Height: 32.5 inches (75%)
Weight: 18 pounds 13 ounces (0.5%)
Head Circumference: 18 inches (27%)
Clothing size: All 18-month things and some 24-month jammies. I did realize that the pair of jeans she’s been wearing for a while now is 9-12 month size, and they still fit her perfectly (her diaper does help hold them up, though). Size 4 shoes.
Eyecolor: Blue.
Teeth: Ten.
Eating: She has a new favorite food… PANCAKES! She will shovel them down like it’s her job (and really, it pretty much is). She also LOVES Chinese food, Greek yogurt, muffins, salad, and homemade chicken nuggets.

She’s still nursing three times a day, but we did give her her first cup of whole milk a few days ago. She seems to think it’s okay and doesn’t make a face when she sips it… but I do have a feeling that most of that half-gallon of milk is going to go to waste.

We did see her regular doctor this month, and she is happy with her growth. She gained a pound and grew 2.5 inches! Tall and tiny. We’re still being really diligent about making sure she’s eating enough and not just throwing it all on the floor…
New words: I feel like we haven’t heard any new words this month… but she has now customized our names to “Mum-mum” and “Daaah-eeee!, always said very enthusiastically. She also told me that a duck says quack this morning!
Favorite things: Blue Kitty and Piggy (her stuffed animals), her baby doll, playing kitchen, driving toy cars, reading books, and laughing at me in the morning when she’s nursing.
Dislikes: Diaper changes, getting her face wiped, being told no, sharing, and the car seat.
Sleep: She’ll nap for about 3 hours in the afternoon, usually starting around 1:30 pm. She sleeps from about 8:30 pm until 7 or 7:30 am. I’ve long forgotten what it was like to wake up with her in the middle of the night, several times a night, for most of her first year… Uninterrupted sleep is a blessing!

She still falls asleep on me when she nurses, probably about 90% of the time. Kaya stopped doing it at an earlier age than this, so I still love it.
Nicknames: Baba, Baba Grace, and Kaya calls her “Kaden”. Haha.
Milestones, etc.: -Because I’m writing this a week and a half late, she already had her first day in nursery at church! She has been a bit more attached to me lately, so I was worried about how she’d do when I’d just completely leave her. Well… she stayed for the whole two hours, and only cried a little (apparently mostly when clean-up time happened and all the toys were put away). I can’t believe she’s old enough for this already, but I’m so proud of her for being so independent.

-Random, but she is obsessed with putting things in the hamper. Don’t leave any article of clothing hanging out, because she will clean up behind you. I even found her boots in there yesterday.

-She is really getting great at pretend play: eating, giving her baby a bath in the sink, and tucking her in with a pillow and a blanket.

-She is SUCH a little helper now! She likes to help me put the wet clothes into the dryer, unload the dishwasher, take things out of grocery bags and hand them to me, and she even tries to push her own high chair to the table at mealtime.

-She makes jokes/does silly things to make us laugh. She’ll hide behind the wall and pop out over and over to get us to giggle, or hide under a blanket and wait until we say “where’s Baba?”

-She’s at that age where she’s becoming hard to photograph… why look at the camera and smile when there are a million other more interesting things to be doing? I totally bribed her with Smarties (candy) for her monthly photo in the chair, because otherwise, this is what I get…

-She’s really good at identifying parts of her body (nose, eyes, ears, mouth, hair).

-She can get her boots on and off on her own, and has successfully removed her diaper herself before, too. She’s tried to get out of her jammies but always seems to end up with her arm stuck in the neck opening!

-She loves to bring us things that belong to us, and always says “thankssss” as she hands it to us. I don’t know if she’s instructing us to be polite and thank her, or what… haha.

-She definitely has her own opinion about things, and makes this awful squawking noise when she doesn’t like something. We have started very short time-outs in her room for these mini tantrums.

-Anytime I put makeup on, she stands next to me and begs for something to hold/play with from my bag. Turns out, she’s pretty good at losing chapstick… so I saved her an old tube of mascara to put in her purse. She’s happy as can be.

-She can go up the stairs on the playground on her own. She’s definitely interested in climbing, but hasn’t done anything extreme yet (Kaya was climbing out of the crib at this age… I almost can’t believe that)!

Dear Kaelyn,

You are so sweet. So very tender-hearted. I love the way you take care of your stuffed animals and baby doll. You are so gentle and loving, like the perfect little mommy. I hope that you’ll be a big sister one day, because I just know how perfectly kind and loving you would be toward a little baby brother or sister.

I love how you need a kiss from mommy anytime you get the tiniest booboo, or even just tumble onto the floor. That kiss makes everything instantly better, and your crying stops. You are still a mama’s girl for sure.I can’t believe we are already more than halfway through your second year. It’ll be summer and your 2nd birthday party before we know it! I love you, Kaelyn.

Love, Mommy