands instructions and shares how she is feeling is remarkable.

But I am also clouded in sadness.  I have now had two HCG tests in less than 48 hours.  My first was after the u/s on Friday and I got the results yesterday - 9224.  It didn't double.  The nurse who didn't poke me properly didn't have enough blood and I ended up having to go back today for another HCG and to speak to my RE.

He told me it didn't look good but we would wait it out for my u/s in a week and a half.

I just got my latest test back and my levels have dropped to 8879...I asked the nurse if I could just come in tomorrow for an u/s b/c the doctor is going away Tuesday.  She said that I couldn't and that he wanted me to repeat the HCG on Thursday and come in for my u/s next week.

What sucks is that I am sad for my loss and longing for the m/c and grieving to begin so that I can start to build the excitement about my next cycle - which according to my RE won't be for a little while.

I will stop the meds first and try to m/c naturally.  If that doesn't work, I will take the meds to bring on the m/c.  Then they will check to make sure I m/c.  After that I need to have a period - if one doesn't come on its own (which it probably won't) the RE will bring one on for me.  Then I will have a test cycle and then the transfer cycle.  So, basically it will be several months from now - when I'm back at work and stressed out and worried about waking my baby early and dropping her off at daycare early and making the mad dash to work and arriving late.

But in the meantime, it's so unbelievable that I have to keep dragging this out.  My Little Embryo That Could tried and tried....it didn't make it.  So let me move on already.

BTW, I am a terrific actress b/c very few people in my outside world know about this.  I go on playdates and to programs and no one would know anything different b/c I keep up my sunny disposition...but underneath it is always lurking.

I just don't know now how I'm going to keep taking all of this medication and going through the motions of maintaining a pregnancy when I know it is going nowhere...FAST!

I just want to move on and have some semblance of normalcy again for a while with my baby.  I think this is so much harder b/c of the ups and downs and that it just continues on in limbo!

u/s update - 8w1d

The news is not great...and yet, although I had a good cry, I'm still feeling optimistic...after all, this is the Little Embryo That Could.

A week after my previous u/s in which I measured 5w2d, I am now only measuring 5w6d....there is a sac but no fetal pole...so, not great.  But my pregnancy symptoms continue to get stronger.  I am having VIVID and TERRIFYING dreams.  My breasts are sore.  I have round ligament pains every morning when I try to roll out of bed.  I have had night sweats.  I'm exhausted every afternoon where I think I'm going to drop on the spot.  I have nausea almost round the clock.  My food choices are leaning towards those that are starchy. And although I am eating pretty crummy (for me) I am not really gaining weight, which is like when Scarlett stole all of my weight away except for in my belly.

I'm holding strong to the belief that my tilted uterus is having something to do with the measurements being delayed.  Reading online, there have been countless stories about tilted uteruses not showing a fetal pole/baby until several weeks later.  I don't want my RE to give up on me just yet.  I'm really not ready to believe this was over.

Maybe b/c my symptoms are so strong.  They aren't going away, they are getting stronger and more noticeable.  I am not having spotting or cramping (other than pregnancy cramping) or anything to lead me to believe this isn't working.

But not seeing the numbers is pretty devastating.  It made me run home and smother my little girl in kisses (which she absolutely LOVES giving and getting kisses now - a long shot from the baby who didn't snuggle).

I should be getting HCG results tomorrow - I say "should" b/c the nurse who was on today was pretty inept with the needle.  She tried to poke me SEVERAL times but couldn't get the needle into my veins - and I'm always told what great veins I have.  She finally got it in, and no blood would come out...she finally got a little trickle into the container.  I asked if she wanted to try again and she said that it should be fine....I really hope it's fine.

My RE also said that we won't get results higher than 10 000 and by now my results should be higher.  So basically we will know there is some type of a problem if the HCG is lower than 10 000.  If they tell me it's higher then I will still feel in the clear.

I cannot go for another u/s for another week and a half b/c my RE is going to be travelling.  He told me I could go to M. next Tuesday, but it's a lot farther from me and he's in W. on Wednesday.  So, a week Wednesday I'll go to W.  Maybe I just need a more experienced tech to find my baby - hopefully it's the one I know really well.  The one in RH is very inexperienced.  She told the RE that I was 5w7d and he said, "that would be 6w."  She said, no 5.9, and he asked her to bring him the chart she was referencing.  She brought him some dark piece of paper that he couldn't even decipher and she said that another tech had taught her how to do it...I remember last week she was just being trained.  UGH!

This week and a half is going to be brutally long...luckily I get to spend every day with Scarlett and I pretty much fill our days up with programs and play dates.

My Zaidy finally has his basketball player!

SR Sings - 18 months

I had to upload this to the blog.  Scarlett now starts singing songs all the time...I've been desperately trying to get her on video without her noticing.  I finally got my chance in the underground parking garage at my condo.  She started singing "If You're Happy And You Know It" with her own variations thrown in.  Towards then end she starts singing "If you're happy and you know it say I love you...I love you!"  This is 18 months old!!!

She does not take requests...she has a full repertoire of songs that she will pull from at random now and just start singing.  I just could eat her up!

HCG results

I made myself crazy today and last night worrying about the HCG test.  It's silly.  This is completely out of my hands.  But what an emotional roller coaster.  Today my IBS was so bad and I really haven't had many problems since having Scarlett.  But that's what worry does to a person.

My HCG levels are at 4888.  My last test, a week ago, was 1335.  I was expecting in the 5000 range.  I used the HCG calculator online and found my doubling time is 93 hours which is within the 72-96 doubling hour range it is supposed to be in.  So, I'm thinking this is good news and that my Little Embryo that Could still has a fighting chance.

I feel badly b/c I didn't do much with Scarlett today - we played and read a lot, but I wasn't feeling good to go out and do errands, and it rained all morning.  To top it off, she was groggy today from her immunization yesterday.  At 10am she said, "tired, bed" and I put her in for a very early nap.  I decided to nap a little bit also.  In the afternoon, I took her over to visit my parents and I went upstairs and took a 30 minute nap again.  I never had this exhaustion in my first pregnancy.  But at least I know it's a pregnancy symptom.  I did take Scarlett to the park in the afternoon with my mom so she did get some fresh air.

So now I just have to make it through the next 6 days for my next ultrasound and blood work.

7w1d ultrasound...

My ultrasound today had its ups and downs.  They took me very shortly after I arrived, which meant I didn't need to sit with a full bladder for so long.  The techs were really nice and answered my questions, showed me the screen, and printed me the photo that I asked for.  But...maybe they shouldn't have answered my questions...

I asked if there was anything there.  There was definitely SOMETHING in my uterus...so no worries about anything ectopic.  But then the tech said to me, "I'm sorry, it's only looking like it's one week along."  ONE WEEK?  There's no conception at one week.  I told them that it was okay I would still like a photo of the sac.

When I met with the RE, which took a little bit longer, he explained that although I am supposed to be 7w1d today I am measuring at 5w2d.  Strangely enough, this doesn't seem to rattle me.  It should b/c I was expecting the u/s to show me at 6w - one week behind.  But, really, it was over a week before my HCG started to rise again....and I remember the embryologist telling me before I conceived Scarlett, that even though my embryos were left to 5 days, they actually never left the preblastocyst stage...so, really, if I take that into consideration, I might be okay.

Or I could be doing everything I can to tell myself it's okay.

The thing is, I am pregnant...I have pregnancy symptoms - not as severe as 7w, but definitely there...the exhaustion and the nausea and the sore boobs.  So really, like 5w symptoms.  I know that maybe the baby really is no longer growing...but I really can't help but think that it still is...after all, this is The Little Embryo That Could.

They took HCG today and I will get the results tomorrow afternoon.  I'll have to figure out what an acceptable number would be from last week's HCG test of 1335.  I think it should be at least 5000 if it is doubling properly now.  I could be wrong.  For now I have to just relax and hope that my HCG comes back strong.  Then stick it out until next week and hope for the embryo to have grown by a week.  The RE said if there's no obvious growth then we will have to think that it's over, but for now we can be cautiously hopeful.

If this little miracle embryo becomes a baby I'll certainly have to find a name that really suits this fighter!

*****an afterthought - added about an hour after the first post:

Upon visiting the misdiagnosed miscarriage site again, I came across all of the stories about women with tilted uteruses....I don't know if you remember that I mentioned that at my "review" my RE said that I had a tilted uterus.  I asked him if it was there before I conceived Scarlett and he said it was.  I asked what it could mean and he said "miscarriage."

But, according to what I've been reading, a tilted uterus often leads to a misdiagnosed miscarriage.  Often b/c the u/s can show the embryo a week or two behind schedule leading the doctor to believe it isn't a viable pregnancy.  I will keep this in mind at my next u/s and remind my RE about him telling me my uterus is tilted (if necessary).

I will still post tomorrow after finding out my HCG levels.

Appointment in less than 2 hours

I can't believe how nervous I am about the ultrasound today...well, I guess I can after almost miscarrying and then the numbers changing.  It's been a week since I've had any HCG tests....I'm just really stressing out over whether or not there is going to be a baby...I'll blog tonight.

Scarlett Ruth - 18 months

I know I'm a week behind in writing this post.  Let's just say that since school ended I have not turned on my computer.  All of my technology needs have been met just by using my cell phone.  I think that the emotional rollercoaster I was on during the month of June, coupled with the craziness that happens as another school year winds down, left me completely exhausted - okay and the fact that I'm in my first trimester and chasing after a toddler all the time!  But I didn't want to let this milestone go unrecognized.

I have to say that I am more in love with this baby every day.  I don't know how that is possible but my heart is just bursting with love, admiration, and pride that she is my baby.  At 18 months she has a full vocabulary!  She knows her colours, shapes, and numbers.  Just the last couple of days alone she wants to count everything.  After our program this morning, we were passing by a row of bicycles and she said, "count" and proceeded to count them one at a time.  I'm not sure if she is making the 1-to-1 connection, but she knows that we count a group of things together!

When it is time for bed or a nap, she now tells me she is tired.  She says, "tired, bed". Then when I get her there she asks for her "sleeve" to suck on, and her "blankie."




The other day she sang "Twinkle, Twinkle" in its entirety...no prompting....I was in the other room.  In fact, she will only sing songs if she does not realize she has an audience.  Otherwise she plays the "fill in the blanks" game.  But since singing "Twinkle, twinkle" her repertoire now includes "A, B, C," "The eensy weensy spider,"  and "Head and Shoulders," among others.

When something is funny, Scarlett laughs and says "funny".  When I yawn, she tells me I'm sleepy.  When I sneeze, Scarlett says "Bless You".

The past two days, Scarlett has been having imaginary tea parties with her Dora and Boots figurines - but then now she asks for them to be placed in the "circles" of her high chair tray.  Then, while she's eating, she offers them bites of what she is having!

The biggest change has been her new found independence now that she FINALLY started walking just before her 18th birthday.  She does not want any help - "Self, self" for myself!!!  This is fine except when it is a place where she really needs me to hold her hand.

What I find really neat is that she can distiguish when to add "ing" to a word, and when to leave it as a root word.  For example when she dances she says "dancing".  She will ask to "eat" but when she's eating she will say, "eating".  The same with "clap" and "clapping".

Sign language is still very present, even though Scarlett speaks everything.  She still wants to learn new signs. Her latest is "thirsty" and she will clearly say thirsty while signing.  Often she is too lazy to say "please" and "thank you" and will simply sign those words.

Thanks to two "opposites" books, Scarlett has really taken to learning her opposites.  Smile and Frown has been great as she can look at pictures and tell what the person is doing.  She loves her photo albums, which I used to let her look at herself until she accidentally ripped out her pages.  But she says "read read" and will say "you you" when she wants to look at her photo albums.

I wouldn't even know how many words are in her vocabulary.  I just know that it is mind blowing.  I can't keep up.  Dora is her absolute favourite person in the world - followed by my mom and her paediatrician who she sees weekly!  Now if only she would start to use the potty, not only for sitting and enjoying her books.  Every day we do the potty sit (she even tells me poo poo sometimes) and it never fails that ten minutes after getting off the potty she uses her diaper instead!  Maybe I'm too ambitious.

I'm sure I'll have a whole bunch more to add later on, but for now, here are some photos and a video taken the past couple of days.  I hope this didn't come across as bragging.  It's really more for my records of where Scarlett was at as she reached the 18 month mark.  Tomorrow it will be back to posting about me and my seven week ultra sound.