18 months old!!

What?! A year and half already?! For some reason 18-months has been harder for me to accept than a year was. We can't possibly be half way to having a TWO-year-old! Craziness! However, what a fabulous age this is! Caroline is awesome. She is sweet, loving, cheerful, bubbly, challenging, strong-willed, brilliant, and beautiful- I could not love her more. As stated in previous posts- this blog is simply for bragging purposes so that it doesn't get too obnoxious on Facebook, but the child is so smart (spoken like a true mom). She seriously blows us away on a daily basis! She is constantly entertaining us with her crazy dance moves, loud singing, and constant talking. She is a total mess and I am totally in love =)


Stats-
Weight- 21.8 lbs (40%)
Height- 33.5 in  (84%)

Randoms:

• Caroline shocks us with how quickly she picks things up. Over the past month or two she has learned the following:
• Correctly identify 8 different shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, star, heart and hexagon)
• Can somewhat count to 10 (She skips 1,3, and 7)
• Is working on colors but gets Blue, Yellow, Pink, and Black most consistently 
• Can correctly name and identify a few letters (A, B, E, O, S)
• Can name every body part (over 19)
• Is starting to sing some songs. Some you can understand by the tune and some she actually says the words too
•  She is fairly outgoing and LOVES being with other kids, especially her cousins and Reece
• Would spend all day outside if you let her
• Is super cuddly in the morning when she wakes up and when she gets up from her nap.
• Will put herself in time-out for things she does to her babies and stuffed animals...hmmm.
• SO FAR is fairly easy to discipline (famous last words). She can throw an awesome tantrum with the best of them, but is generally very well behaved and her typical sweet self. Some days are a doozy, but I honestly think it's probably not that bad, but because she really is so good most of the time it makes the bad times really stand out.
• She's simply the sweetest and has started randomly coming up to us to give us hugs and kisses and say "I luh loo" ...melts out hearts =)

I think that's it for now! As you can clearly see, I'm not at all biased =)


Here are a few videos over the past few months-

15 Months Old (almost 16)

Well...needless to say, it's been a while! My last post was her one year update, but I really don't want to forget anything, so I know I need to get back on the blogging train. Caroline has changed so much since her birthday and we are definitely living with a full blown toddler and loving it! She is so sweet, fun, serious, goofy, talkative, loving, and so much more! On more than one occasion in the past couple of months we've been told "she is just a magnet" or "something about her must be really sweet, because kids just gravitate towards her" and these words are so true. Every story time, music class, etc she finds a friend and I just love that! She is showing a bit more of her strong-willed personality lately and while I appreciate your determination and willpower, it can sometimes be a challenge. I have a feeling we may have our hands full in the coming months. Fortunately, for now, she is a great listener 99% of the time and really does try to follow directions and she rarely throws a fit, but man can she throw them when she does =) We are constantly blown away by how quickly she picks up on new things and how she seems to learn something new every day. We are super blessed by our sweet girl on a daily basis and are so happy to be her parents!

15-month stats:
           Weight- 20lbs (30%)
            Height- 32" _(85%)
          

Sleeping- We are currently battling a double ear infection that has been lingering for about a month (after a cold), so sleeping has been better. She is now going to bed a bit later because she was getting into a fun little habit of waking up around 4/4:30 and staying awake for the day. So  now she goes to bed around 7:30/8 and is up between 5:30/6:30. She is still taking 2 naps but some days only one, I'm sure we aren't going to hold on to the morning nap much longer.

Eating- The kid eats like a champ. I'm totally going to brag now because when she enters her picky phase, I'll look back on these healthy eating days with fondness. She will eat just about anything you put in front of her. Of course all the toddler favorites (macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, grilled cheese, pb &j, gold fish, etc), but she typically eats what we are having and some recent favorites off of the usual toddler menu have been grilled salmon, asparagus, baked eggplant, whole wheat turkey wrap with spinach and ranch, peppers, seawead, kale smoothies, black bean and quinoa burgers and more. I love that she is willing to try just about anything. The only things she still has no interest in are green beans and eggs- I can handle that. She is getting a bit less of an appetite and will sometimes skip a meal all together and may or may not make up for it at the next meal, but generally does the next day. I'm not really a fan of forcing the "clean plate club" so I figure if she is hungry she will eat and if not, then she won't starve. Another big one in this department is that she is completely weaned! We finished a few days before she turned 15-months. She really didn't care and only asked for it one day (while she was getting a cold) and I did not refuse her but she ended up not really caring about it and moving on and that was that. It was bittersweet for me, I felt like this was one last thing holding on to a true baby, but I am glad to be a bit more 'free'.

Milestones/New Tricks/Randoms-

• C's language is really starting to pick up. She has about 30-40 individual words that she uses regularly/can say when object is seen. 
• She knows a ton of body parts and really showed off during her 15-month-checkup. At this age they should know 1-3 and she knows 20!! (Head, hair, ear, eye, mouth, teeth, tongue, nose, chin, neck, back, leg, knee, tummy, belly button, hand, finger, thumb, foot, toes) ..the ped was impressed and so are we =)
• Knows the motions to about 5 different songs ("Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Glasses Song", "Happy and You Know It", "Wheels on the Bus", "Jellyfish song")   and will do them pretty much on time with the song...it's adorable.
• LOVES to play outside and cries when we have to come in.
• Can run like a mad woman
• Loves to feed the dogs and has taken this on as her new career in life lol
• Loves to run around naked before bath...although we did have a peeing incident haha
• CONSTANTLY plays with a baby and is really into feeding them and wrapping them up in blankets and singing to them...SO stinking cute! She talks in a very high sweet voice "Hi baby! HI!!!!"

A few things I hope to get on video and that I do not forget:

• She will say "Mama. Ma. MaaaaaaMaaaaa?" Me: Yes? C:"wjdsmvklse, skdfjksnefs?" (Always very serious, and she knows exactly what she is saying) Me: Really?! Thank you for telling me! C: "Otay"...seriosuly. I LOVE this.
• When she here the garage door open in the afternoon her face lights up and she gets  a huge smile and yells DAAADAAA!!!! Melts.my.heart.
• She gives the best hugs and kisses on the planet

Video and Pics-

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One Year!!!

Well, we have a ONE-year-old!! I absolutely cannot believe it! I'm almost a full week behind posting this, but it still has not sunk in that we have a toddler! Word could not possibly describe how amazing this year has been and how much joy Caroline brings to our lives on a daily basis. She is the sweetest, silliest, smartest, and most beautiful one-year-old I know...perhaps I'm a bit biased =) Caroline is growing and showing off new tricks every day! Of course, every parent thinks their child is brilliant, however, I was just slightly proud when the doctor went on and on about all of her skills =) We are over the moon in love with our girl!

Sleeping:
This month has been SOO much better! She is only getting up once, around 4-5am and then going back down until around 6:30/7a. I'll take it!! Her naps are her typical 30ish minutes...oh well, just more time to play =)

Eating:
Still loves to eat! She has also become a little bird that likes to come steal your food if you are eating something without her...even if she JUST ate. Her favorites are any kind of fruit, peas, broccoli, and yogurt. She is still nursing and I'm not sure yet when we will stop.

Stats:
Long and lean!
Weight- 18.8lbs (30%- and actually down from last month, but she was undressed this time so who knows)
Height- 30" (80%)
Head circumference- I don't remember but I do know that it's 94th percentile!!! BIG HEAD lol (She gets it honest from both parents haha)

Milestones/New tricks: aka time to totally brag, so you can skip if you want, but I want to remember this!
Caroline has really picked up in her communication skills this month! I feel like she says a new word every day. Her current words are:
   Mama, dada, uh-oh, diaper (di-purrrr lol), that (dat), all done (ah-duh), Jack, and ball
She has really started signing a lot more, recently. Her signing words are:
  All done, eat, more, please, and milk.

 She has picked up on more body parts this month, which is what the pediatrician was most impressed with and couldn't believe how many she knew. She knows and will point to:
   Head, hair, ears, eyes, mouth, teeth, tummy, foot and sometimes her knee and nose (those two are hit or miss lol)

 She has become super loving and will come and randomly give us hugs and kisses or will hug on her baby doll and stuffed animals. It is ADORABLE!

Caroline's favorite thing to do by far is read. The child will sit and read with you f.o.r.e.v.e.r! Which I am not complaining at all, I LOVE it and hope that she always has a love for reading. This month she has gotten really good at going to find specific books you ask for. She can do this for about 3-4 different books but I only got one on video because we stopped to read it, but seriously, for a one-year-old I thought this was pretty smart!

11 Months...

 What?! I feel like I JUST sat down to write up her 10-month post! I just refuse to believe we will have a one-year-old in a month. SLOW DOWN TIME! However, this month has be so awesome. We've had a few rough patches while cutting 4 (!) new teeth, two of which were molars(!!!), but other than that this has been a huge month in growth and development. Caroline is so much fun and just a complete joy to be around. This morning dropping her off at the church nursery they said "Oh, good it's Caroline! She's our easy baby!" and then picking her up another woman said "She is just so much fun and such a chill baby!" They couldn't be more right. We are so in love =)




Sleeping:
Eh. It's getting better. We had a ROUGH few weeks of getting back up 3-5 times minimum a night and that was no fun. It also made me so thankful that that isn't our norm anymore! We were planning on cutting a nap this month because she has really been fighting her morning nap, but I still think she needs that 20-30mins to get her to her afternoon nap. SO perhaps one nap only is in store for us soon. For most this is a big deal, but when your kids hardly naps in the first place, it's really no biggie lol.

Eating:
Still a great eater! She is still nursing 4 times a day and eat 3 solid meals and a snack or two thrown in the mix. She will eat most anything but really does not like green beans unless they are pureed and hates oatmeal. Her favorites are basically any fruit, peas, and avocado.

Stats:
Weight- 18lb 14oz WOOHOO!
Height- Not sure

Milestones/New Tricks:
 This has been a huge month in development for Caroline. She is walking everywhere (kinda sad), talking/babbling up a storm, and really showing a lot of cognitive skills that makes this teacher/mommy so happy =) It is so incredible to watch her learn something new and show off her new skills every day! I L.O.V.E it!!

• Walking all the time
• Can point to 4 body parts- Head, ear, tummy, and foot (The 'norm' at the 15 month check up is 1-3...so I'm pretty pumped that she does this so well-when she wants too lol- at 11 months)
• Follows directions pretty well (Can you bring that to mommy? Put it in the box, Sit down please, Can you find the..." etc. Random story with this one- last night I asked her to go find the giraffe, she walked across the room to her Noah's Ark, picked out the giraffe from all the animals and brought it to me. We cheered and went crazy. Then I asked her to go find the zebra. She walked back to the ark, picked out the zebra and brought it back...you would have thought she just solved a trig problem! We flipped out! Needless to say...we'll totally be those parents.
• She has picked up two more signs so  she now signs: All done, more, and milk. The other day she walked over to me and started signing milk. How cool that she is starting to really communicate with! 
  

 Randoms:

• Has started chasing the dogs. She loves it, they don't particularly like it, but they tolerate it haha.
• She has started telling us big stories in her own little language and apparently she's a comedian because she always laughs after she's done talking.
• She points.to.everything! "Dat?" is her favorite thing to say.
• LOVES to dance and will shake her booty to any tune!
• She's starting to show a more outgoing side, and music time she is typically right out in the center with all the big kids and just is so proud of herself that she just stands there and dances and smiles the whole time. She will also walk up to others and give a cute grin then come and find me.
• No one makes her laugh and smile like her daddy!

10 Months...

Time, slow the heck down!!! We just cannot believe that our girl is only TWO months from turning one. She is more and more like a little toddler and less than a baby every day and it makes for one sad momma! She is simply the sweetest baby on this planet! She is a goofball and a ham and we love it =) I really love that she seems to be a bit outgoing, at storytime and music class it is not unusual for her to be crawling around to everyone or in the center of the room just taking it all in. This has been a big month for fun new tricks including .:drumroll:. WALKING!...well, not really walking, but legitimate first steps were taken yesterday! I say legitimate because she has taken one step here and there, but I refused to count them as 'first steps' but yesterday she took 2-3 consecutive steps from the end table to the coffee table! Makes me nervous that in a few weeks we'll probably have a runner haha. We are head over heels in love with sweet Caroline and I'm just so blessed to be her mommy =)

Sleeping:
Pretty good. Here lately we've had a few nights of getting up several times, but I think it's yet ANOTHER tooth. Her naps are decent at best (30-45 min hahah). However, bad news...I think she is getting ready to drop her morning nap. Yes. She's 10 months old and may be down to ONE FREAKING NAP. I've done a lot of reading (surprise) on it and supposedly this isn't a super uncommon age to drop to one nap. She has really been fighting her morning naps lately and ends up taking a better afternoon nap when she does skip. Sooo...we'll see what happens with that. I'm certainly going to keep it as long as I can.

Eating:
Well, we are pretty much on all finger foods now! While it does make it easier for me to eat, it is a total mess sometimes lol. She's also much more picky with textures than I was expecting. One day she'll love something, the next day she'll spit it out and look at you like you just poisoned her. However, she really does like just about everything. The only thing she consistently spits out is green beans. She is still nursing 4-5 times a day on top of her 3 solid meals...yet, still as tiny as they come haha!

Stats:
Not sure





Milestones-

• FIRST STEPS!! Taken on the day she turned 10 months, 9/20
• She knows where her head is and tummy when asked
• Starting to blow kisses
• Points at everything and says "dat?" in a very high pitched, sweet voice ..aaadorable

 Randoms:

• Loves to mimic us and any time she hears someone cough, she must cough at least 10 times as much lol
• Makes the cutest scrunched up face when you tell her to show you her 'silly face'
• Will roll her arms during Wheels on the Bus
• LOVES book, especially lift-the-flap and touch and feel
• When she wakes up, she is UP. As in, she can be sound asleep then just pops up ready to go =)
• Absolutely loves to go outside and swing and will often stand at the door looking out the window until you take her out.
• Her hair has gotten much darker this month...will we end up with a brunette?! (it's still blonde, just a sandier blonde now)

9 months...

I can hardly believe it! Our girl turned 9-months-old on Monday! For some reason, this has been the hardest age to turn because I'm so sad to think she's so close to being one! This has been such an awesome month!! We are just so in love with her fun little personality! She is super smiley all the time and talks, talks, talks ...we love it! This has been a big month with first words and  lots of pulling up and cruising on furniture. She is such a sweet girl and are so very happy with our 9-month-old cutie!

Sleeping:
Sleeping has been the best it's been in a looong time! At the beginning of the month, we FINALLY broke down and let her cry-it-out some while she got used to being put down drowsy and not totally asleep. It was hard, but oh so worth it! She now goes down drowsy, without a single fuss and sleeps 7-6:30 with one feeding around 4am. SOOOO much better than being up 5-7 times (sometimes more) a night! Her napping...well, we're working on it. The pediatrician says we might just have to except the fact she's not a napper-booo. But, that just means extra playtime and cuddles with her sweet self!

Eating:
Caroline is still a great eater, but is starting to get a bit picky about pureed foods. She will eat just about any kind of finger food you put in front of her, which I am glad about, but I'd still like for her to take her pureed food for a little longer if possible. If not, I'm not worried, she does a great job with fruits and veggies and grains on her own! Little Miss Independent just things she is to big for baby food now =) She is nursing 4 times a day and eating 3 solid meals.  This month in finger foods she has tried: avocado, grapes (cut up really small), blueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, beets, zucchini, peaches, mango, pear, peas, green beans, meatball, cheese/cinnamon toast, and I'm sure more, I just can't think. Her favorites are diced peaches, grapes, avocado, and cheese toast.

Stats:
Weight- 16 lb 9 oz (22%)
Height- 27in (25%)
Head-17 in

Milestones-

• FIRST WORDS!!!- Dada was first, then Mama, and she has said "Ah-Da" (all done) while signing once. Exciting!
• Standing alone for a few seconds
• Got her 5th tooth

Randoms:

•  One of her favorite things to do is play peek-a-boo and she will try to hide behind everything and wait for you to say "Wheeere's Caroline?" ADORABLE
• Really loves splashing during bath time.
• Got her first cold this month
• Working on her 6th tooth
• Pulls her hair/pats her head while falling asleep
• Loves books, especially touch and feel or lift the flap books
• Thinks it's hilarious to get into the dog's bowls and even more hilarious when we tell her 'no'

8 months...

 

 Today miss Caroline is 8-months-old! This has been a big, big month for C! She had her first beach vacation, 4th of July celebration, started finger foods, and the biggest accomplishment CRAWLING! Caroline is simply the sweetest baby on this planet (not biased at all hehe). We are so very blessed to have this cute girl  =)

 Sleeping:
 We've had our ups and downs with sleeping this month. We've had a few nights of being up every hour, which are no fun. However, we are now on a new routine where I no longer nurse her to sleep. Now the routine is nurse, then bath, stories, rock/singing, bed. I thought that it would be really hard to break nursing to sleep at night, but nope. She's actually had three of her best nights the past three nights. We also switched to two naps this month which are hit or miss and typically a miss, but oh well.


Eating:
Caroline is a great eater! The big news on the eating front is that she is now eating some finger foods! She was constantly grabbing her spoon and trying to eat the food off of my plate so we started giving her some of her own finger food and she's done great with it! She's had waffles (wheat/egg/dairy/gluten free-they melt quickly), soft pieces of pear, peaches, plums, banana, and sweet potato, puffs, mum-mums, cinnamon toast, and cheerios. I was nervous that this would cause her to start refusing her pureed foods, but she is still eating those like a champ! More big news on eating is that we dropped a feeding and are now on a 4 hour schedule rather than a 3 hour...it is a.w.e.s.o.m.e!



Milestones:

• Clapping her hands (started while we were at the beach)
• Getting into a sitting position from laying down
• Pulls up on her own
• And the biggest..CRAWLING! (July 14)

Randoms/ Things to remember:

• She will "dance" and bounce when you tell her to bounce or play music
• She thinks sneezing and animal sounds are hilarious
• If you ask where someone (daddy/Jackson/Chance) is she starts to look for them
• She is obsessed with the door stoppers and must play with every single one she sees.
• She talks constantly and has a very high pitched babble =)
• Thinks it's hilarious to be told 'no'
• Loves to brush her teeth and gets angry when you take the toothbrush away
• She loves bathtime and kicking and splashing around

Videos from this month: