18 Months

It’s time for another overall update.  Clara at eighteen months is so much fun.  She’s running, climbing, talking and giggling all the time.  Here’s a run-down (with random backyard shots of Clara doing what Clara does interspersed throughout; no formal photo shoot for this one):

 

Physical 

Clara is SO active.  I’ve heard of parents saying “my kid was a climber,” but I never really knew what that meant until now. Clara is for sure a climber.  A table, chair, staircase, playground equipment, you name it…. She will climb it.  I turned around while making her lunch the other day and she had climbed into a kitchen chair, then onto the table and was standing proudly in the middle of it.  She loves to climb on a playground and swing, slide, and “ride” those big metal playground ground n and off things, playing with buckles, turning knobs and carrying small things around.  waysanimals.  She loves to climb onto and ride her rocking horse at home, too.  She loves to run, kick a ball, and ride her riding toys at home.  She loves to dance.  Her fine motor is not too far behind the gross motor.  She is starting to enjoy scribbling with crayons and chalk, and she loves sticking stickers on her coloring pages.  Her little hands are always busy these days, taking the lids on and off things, playing with buckles, turning knobs, stirring bowls of imaginary “stuff” and carrying small things around.  She is doing a little bit of “shape sorting”, will stack her rings, and is starting to pick up on puzzles a little too.   

Communication and Language 

Clara’s language is building and growing every day.  I am amazed at how many words she speaks, and each day she says several new ones.  I was going to try to make a list of all she says, but there really are too many… I should have done it sooner!  Here are a few that we hear the most. 

Foods: banana, cracker, cookie, oreo, apple, raisin, milk, toast, eggs, yogurt, pretzel, goldfish, juice, bread, broccoli, carrot, ‘mamay (edamame), ‘mato (tomato), ice, water, bean, coffee (mama’s!)
Commands: go, help, off, out, please, thank you, hot, yes, no, bye, hi, all-gone, all-done, rub-rub (washing hands), walk, dirty, flush, down, play
Clothes: shoes, shirt, socks, hairbow, diaper, pants, hat, glasses
Objects: car, bath, wagon, bus, bottle, bowl, lovie, paci, book, brush, ball, bubbles, swing, slide, blanket, towel, potty, keys, spoon, church, boy, Bible, block, cup, chair, stick, rock
People: Mama, Daddy, Clara, Sweet Mama, Big Daddy, Mama K, Daddy Bob, Papa, Mema, Eleanor (Eh-nuh), Wendi, Chloe, Bekah, Sarah, Elmo, Abby, Cookie, Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Grover
Animals: sounds for almost any animal and starting to say the names for some including….doggie, bunny, froggy, bird, bug, duck, piggy, hippo, monkey, Rufus

She is at the point right now where she will repeat back almost anything we say to her.  She is starting to string together a few small sentences too.  “Bye bye doggie” when we leave the house and our favorite, “Have a good day!”

Clara loves to read books and will point to lots of things as we read and talk together.  She is beginning to memorize some of her favorites and will chime in at her favorite parts.  She’s also starting to join in on some songs we sing, a few letters of the alphabet, and will “help” count (TWO is by far her favorite number… when I start counting anything, she SCREAMS “2!!!!” at me!)  She can point to many body parts (eyes, nose, ears, mouth, teeth, hair, chin, shoulders, toes, feet, tummy, elbow, wrist).

She still babbles nonsense a lot too.  When we “say the blessing” she says, “Jesus….abbababaadaadaaamamababadabdaa… AMEN.” 

Social 

Clara loves being around people.  She grins so big at strangers and friends alike.  She especially loves watching and mimicking children just a little older than her and babies a little bit younger “Baaaaaaaaaaby!!!”  We have a long way to go to learn about sharing, but she is beginning to do a little bit of turn taking.  She likes to play pretend with her baby dolls and in her kitchen.  She is starting to get into dress-up a little bit too. She still loves peek-a-boo, and tickles and being thrown in the air and wrestled by daddy.

  

Medically 

Medically, Clara is doing fine.  We’ve enjoyed the summer immensely and the freedom it has brought us.  Our pediatrician who we loved left the practice and I was devastated.  After hopping around a little bit we have landed with a new doctor (same practice) who I feel just as good about, if not better.  There will be a transition period and a learning curve, for sure, but I’m confident that we’re in good hands.  Clara is going to start PT again this fall and will be finally seen by a pulmonologist for the first time.  She also has her first dentist appointment scheduled.  Other than that we are still working hard (understatement of the year) to get her to eat/drink enough and gain weight.  We are having conversations about whether we need more intervention in this area or not.  She’s continuing to gain and stay on her curve, but she truly does hate eating and nearly every mealtime is a battle.  I don’t know how she’s gained weight, honestly, because she eats such tiny amounts.  But we are continuing to persevere.  She has remained free of illnesses, amazingly, and cold and flu season is nearly upon us.  We have another winter of quarantine ahead of us, doctor’s orders.  But that’s another post for another day….

 

Personality

Clara’s favorite things to do are to be outside and to read books.  She loves music and hearing us sing…. We listen to the WeeSing Bible Songs as we drive in the car and she loves “The Wheels on the Bus”, “Happy and You Know It”  “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes,” the alphabet song, “I’ve Got the Joy” “Jesus Loves Me” and many others.  She loves her puppy and laughs at Rufus all day long. As soon as we pull into the garage from being out somewhere she says, “Doggie? Doggie? Doggie?”  She is still happy most of the time, but we have started to see some of the 18 month tantrums beginning.  She is stubborn – we are reminded again and again that it is that fight in her that won us her life.  When she rides her rocking horse we started singing the William Tell Overture.  Now, she will climb up on anything and start to “ride” it while she sings it (badabadabada badabadabada badabadabada).  She likes to “help” me out around the house, stirring things as we cook, or handing me dishes from the dishwasher or helping me switch the laundry over.  She loves watching Sesame Street (it’s our trick to make her eat) and when she sees my tablet will beg, “Ernie! Ernie! Ernie!!!!” She loves her bath (daddy time) and is snuggly still at nighttime.  She can put herself to sleep by herself, and does some nights, but she is still nursing and so most naps and many nights I am able to nurse her to sleep and then still soak up and enjoy a warm, clean, fresh, snuggly baby in my arms. 

Here's that temper tantrum.  Well, one of them.

and here are the snuggles that more than make up for it.

BONUS FEATURE: (videos!)