Clothing size: 18-month-size everything. I am tempted to try on some of her 24-month cold-weather shirts, though. Size 4 sneakers, but I’ve been tying Kaya’s old size 5 dress shoes tight enough to stay on her feet for church.
Eyecolor: Blue.
Teeth: TEN! This was a big month for getting teeth.
Eating: She is still a total mess when she eats anything (mealtime requires us to strip her down to her diaper), but she can eat an entire Greek yogurt by herself. She loves olives, pasta, cheese, and crackers (but not animal crackers…). She is a little snack monster!
She’s still nursing three times per day with no signs of stopping. I’m thrilled that we’ve made it this long, but there are moments when I contemplate weaning, or at least dropping one feeding. We’ll see.
New words: I don’t know if she’s said anything entirely new… but she has definitely become more articulate with the words she does know. Instead of “mama” or “dada”, she actually says “mommy” and “daddy”. Her little voice melts my heart every time she cries out for me.
Favorite things: Her plush “Blue Kitty”, her Piggy, pretending to cook in the kitchen/eat play food, and using any kind of cup that has a real straw on it (she monopolizes the water cup any time we go out to eat). She loves going outside and playing on the playground (if we walk past a play area without stopping, she gets upset)! She also loves wearing her boots and playing dress up/wearing necklaces.
She “reads” all the time and is very gentle on books, even ones with paper pages (i.e. instead of board books).
Dislikes: Diaper changes, getting her face wiped, sharing, and the car seat.
Sleep: She goes down around 8 pm and gets up around 6 or 6:30 am typically. She really has a tough time making it through the morning without that power nap, but these days, it seems like she’ll only take one if we’re driving in the car. Otherwise, she sometimes passes out in her highchair at lunch. Naptime is around 1:30 or 2 pm for about 3 hours.
Nicknames: Baba, Baba Grace, Lovebug.
Milestones, etc.: -She can point to her nose, ears, eyes, mouth, belly button, and toes when asked!
-She’s started more “pretend play” and will put things in her toy microwave, give Blue Kitty a pretend drink or put a diaper on him. Haha!
-She is so good at following instructions and being a little helper now! She loves to put garbage in the trash, clothes (clean or dirty, haha) into the hamper, and even unloads the dishwasher!
-She loves to color and is surprisingly good at holding a writing instrument.
-Climbing… she’s mastered it. She loves to climb up on the ottoman and then “jump” up and down before we catch her. She also climbed into a dining room chair at my parents’ house on Thanksgiving.
-She also (usually) insists on climbing down from wherever she is on her own… even if that means tumbling a little.
-She’s started laughing at us when we tell her “no”. I’m not really sure what to do about that…
-She’s getting good at kicking around a ball, almost like she’s playing soccer!
-She can (somewhat) put her boots on by herself. Sometimes they are on the wrong feet, or not quite on her foot all the way, but she really tries hard.
-She does silly things to make us laugh… like initiate peekaboo or say something hilarious over and over again. 🙂
Dear Kaelyn,
You give kisses and hugs all day long, and I hope you always will. You are SO affectionate. I love those lip-smacking noises you make when you want a smooch, and how you wrap your arms around my leg and bury your face into me when you give hugs. You are just the sweetest little blue-eyed girl I know.
Lately, you LOVE to look at pictures of Jesus. We watched this video clip for family home evening one night, and when it zoomed in on Christ’s face, you squealed and pointed with delight. You also love to take His picture off of my nightstand and look at it. I’m grateful to witness how tender and loving you are in these instances. You remind me almost daily that Heaven is not far away, and you are still so fresh from that perfect place.
I love you baby girl. Thank you for all the laughs and sweet moments we share.
Love, Mommy