Personality: Is still stubborn and particular, but less so than when she was an infant. Doesn't do anything if she feels forced (good girl). Has an opinion about what she wants to wear and always requests "princess dresses." I have no clue where she picked up that phrase but now we just say anything is a princess dress so she will wear it. Will do whatever her cousins tell her most of the time and plays really well with other kids! Has no problem going up to kids even if she doesn't know them. Doesn't bat an eye when I leave her places but usually doesn't love if I leave her at home with her dad (because FOMO). This lasts about 15 seconds. Andy and I have actually gone on a date or two and I feel like we could have normal adult social lives if we wanted to!!
Play time: Loves coloring on paper. Enjoys baths mostly and isn't interesting in showering with me anymore. LOVES to sit on my bathroom counter while I get ready. Doing makeup is already a big hobby of hers. Also into dolls, babies, Tractors, and her vacuum and broom. Still loves to read with me, mostly while snuggled on her bedroom floor. Our basement is now done. Though she mostly colors down there, we do also have a slide, balance beam, books, and her kitchen to play with. She also loves piano, dancing, and singing. Will be so excited when warm weather is here for good because she loves outdoors!
Sleep: pretty stellar sleeper. Puts herself to sleep in her bed with little complaints most of the time. Naps run anywhere from 2-3 hours mostly. Bedtime is around 7:30 pm these days and she wakes around 7:30 am. Will take a while to fall asleep sometimes and is okay lounging in bed before I come to get her. We have yet to attempt climbing out and I'm trying to hold onto having that freedom for as long as possible. Sleep is the first thing to get screwed up when she doesn't feel well (looking at you, teething) and she will only sleep in her room with lights off and fan on though. Napping at any sitter's house just doesn't happen and never has (again, FOMO). Still absolutely needs a paci to sleep, but can go without otherwise as long as one isn't in site.
Teeth: Just waiting for the very last 2 molars to finish pushing all the way up and we will have all 20 baby teeth. But they are definitely visible. She had a few months of patchy bad sleep that I contributed to this. She enjoys brushing her teeth but mostly won't let me in to do the job right. We just visited the dentist and she did so well letting him brush and clean them. He says we are all good so far!
Eating: mostly anything but is showing more pickiness now. Requested yogurt a million times a day but didn't usually eat it so we are backing off that. Loves all fruit and dairy and is finally warming up to meat. Pasta dishes are also hits mostly. She still eats what we eat and I try not to dumb down her diet. She doesn't get juice but rather gets water with a splash of pedialyte, which she loves. Otherwise she's not a huge drinker. Definitely knows what chocolate and ice cream are and don't even think about not sharing them with her.
Potty Training: she started to show interest in the potty around 18 months. I got her a small potty then and she would sit on it (with clothes on) whenever I went to the bathroom (she likes to do whatever I'm doing). She started ripping off diapers around 23 months and was irritated from them so we've been actually putting some effort in since then. She sporadically goes diaperless usually a few hours each day but has yet to actually pee in the toilet. It's clear that she knows how to hold her pee though, because she can go a few hours without a mess without issue mostly. She will tell you when she goes though even with a diaper on, so I'm hoping we will get there without much fuss. Andy isn't really into doing it because he's even lazier than I am but I'd like to not have 2 kids in diapers..
Milestones: has a pretty extensive vocabulary and rarely says anything out of correct context. Knows the words to our favorite songs and can patch up some of the abcs (she tries). Counts to 9 hit or miss but definitely 1,2,3. Still amazes us with her brains. Has great balance and can do stairs without assistance or even holding onto anything. She weighs 26 lb (40%) and is 34 cm tall (60%).
I'm still working on her baby book 😔 I had stayed current on it through month 6 before stopping (also when cheer season started so I will use that as my excuse). Hoping to get that done to give to myself as a Mother's Day present!
Happy birthday, sweet angel!
