Bethany is 19 months

Bethany turned 19 months this past Sunday (same day Austin turned 8) and there have been a lot of new things to report.

• She is 21lbs and 32 inches.
• She has tiny feet and still wears 6-12 month shoes. They fit perfect with socks on but loose without.
• She is mostly wearing 18-24 months but can still get away with some 12 month clothes.
• She has a full set of teeth which comes in handy with her big appetite.
• Food makes her happy. She loves to eat anything and everything. Most of her peers have outgrown bland baby snacks, but bland or not, Bethany will eat it. That's why she's been getting "hand me down" or reject snacks as I like to call it from her friends and enjoying every bit of it. :)
• Her favorite song is "Head and Shoulders" in Korean and she can do some of the motions to it.
• She is very playful, giggly and affectionate.
• She is not as shy around strangers as she used to be and will actually return a smile and be playful.
• She is for the most part gentle, but for whatever reason thinks it's funny to pull on Austin's hair and poke our eyes. Ouch!
• She sleeps about 11-12 hours a night and takes one nap a day. I know she could probably take a second nap, but unfortunately, it just doesn't fit into our schedule with Austin's school pick up and afterschool activities.
• She can be stubborn and willful and will repeatedly do things we've instructed her not to do. Even after being reprimanded, she will go right back and do it over and over again.
• She can hold her own with her brother. She may be little, but she sure doesn't seem to know it.
• She is finally walking! She was taking a few steps here and there, but it wasn't until this past Sunday that she really started walking. 

One final and important update is that I took Bethany to the audiologist today. Our pediatrician thought it would be a good idea to get her hearing checked because she wasn't talking at all. Bethany and I went inside a testing booth and the audiologist triggered noises from three directions using different toys. Bethany sat on my lap and I stayed still and watched as Bethany responded to varying degrees of sound coming from the toys . I thought she was doing quite well, but once the test was over, the audiologist informed me that she believed Bethany might have minor hearing loss. She said we needed to come back in 3-6 months to get a more accurate assessment of her.

I asked her if there was anything we could do in the meantime, and she suggested that I just make sure Bethany knew her body parts so that she could use those as verbal directions for her next hearing assessment. I left the office sad at the possibility of my little girl having hearing loss, but I also left confused by the audiologist. Why did we have to wait another 3-6 months to get her accurately assessed when I'm sure there are other tests we could do? Isn't it ideal and beneficial to diagnose and treat hearing loss as early as possible? What exactly does minor hearing loss mean? Of course I thought of these questions after I left the office, but shouldn't the audiologist have addressed these questions and concerns in the first place? I will definitely be calling our pediatrician tomorrow!

I really do hope and pray Bethany doesn't have any hearing loss, but in the meantime, I am loving on this dear little girl God has given me and thanking Him everyday for such a precious gift.