Eighteen Months With Claire

At eighteen months, Claire...

Weighs twenty-six pounds and is thirty-two inches tall. 

Still doesn't talk much, but is making progress. She says hi, bye, dad, that, go, bath, and ball. She can say mama but stubbornly refuses to most of the time. She's made the most progress with animal noises. She can quack, moo, caw, roar, hiss like a snake, hoot like an owl, and chatter like a monkey.

Understands so, so much of what we say and is pretty good at following simple commands, even ones with two steps. Like if she spills some water, you can ask her to get a cloth and wipe it up.

Waves, nods, shakes her head, and uses the "all done" sign when she's finished eating. She points at anything she wants or finds interesting and grabs your hand to lead you wherever she's going. She can identify her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and belly. She gives hugs and kisses, sometimes even unprompted. She'll even blow you a kiss!  

She can run, spin, climb stairs, and throw a ball. She thinks walking backwards or crawling is hilarious. She really wants to be able to climb the ladders at the playground, but can't quite manage it yet.

Makes the sign of the cross by frantically waving her hand up and down. Sometimes she'll clasp her hands together while we're praying. If you ask her where Jesus is, she will point to a crucifix or the painting above our family altar. She can also point out Jesus in her bible and prayer book.

Loves to help. She puts her clothes in the hamper and her diapers in the trash. She is always eager to help empty the dishwasher, clean the hair out of the vacuum, or carry clean laundry from the dryer to the couch to be folded. While I'm dusting, she follows along with her own spray bottle and rag. 

Mothers her doll and stuffed animals. She likes to get them dressed in her diapers and shoes. She offers them snacks and milk from her sippy cup. She reads them stories and pushes them in her doll stroller. Sometimes when she's gotten her face wiped off after a meal, she will have you do the same to them. She also brings them to you for a kiss and hug before bed. When we got the Baby Bjorn out of her closet, she grabbed her doll and immediately tried to put it on!

Is a pro at the stacking rings and is making progress with the shape sorter and puzzles. She can also stack blocks and cups on her own. She doesn't play with toys much, though, besides her doll. She would much rather be reading or "helping" mama with whatever she's up to. 

 Enjoyed her swim classes this summer and begged to go in the pool at our apartment complex whenever we walked by. She doesn't even mind putting sunscreen on. She loves to kick and splash in the water. She's no longer afraid to put her head in or lay on her back. She was fearless on her first trips to the beach and the lake.

Will swing at the park for as long as you'll let her and sometimes protests quite strongly when it's time to get off. She's getting much braver about going down the slide by herself. She loves to be exploring outside as much as possible. 

Scribbles with crayons and paints with watercolors, though she still has a very short attention span for those activities before she gets distracted and starts coloring herself or the table instead. 

Could read books all day long. She will sometimes keep herself busy with them for quite a while, but mostly she prefers to be read to. She still loves watching Curious George and is also quite taken with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. 

Is absolutely entranced by The Sound of Music. There's a feature on the DVD which lets you just watch the songs. She'll sit in awe the entire time. I think we listened to the soundtrack three times in a row on our road trip to Portland. She just really loves singing in general. When Adam is singing a lullaby to her before bed, she will often point to his mouth and make her characteristic little "eh eh" noises until he sings another song.

Breaks into spontaneous dancing whenever she feels like it. There was a carnival next to our apartment complex one weekend this summer and as we were walking by she had to bust a move to "Party Rock." She loves going to her little music class and playing with all the instruments.

Has much more patience for things that she doesn't want to do, like having her teeth brushed, her hair put in pigtails, her face wiped, and her hand held in parking lots. If she's in a particularly patient mood, she will even willingly lay down to have her clothes or diaper changed. 

Still craves routine. She's allowed to watch one episode of tv per day after she wakes up from her nap. She sits in her high chair in the living room, eating a snack, while I prep dinner. If any part of that routine changes {particularly if we have to go out somewhere instead} you will have a very grumpy little girl on your hands. 

Is a pretty typical toddler when it comes to food. Her favorites are macaroni, hot dogs, and pizza. She could live on fruit alone if we let her. Anytime the fridge is opened, she rushes over to sneak a grape. She will only eat vegetables if they're hidden in quiche, stir fry, or soup. She does really well feeding herself with a spoon and is making a lot of progress with forks lately. Her most frustrating meal of the day is breakfast. No matter what we try, a lot of the time she will barely eat anything. Well, unless croissants from the our favorite French bakery are on the menu...

Can throw a tantrum like nobody's business. Mostly she just cries, kicks, and gets over it really quickly. But sometimes, especially when she's hungry or tired, she holds her breath until she turns blue and briefly passes out. So, that's fun. She is a world-class whiner, especially from 5:45 to 6:00 as dinner is getting on the table. It doesn't happen often, but she occasionally disobeys {most recently for throwing food on the floor} and has to go in time-out, which seems to work pretty well for her. 

Gets carsick still, especially on the highway and in traffic. It seems to happen much, much more frequently when she's gearing up for a new tooth. 

Went to the optometrist and dermatologist for the first time. She was very, very well-behaved, even when she had get her eyes dilated and a wart frozen off.

Doesn't like taking baths as much as she used to. It's a struggle to get her in the tub and a struggle to get her out, so they've become more of a twice a week thing. 

Takes a two-hour afternoon nap, unless she falls asleep in the car {even for just five minutes} on the way home from the morning's activities. She usually sleeps about eleven or twelve hours through the night still. She goes to bed around 7:30, but often spends up to an hour chatting to herself before falling asleep. When we attempted to solve the problem by letting her stay up later, she just did the exact same thing. And she's almost always up at 7:00 am on the dot. 

Has some idea that she's going to be a big sister soon. She often asks to read books about it and loves pictures and videos of herself as a baby. If you ask her where the baby is, she will lift up my shirt and pat my belly. She's even offered cookies and toys to it. Sometimes it gets awkward when she wants to say hi to the baby at church though...

Oh, how we love this little girl. We can't wait to see her as a big sister!