I’ve always been prone to taking too many pictures and recording everything. It’s probably the main driving force behind why I love to blog. As time has passed though, I’ve really worked hard at being more in the moment as easing up on the need to capture it all, but every now and then I just reach a point where I have to squeal, grab the video and capture one of the girls just as they are at this exact moment. Today is Kaitlyn’s day. At 21 months old she is such my little crazy love bug and I just can’t get enough of her! So I’m recording all the details I can think of and hoping her second birthday takes its sweet, slow time getting here.

 EAT

Kaitlyn definitely keeps me on my toes with eating. The good news is that she eats almost anything (the only dislikes that come to mind right now are grapefruit and chickpeas). Current favorite foods include hummus, black olives, peanut butter, grapes, blackberries, cooked carrots and diced ham. However, this girl can not sit still and eat. I get it, she’s a toddler, but it’s exhausting. I feel like I’m constantly saying “Kaitlyn- bite please” or having a bite ready to go in her mouth as she laps around the table.

I’m not sure if I’m over-analyzing but lately I’ve wondered if she has trouble digesting dairy. I was lactose intolerant as a kid, so maybe I’m just too tuned in to the possibility. Either way, I’ve put cheese and yogurt on the back burner for a little while to see if I notice a difference.

Nursing- yup, still. I really don’t know how to stop at this point. She wakes up and immediately pats my chest say mah-mah. I’m hoping to go to once a day soon and the wean around her 2nd birthday.

SLEEP

It’s crazy how quickly you forget the sleeplessness of a new baby. I’m so grateful that sleep is a predictable thing around here. She goes to bed at night at 7:00 (same as Hailey) and I go get her in the morning at 7:00. She takes one nap a day, usually between 12:30 and 1:00. She will sleep for about 2 hours.

She always must have her bunny “mimi” for bedtime. We read a book or two, sing a song and then down. Sometimes she will fuss for a minute, but then she passes out.

PLAY

I. Love. This. Age. Kaitlyn is so much fun. She is a busy little girl and is fearless, which makes my heart pound sometimes.

I call her a monkey because she climbs on everything, though ironically has not tried to climb out of her crib. It’s not unusual though to look over and see her standing on the table, chair or bed. She does everything she can to keep up with the big kids, especially her big sis.

Speaking of Hailey, she is smitten with her. The first thing Kaitlyn says to me every morning is A-ee? (Hailey). They play really well together despite the occasional pinch or push.

Her vocabulary is really coming along and I feel like we talk (and actually communicate) all day long. She can string words together now. Some of her favorite phrases are: doh tuh (don’t touch), ah be bah bac (I’ll be right back), righ righ (right there) and when she gets excited she beams and says the most genuine YAy Yay! She finally started referring to herself by name and she calls herself Kate-kate. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.

We have full on hit the stage of doing it MYSELF. Getting in the car is a 15 minute ordeal. She wants to climb in by herself and buckle herself too. The meltdowns that happen if I have to hurry her along and help are epic.

She can do it all solo except for the bottom buckles, which she reluctantly let’s me help with. Also, yes, she is forward facing. She was rear facing, but kept unbuckling herself to lean out so she could see Hailey. I made the call that forward facing and actually buckled in was safer that rear facing while unbuckled.

She loves books (here are her favorites) and finding “goldbug” in this Richard Scarry book is all the rage right now. She also loves baby dolls and backwards hats.

We’ve started doing time out. If she hits or throws toys, I will tell her she needs to go to time out. She will walk quietly over and sit on the stairs. After 1 minute I go over and tell her simply she is in time out because she hit. No hit. Then she goes over to Hailey, says sah-ee (sorry), cries and gives her a hug. Is it sinking in? I have no clue, but it seems to be working well enough.

She also really wants to potty train. She often takes off her own pants and diaper to go sit on the potty. We’ve had very little success, but I’m thinking we’ll give it a solid effort once the weather warms up.

She loves singing. Her favorite is twinkle twinkle and her favorite line is ‘up above the world so high.’ When it comes up, she will shhh me until I stop singing, then softly sing “uppa buh duh” — again, freaking adorable.

She is so cuddly and I hope that never changes. She loves giving kisses and if I ask for one on my nose she will shake her head and say “eye bow” and kiss me on the eye brow instead. Why? No idea, but it melts my heart.

She loves (LOVES) her weekly swim lessons and dances (the cutest little bounces and twirls) whenever music comes on. She can sit for about 5 minutes if Curious George is on, but otherwise has no interest in TV. She loves mimicking whatever Hailey does.

We haven’t had a recent check up, so I don’t know her stats, but she’s wearing size 4 diapers and 18 month or 18-24 month clothes.

Oh I could go on, but that’s a good overview. She’s my little rock star and I couldn’t imagine life without her.

She brings so much joy to this house!

For fun:

Hailey at 20 Months Old

or find all my toddler-focused posts here