18 Months Old

It's Camilla's half-birthday!!  woot woot

Dressed up for OK State's bowl game on Jan. 1st, which they won! Go Pokes!!



Mills had a dr appt a couple of weeks ago, and she now weighs almost 24 lbs and is 31 inches tall.  Tall and slender, for sure...most of her size 12-18 months jeans still fit in the waist but are getting too short in length.  The size 12-18 months shirts are still fine.

We're finally through nap transition and officially down to one nap right after lunch.  Phew...that took months to get there.  She naps for about 2 hours without me having to go in her room at all.  I guess she associated the rocking chair with her bink because ever since we've done away with the bink, she won't let us rock her anymore.  It's kind of sad because it was such a sweet time, but I've spent so much time in that rocking chair in the past 18 months that I think we all need a break. 

Our day looks like this:
     - Mills wakes up around 6am and talks to herself in her crib for 30-45 min, then she starts whining to get out
     - get up and give her a formula bottle while getting diaper changed
     - sips on fruit packet while mommy gets coffee
     - play time until Breakfast around 8am (almost always 1 scrambled egg, 1 slice of whole wheat toast with dairy-free butter, fresh blueberries, water)
     - play time (watch a little sesame street), then bath (every other day) and get ready for the day
     - Tuesday mornings are library, Wednesday mornings are Little Gym, Thursday is MDO
     - lunch at 11:30am (usually turkey lunchmeat, fresh cucumber and red bell pepper, a small amount of whole wheat bagel, grapes, water)
     - nap from 12:45 - 2:45 ish
     - formula bottle around 3pm and an applesauce packet, then play time or outside time until daddy gets home, we usually watch some Barney in here as well
     - dinner at 5:30pm (current favorite is a piece of Schwan's Livesmart baked breaded chicken breast, steamed broccoli and/or roasted carrots, fruit cup, dairy free creamies, water)
     - play time and nighttime naked time (if not too cold out)...then put on PJ's and brush teeth
     - winddown starts at 7pm, usually asleep by 7:30pm (she is such a great sleeper and almost never gets up in the middle of the night)

I am officially done with spaghetti night until she can eat it without getting it all over her clothes and in her hair.  I'm so tired of trying to get stains out of clothes.  Even when we strip her down, like this, it is still a nightmare...it gets dried on her face and she screams bloody murder when we try to get it off.

Her likes and dislikes haven't really changed from her 16 Months Old post.  We've had to be inside most of the time now though since the weather has gotten cold.  Thus, we've had to be a little more creative in keeping her busy...the new Christmas toys have definitely helped.  She's started making some animals sounds (her kitty cat meow is the cutest) and she'll say lots of words now (coat, duck, kitty, cat, dog, owl, elmo).  Still it is mostly jabbering, but there are real words peppered in there pretty often.  Getting rid of the bink has really helped get her going with the talking.  Most of the time, if we say a word, she'll try to repeat it...like when we say shoe, she'll make the shhh sound.  Or when I say Cayden, she'll make the Cuh sound.  Oh, and she also tries to say "Cheeeeeese" when making a smiley face for the camera.  I've been working on getting her to let me take pics of her, and I'll be behind the camera smiling real big and saying cheeeeese, so she has been imitating me.

she sort of looks in pain here

here is one from this morning, and it might just be my fav cheese pic yet

if we gave her a choice, she'd want to watch Barney all day...so we've really had to limit the TV time lately

The iPad is a close second to Barney, which we also have to limit.  There are so many cool kid apps out there, and she can open them and play all on her own.  She even gets to FaceTime with Elmo!  Clearly, she's very serious about it...

 

While we are nowhere near potty training at this point, she has started to show some interest and awareness.  She likes to let JKK know if she needs a diaper change (but not me, for some reason).   And if we ask her if she needs a new diaper, she'll run to the changing station.  I don't plan to try until after her 2 year birthday; she isn't ready and there will be too many adjustments already with a new baby in May.  Good to know that she is becoming aware of the situation though. 

She has been so much fun lately and cracks us up a hundred times a day.  She gives good hugs and kisses, even though she is a bit stingy with them.  We love hearing new words on a daily basis and watching her figure things out.  She's a climber and has no fear, but so far, we haven't had any big accidents.  She's slow to wake up and needs her space.  She's getting better and better with opening up when company comes to our house, especially if she sees those people on a regular basis (then she starts showing off).  Her personality is really starting to come out and silliness is pretty dominant.  We love her so much it hurts, and this has been the best year and half of our lives.  18 months old is pretty damn good...and also pretty damn exhausting. ;) We're so thankful for our Millie Bear!