Caroline turned 19 months in the middle of October. It’s an important milestone because I keep thinking how she will be 20 months old when this baby gets here…and that is getting close! This age is so much fun. Her personality is developing and what I am seeing is a little girl who loves mischief, who is a tad bit Type A, who likes to take charge, who is independent, and who likes to please…unless it gets in the way of what she wants!

Here is a snapshot of Caroline at 19 months:

• She has gotten VERY verbal. She will now say ice cream, airplane (and point to the sky), “boppy” (for pumpkin), please (sort of…it’s more of a ‘peas’), boo, baby, dog, bubble, balloo (for balloon), mommy, daddy, yes, no, and probably others I am forgetting.
• She went into a bounce house for the first time the day she turned 19 months. She was brave, loved watching the other kids, and didn’t mind getting jostled around.
• She has gotten into coloring with crayons and putting stickers and tape on her pictures. When you ask her which sticker she wants, she will say a nonsense word very confidently and point to one…then you will ask if that’s the one she wants and she will say very clearly, “Yes.”
• She tried Play Doh for the first time and loved it. She even stopped trying to eat it to actually play with it, haha.
• She is alllll about her baby. She loves to sing “night night baby” to it and pat its back, laying it face down on the floor. She loves to give her baby a bottle and insists on having water in the bottle. She will also tell me that the baby is “crying” and she wants me to snuggle it. Then afterwards, when I hand it back to her, she snuggles it too. It is so sweet.
• She loves “The Wheels on the Bus” and will shout out “BUS” the minute we get in the car or when I strap her into her seat for meals. As soon as the song is over, she will request it again. The fun never ends.
• She has zero stranger danger and is not afraid of being far away from Mike or me.
• She loves playgrounds, especially the slides–climbing up the slides, to be precise.
• She will run away from us in public places and thinks it is hilarious. When you try to pick her up, she lets her legs turn to jello and collapses on the floor, regardless of where we are…the middle of the street, Target, a public bathroom…it is a LOT of fun when you’re 8 months pregnant!
• NO is her favorite word. Especially when directed at Finny, who she loves to boss around. Finny had an accident on the floor and I knew because all I could hear from the other room was Caroline saying “no! no! no!” and when I came into the room, she was pointing at Finny with one hand on her hip.
• She will tell you a penguin goes “waddle waddle” (which is in a book we have) and the baby on the bus goes “wah wah wah” and when you sing “5 little monkeys jumping on the bed,” she will grab her head and shake her finger while saying “no more monkeys jumping on the bed!” She will also say “up” when you sing “up above the world so high” for Twinkle Twinkle.
• Her bow is still the first thing she asks for when she wakes up. And the first thing she takes out in the car.
• She still loves ballet and can walk on her tippy toes and she tries to do “marching feet” but she doesn’t really bend her knees.
• She loves being sneaky–she will hide her eyes behind her hands and pull them away and yell BOO! and laughs uncontrollably when you react. She will also sneak behind a wall and come out and yell BOO at you and cracks herself up.
• We had our first bout with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease and she is still covered in spots…it’s getting better though, every day. I took her to the doctor twice where she lived playing with the stethoscope and sitting on the little stool.
• Favorite books: the Colors book (where she can name items in the book), Dear Zoo, Twinkle Twinkle, and the Baby Animals book.
• Favorite toys: her baby, crayons, stickers, her backpack, balloons, and ball, and bubbles…plus anything that anyone else is playing with. We are trying to work on sharing!
• Next up: Halloween! A parade in Del Ray and Boo at the Zoo and trick or treating in Fairlington. Oh and then voting in early November. Because CIVIC DUTY 😉

Here she is taking good care of her baby:

Here she is coloring and patting stickers into place:

Here she is enjoying the playground on a crisp Fall day…she is on a big slide kick right now. And yes, I definitely shoved her into that 9-12 month sweater because of the penguin!

And here she is during her inaugural bounce house adventure. It felt so strange to let her climb in by herself and set her free. Clearly she seems concerned that I wasn’t around:

And here she is after getting her fire chief hat from the Falls Church Fire Station:

Happy 19 months, Sugar Bear!