Cara is 19 months!

The fun just keeps on coming! This month was really fulfilling with Cara, like all the others have been.

Stats:

• No big changes here... 27.5 lbs-ish
• 33" tall
• 12 teeth at last count

Milestones:

• climbing on anything she can
• counting 1-10 after we say it--she can usually 1-3 on her own, then skips to 6 and 9 :)
• says ABCs after us--says A all the time and can sometimes point to the letter A if it's in a familiar spot
• says her first name appropriately, starting to know her middle name and last name (says "Beth" with her tongue sticking out for the "th", which is just how I enunciate it, and says "Nonnuhll" for Connell)
• does some motions to songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider and Ring Around the Rosie... All. The. Time. :)
• sits on her potty, just sits
• brushes her teeth, or sucks on the toothbrush
• says 3 syllable words with some accuracy
• says 3-4 words together sometimes ("night night Baylor shoes")
• pulls off her shoes and socks every single time we're in the car. Shoes are a constant battle; socks are less frequent--is that a milestone for other toddlers? How long does it last? We have to practically undress her before getting in the car (no hairbow, shoes, socks, etc.)

Personality:

• observant--watches people and things in new situations before joining in, likes to get used to an environment or people who are new. She usually jumps in and warms up after a few minutes, but she definitely likes to get her bearings first. Will she be an introvert like Mommy?
• particular--becomes more shy if something isn't what she's used to. For example, when our small group comes over for dinner, she has gotten really upset twice when people have just walked into our house and she wasn't prepared. Like her observant nature, she warmed up after a little bit, but she was unhappy when something changed unexpectedly. If this continues, I think we can expect her to be JUST like Mommy on this one!
• intelligent--she makes connections to people and places and remembers them. When we tell her it's time for church, she says, "Bible", when we taught her that her monogram letters on her wall stand for Cara Beth Connell, she pointed to them for days later and said, "Nonnuhll", when I tell her to get in the buggy at HEB, she says, "Ariel" because Ms. Ariel at school pushes the kids in the bye-bye buggy. We've taught that Buck and Mimi live in "Dallas", so now she says that when we talk about them. I'm just fascinated to watch her brain make connections and recall tangential information.
• chatterbox--when she is in an environment where she is comfortable, she talks all. the. time. All kinds of words, in a constant chatter to herself or to others. Sometimes she just mumbles to herself (in the car, in her chair, while she plays), but usually it's talking to someone or mimicking them. Mimi will say that I am getting what I deserve in mental exhaustion from a chattering toddler--I was the same way!
• stubborn--Cara is starting to say "no" and really mean it, from little things to bigger ones. She resists sometimes, throws her hands down from holding mine, crouches down, pitches a fit, etc. Here come the toddler days!
• It seems that as much as Cara looks like her Daddy, she may end up acting a lot like Mommy. How interesting to watch her personality traits develop, strengthen and refine!

Sleep:

• no major changes, except for her naps
• sleeps 7:30p.m.-7a.m.
• likes to play "night night" by laying down and halfway closing her eyes. It's really funny.
• naps at 11:30 or so, and usually for just 1-1.5 hours. This is a lot shorter than it used to be, and it's been pretty consistent in its length. Is this the end of an era? Will her naps get longer again later? She isn't fussy at night, so it doesn't seem to be a necessity for her to nap longer--I'm just missing that length of time we used to have while she slept! Any insight?

Clothes:

• fully in 24m
• I packed up her 18m clothes (all but a few pieces) and put them away--that was a sad moment. That was 6 months of memories and experiences in those little pieces.
• size 5 diapers--will we ever size up, or will we just potty train before size 6?
• may be time for 5.5 or size 6 shoes. I think 6 is too big, but a few pairs of the 5s we have are getting snug. We love her TOMS, but they're easy to pull off (see above), and her Keds tennies are really tight across the top of her foot. Looks like her foot is growing a lot faster than it used to! Oh joy...

Food:

• drinks 15 oz of milk--down from past months--at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Has water by the gallon (practically). Probably drinks 10-15 oz of water a day too.
• LOVES chicken--I'm trying to branch out and cook it in different ways, but it's her favorite thing to eat
• really likes veggie burgers (Gardenburger)--go figure! They look awful to me, but she eats them up!
• loves berries--strawberries and blueberries, and loves to say the words a lot. I'm going to try blackberries and raspberries again
• does NOT like peas or broccoli--still... I guess it's good she likes green beans so I can give her some kind of green vegetable. I'll keep trying those, but it may be a lost cause.
• asks for apples and bananas and recognizes them by sight--just like Mama!
• We're keeping the HEB produce section in business. We go at least twice a week to restock.

Likes:

• playing "girl and the horsey" with Daddy
• reading her animals book--"ammmils"
• running and swinging
• bath crayons
• Potty book! Love Leslie Patricelli and all her books (Yummy Yucky, No No Yes Yes, Baby Happy Baby Sad, Potty, etc.)
• sitting in someone's lap
• looking at and naming pictures of people
• singing Itsy Bitsy Spider and Ring Around the Rosie
• petting Po softly--getting so much better at soft!
• pulling off her shoes and saying, "Hi, toes!" excitedly
• her daycare teachers--we talk about Ms. Helen and Ms. Ariel constantly, and it warms my heart that they are such big parts of her life and she loves them!

Dislikes:

• FaceTime--she doesn't know what to do with it. We try to talk to Mimi and Buck, and she goes silent when they get on the phone, then pipes up as soon as we hang up.
• hearing "no" and getting her hand popped. I did it once recently, and hit her hand very lightly, and she melted down. End of the world. Oh, discipline...
• having a mess on her hands, eyes, mouth, face, and having it cleaned up is even worse
• painted toes--at first... I polished them one afternoon really fast, and she was simultaneously fascinated and terrified of it. She kept looking at her feet and saying, "Toes...", so I would say, "Pretty toes! Like Mama!", but it kept going on and on, so finally I just put shoes and socks on her again. Solved that problem. After that, she started to look at her toes and say "pitty toes", so all was well. :)
• wanting something without having the words to say so. We have lots of grunts and whining and pointing, which we are trying to replace with words. One day it will catch up.

Most Challenging:

• the wanting without words--it's hard to play detective while meeting her needs fast enough to avoid a meltdown. We're trying to replace the whines, grunts and pointing with asking and naming.
• setting limits with the word no--it's tempting to give into something "smaller" to avoid a meltdown or conflict, but I know that boundaries and limits are so important, even at this young age.
• knowing when to give in to something because of her age and attention span, and when to hold strong. For example, we are trying to teach her to put away her books or toys when she gets them out. Like 1 book out, 1 book back in the shelf etc. When we ask her, she says "no", of course, so we're trying to figure out when to really make her listen and put the book away, or when to just let her decision stand. Usually we ask and then repeat once, and then move on. Then we follow up by having her help us clean up at the end of the night or later on. But that's a constant concern in my parenting brain.

Looking forward to:

• Cara talking more and in more complex levels--naming things she wants, telling me her needs, etc.
• celebrating Easter in a few weeks
• moving into our new house in a few weeks too. This brings a ton of stress with it (logistics, money, crummy sellers of our new house, time off work, etc.), but it's also really exciting. By this post next month, we'll be in our new place! I'll be so sad to leave this house, Cara's room, all the memories from it, but also excited to grow into a new space and make new memories. If you have some empty boxes or some strong arms, feel free to lend either! :)

And here is a photo dump of all the other photos from the month I didn't include yet. March was full for us!