So this is what Jia’s been up to:

• Very very talkative, blabbers every chance she can get! She’s communicating really well, pointing to what she wants, happy-vocalizing about 90% of the time. 
• Climbs as much as she can on as many things as possible.
• Still doesn’t want to walk yet, but doesn’t mind walking one-handed with us. 
• She’s been sleeping in until about 8:30 AM clocking in about 12.75-13 hours of sleep per night. Usually goes down at 7:30 PM. That nap is still somewhat unreliable. (Now I’m going to jinx myself)
• Task mimicry: putting clothes in her drawers, trying to help put dishes away from the dishwasher, wiping the kitchen table with a paper towel or baby wipes after her meals, putting toys away into the diaper bag. 
• Deli turkey is back on the table! She’ll eat it again, not as eagerly as she did before, but she’ll eat it. Thankfully.
• It feels like she’s becoming a pickier eater. I don’t know why I say it “feels like,” because she definitely is. 
• She’s not scared of the slide anymore. Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but when I took her to MyGym back in January (?) she started crying when I put her on the slide (while holding her). Tuesday we took the jogging stroller to the outlets (up a precarious hill) and Jia and I played at the playground. There were two kids already climbing around (an 18 month old and a 3 year old). After watching the two of them happily go down the slide, I put her in my lap and we went down a few times and she was smiling once we got to the bottom. After that, I put her on the slide (while I was on the ground) and held her torso as I slid her down and she had the biggest smile! Wish Jeff were with us so we could get some good pictures! 
• Easily gets thrown into tantrums, especially if she wants my phone and I don’t give it to her. She yells at me (as other toddlers do) hah
• Swept off her feet. Most of the time she wants me to still carry her everywhere. I’ll take this as a cherished moment that is soon to end once she learns to walk. 
• Peekaboo Pro. During bath time Tuesday 3/17, she was standing in the tub and grabbed the shower curtain and hid behind it. I said “Where’s Jia?!!!” and she yanked it open laughing! She went on to keep doing this over and over and over! So so funny!

My Thoughts:

• We got a jogging stroller off of Craigslist (an InStep 5K) for $50 and I love it! It gets us out of the house into the outdoors. I made a weight loss goal, so this purchase – as long as the ridiculously disgusting humidity holds off for a bit so we can enjoy a real spring – will help me achieve that. I would love to jog with her 2-3 days a week and take a long walk 1-2 times a week. I’m actually really looking forward to when Jeff’s insulin Rx can be filled so we can go for our long walk to CVS for pickup. 
• I full on (for the most part) dread mealtimes. Since she’s so picky and enjoys squeezing/throwing her food more than eating it, it is hard to try new foods since almost everything has been rejected. For instance, we tried cuban black beans and cheese (beans at the recommendation of my mom/college/bridesmaid friend Crystal) and day #1 she liked them with a spoon, day #2 hated them, spit them out, day #3 same, day #4 (this Tuesday) she would only eat them if they were on her food mat and she grabbed the sticky mess with her hands. Then proceeded to wipe off her cheesy beany little fingers in her hair, in her ears, and her nose. My gosh she didn’t even want yogurt or applesauce Tuesday and those were the safe foods! 
• Because of the above point, I wish there were a healthy/foodsafe (as in, good sneeze shields, separate stations for common food allergens, minimal fried items, vitamin-rich offerings, clean) kids buffet where they could try 50 different things in the same day to see what they liked, without moms having to spend the time cooking it only to be rejected. It would take care of the anxiety that comes with wracking your brain for ideas to get your skinny little toddler to eat or your baby who refuses vegetables to try a different version. Then if there were unique dishes, like a casserole of some sort or an interesting “international” blend, recipe cards were available so parents could recreate them at home. I picture something like the Whole Foods prepared section, where ingredients are listed at each dish, but it would also explain what vitamins are featured, its benefits, etc. Someone needs to open this business. Seems like a genius idea: a healthy toddler buffet. You heard it here first. Staci? 

Pics!