As usual, time is just flying by. I look back on pictures from Kinley last October, and it is so incredible to see how much she has changed! Going back to work was definitely hard, because we had such a great summer. I'm really enjoying this stage, so I treasure all of my time that I do have with her. When I would work at my church daycare during the summers I was in college, the toddler room was my favorite. We definitely see her (Irish) temper flare up, but she really is such a fun girl.
Kinley continues to learn new things all the time. She's gotten to the point where she's like our little parrot. She repeats almost everything she hears (or at least the last word). It's pretty funny sometimes, but we definitely have to watch what we say sometimes. I don't just mean curse words, but anything that we wouldn't want a toddler wandering around saying. Within the last week, she has learned to climb up onto the couch, and various other things. She is very proud of herself when she gets up, and always cheers for herself! She has mastered going down the stairs safely, which is nice. She did take a tumble with John last week, but for the most part, we can trust her to go up and down safely. We still close the gates, if we want to contain her, but I don't feel like we have to do it as much for safety anymore.
Her eating and sleeping habits have pretty much remained the same. She's a good eater, although she has gotten pickier with fruits and vegetables. Our babysitter has mentioned that sometimes she has to "trick" her and give her fruits and veggies first, and then the main course. As we have gotten into fall, we have had some foods that are new to her. She was too little to eat the things we were eating last fall and winter. Lately she has tried chicken and dumplings, chili, chicken fried steak and chicken enchiladas. She loved them all! She's definitely a good eater. We still only do milk and water, which I don't foresee changing anytime soon. She doesn't need juice for nutrition, and I feel it only adds sugar she doesn't need. She loves water, especially with ice, so I'm glad we never even got her started on juice. She takes one nap in the afternoon that lasts anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. At night, she sleeps anywhere from 10 to 12 hours. Closer to 12 on the weekends when she can sleep in.
We have blossomed from walking to running, and slowing down for a cuddle is pretty rare these days. When she wants to sit in my lap and watch something on TV, I certainly eat it up! She's a little more aware of TV now, and recognizes her favorite shows, but we still don't turn the TV on much with her. She's not one of those kids that we can let the TV "babysit." She will watch it sometimes, but if we leave the room, she follows us, no matter what is on. She watches maybe an hour a day, but usually less - especially during the week. Some days we don't even turn the TV on until she has gone to bed. She does like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for sure. She used to call it "Dog Dog" which has recently evolved to "Hot Dog." She likes the beginning, and the hot dog dance at the end, and she will mildly pay attention to the middle. Jake and the Neverland Pirates catches her attention sometimes, and so does Little Einsteins. We pretty much only watch Disney Jr. and sometimes Sprout. Those are the ones mommy can tolerate!
She has been having a tendency to hit lately - especially with me. We started using timeout (mimeout to her) a couple of weeks ago. She has a timeout spot, and she knows where to go and sit, and she knows to wait for us to tell her she can get up. It makes me sad to have to use it, but I know that firm boundaries are what she needs. Sometimes I think she does it just to get attention, but other times, she clearly does it out of anger. Sometimes she will hit me and then immediately say "mimeout?" So, I know she is equating the action with timeout. I just hope we can break her of it sooner, rather than later.
Here are some other highlights of Kinley at 18 months:
**She is still wearing her 12 month clothes. We have gotten fall/winter things in 18 months, but it hasn't really been cold enough to wear anything. 12 month things still fit just fine.
**We just moved to size 4 diapers this week. Size 3's still fit, but didn't cover her *ample* bottom quite as well!
**She is drinking between 20 and 24 ounces of milk per day (mostly at meal times) and water during the rest of the day.
**She is talking a mile a minute. She has more words than I can even keep up with, and regularly uses new ones all the time. Sometimes she still jabbers away in "baby talk", but I mostly think it's when she doesn't have the words for what she wants to say.
**She still loves bath time, and we definitely have a ritual when it comes to that. We have finally started bathing every night, instead of every other night. I just think she plays too hard, and needs to get clean every day.
**She loves books, and definitely has her favorites - she LOVES the Llama Llama (Mama, Mama as she calls them) board books.
**She loves to sing songs with us. Her favorites right now are Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy, Bitsy Spider and You Are My Sunshine. She also loves Pat-a-Cake.
She has her 18 month check-up next Tuesday, so we will see how much she has grown, and how her development is looking. From my guess, I think she's developing just fine. We love this little sweetheart so much, and are just so blessed to be her parents!
These pictures are getting harder to take!!!
