Happy 18 months, baby!

A year and a half, already! Thursday marked 18 months since her entry into this world, and it's hard to believe how much she's grown and changed in such a short time. What an amazing little girl she's becoming! It's incredible to watch her just absorb things into her little brain and then spit them right back out at the world. We taught her "belly button" and now she loves to pull up her shirt to check on hers. I don't know if she can actually see it past her round little tummy, but she knows it's there!

Yesterday we went to her well-baby checkup, which yielded an interesting conversation. Elena has always been on the petite side but it's not something we worry about. We know she's well-fed and happy. So she weighed in at 21.7 lbs and 31 in. According to the charts used in most doctor offices, that puts Elena about 15 percentile in weight and 30 percentile for height. The doctor starts giving me tips on how to get Elena to bulk up. Her advice? Put butter on everything. Any vegetables you give, cover them with butter. Really? That just seems like a terrible idea. Yes, I will try and make sure she eats plenty of good fatty foods (like avocado or milk), but I am not going to set my daughter up for poor eating habits her whole life. Maybe this is why we have an obesity epidemic in our country.

So naturally, I search out other sources of knowledge. A few months ago I stumbled upon a different growth chart, put out by the World Health Organization. What sets it apart is that their chart uses data from exclusively breastfed babies (not because formula is bad, but to recognize that a baby's natural growth rate will come from breastmilk), where most growth data makes no attempt to differentiate nursed or formula-fed babies. Since the children studied were monitored for good nutrition, these growth charts also seek to display what a healthy child should weigh, instead of simply reflecting the current average size of our nation's children today. Interestingly enough, according to these new charts Elena measures 40 percentile for weight and 50 percentile for height.

I'd love to hear what other people think about the WHO's new charts (you can find all of them here). And a quick note: I know every parent reading this is a great mom or dad, whether the choice is to nurse or formula. And obviously I'm not saying kids higher in the growth chart are or will have weight issues. The charts have a wide range of normal for a reason. There are many ways to raise a healthy child, and every child is very different.

In other news, Adam's dad came out for most of this last week. It was great being able to spend so much time with him! After he left, though, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures! We had a lot of fun, though, and quite a few great conversations.

Here are some pictures from one of these past few sunny days. We're really lucky to have beachfront access just a few blocks from our house, so this will be a regular event come summer. What a great place to run the dog around and for Elena to explore!

Yes, I realize she's wearing a dress over pants... it happens.

Maybe that's why she seems concerned.

An already-soaked doggy waiting for me to play.

There's a pretty strong current here,

but he's determined!

These action shots make me laugh. :)

It would be impressive to see the water spraying so dramatically,
but he's just so silly!

I love that you can still see Charlemagne sprinting

around in the background.

Want a pebble?

Are you sure?

Look at those tiny, adorable hands.

Adorably grimy hands...

I'm loving these sunny days!

Who knew rocks could be so fascinating?

Happy little girl!

She's trying to steal the camera

(the nose-wrinkle smile is just a distraction)