18 Months Old!

Kate is 18 months old! She doesn’t have her 18 month checkup until Friday the 25th so I’ll have to share her height/weight after that appointment. She is wearing mostly 18 month clothes, size 4 shoes (about to move up to size 5) and she is in size 4 diapers. Kate has a mouth full of teeth – 16 to be exact. She is still going to bed at 7pm and getting up at 7am, although evening church and co-ed softball games can delay bedtime a couple times a week. She takes one early afternoon nap, lasting for up to two hours. The mornings can be hectic around our house, but fortunately for me, Justin doesn’t leave for work as early as he used to (was 6:45am, now it’s around 8:30am) so he’s here to help me get Kate up, dressed, fed and both of us out the door.

Some of Kate’s favorite activities include reading books, playing with Legos, riding in her pink car, bath time, bible class, swinging, being outside, strolling around the block, looking at family pictures, laughing at herself in the mirror, and shopping! She has recently discovered the wonderful chocolate chip cookies at Publix so as soon as we get in the store, we head to the bakery for a treat (or “tweet” as Kate says).

Kate is still a picky eater – but there are several things she loves to eat: Publix chocolate chip cookies, cheese, muffins, bacon, yogurt, Gerber fruit strips, Gerber cheese puffs, Cheerios, puffs, Doritos, M&Ms, strawberries, grapes, Craisins, goldfish, animal crackers, turkey, marshmallows, Moe’s chicken quesadilla, Chick-fil-a, French fries, and pizza just to name a few.

Kate is learning more words every day – today her new word was “diaper”. She can say Mommy, Daddy, baby, kitty, duck, balloon, baby, bunny, Papa (Justin’s dad), Mimi (Justin’s mom), Gigi (my mom), Nanny (my grandmother), green, Kate, bye bye, yes, no, yea, Ho-Ho-Ho (Santa), cheese, more, please, and thank you. We are still working on Granddaddy, Uncle Jordan and Aunt Katie, but those will probably take a while. There’s probably more, but I can’t remember them all and the list keeps growing. She can also say several animal sounds – dog, cat, horse (that one is hilarious), owl and cow. Every afternoon I ask Kate is she had a great day and the answer is always “yea”. I cringe hearing that, but I know she’s going to be a little bit older before she learns to respond with a “yes m’am”.

There are several parenting techniques I have been trying lately because I really want to have a well behaved child (as impossible as that might seem some days). I try to regularly praise Kate when she is being a good listener and obeying me, because I don’t want to be a parent that only criticizes. I’m also trying to limit the number of times I ask her to do something (once, maybe twice) and I’ve learned it helps to have her look at me when I’m asking her to do something.

Raising our little eighteen month old princess can be challenging, but it is the best thing I have ever done.

Happy Half-Birthday Kate!

If there are a pair of sunglasses, Kate wants to try them on.

This is the sign for "All Done" but if you don't act quickly, she puts her hands in her hair and then it just gets messy.

 "Smiling" for the camera.

 Kate loves every book she has, but these are some of her favorites.  Daddy and I have them memorized.

One of Kate's favorite toys - Legos.