Cara is 21 months old!

So much has happened in the last month with Cara's development! And I only have 3 more months until she is 2! (And 3 more months until I stop doing these giant monthly posts and we can shift to just smaller updates as she develops.)

Stats:

• 29.4 lbs
• 34"-ish tall
• 16 teeth, really filling in

Milestones:

• says 3-4 words at a time in lots of situations ("blue toy right there")
• recognizes several dozen people by their pictures (we look at a LOT of pictures)
• says people's names and group them by family ("Who lives at Mimi's house? Mimi, Buck, Harleigh")
• makes connections to past experiences with present information (We saw a piece of pie in a book. She asked what it was, and I told her it was pie. She said, "Pie. Nana. Mouth. Eat it. Mmmmmm" because several weeks ago, Nana fed her bites of pie for a treat. She remembered and associated. Blew my mind.)
• fills in words of songs and of favorite books, sometimes a phrase of a song or a book. ("The Itsy Bitsy SPIDER went up the WATER SPOUT.")
• finds the letter A in any word or her package of play letters
• tells us when she needs a diaper change or when she has gone poo poo. Starting to think heavily about potty training her sometime this summer when we're home together!
• getting bossy and demanding about what she wants ("Right here, Mama. Sit up, Daddy! Mama hold you. CARA DO IT!")
• helps with bathing, dressing, shoes and socks and wants to help pull her hair up in rubber bands. That's still a little too advanced for her.
• feeds herself with a spoon ("shoop" for scoop) and a fork ("tab it" for stab it) about 85% of the time. Sometimes gives up and uses her hands instead.

Personality:

• reserved--has to acclimate to a new situation before she feels comfortable and opens up
• silly--her favorite word to describe everything. She likes to play games and laugh and do funny things to entertain us and herself.
• still continues to be bright, articulate, loving, impatient--seems to be very smart, talkative, liberal with kisses and hugs and "I love you"s and doesn't like to wait for much of anything!
• I think we definitely see a trend in her personality, and it's so amazing to watch it develop and solidify.

Sleep:

• sleeps 7:30-7 overnight
• naps from 12-2ish each day
• has started saying these things to us at nighttime: love you mama/daddy/Po, night night, bye bye, this way (as in, "I want to lay THIS WAY" where her head faces a certain direction), lovie, bear, baby, sheets, fabric, dark (more on that point in a second)
• often says "Cara do it" when we pat her back and reaches her hand around to pat her own back. Maybe I should add independent to her list of personality traits? :)
• Finally has started sleeping longer for naps and later in the mornings because I put blackout fabric on the windows. I bought some black canvas called Duck, cut it to size, affixed it to the window with sticky Velcro strips, and it blocks 90% of the sunlight out of her room. We'll probably take it down much later when she's a better sleeper and older, but this has been a miracle to keep her from waking up at 6:45 a.m. each day, no matter what. And the first day she slept in the dark room, her nap lasted for 3 hours!!! I'll take it!

Clothes:

• size 24m or 2T clothes
• size 5 diapers--maybe some of the last we'll wear?
• size 5.5-6 shoe!

Food:

• becoming kind of a picky eater, and mealtimes have sometimes been a struggle. She doesn't have all the words to communicate if she doesn't like a certain food or is all done or wants to do it herself, etc.
• loves her booster seat, placemat and utensils
• drinks 2-3 cups of milk a day, 2-3 cups of water, and a half a cup of watered-down juice at school
• loves her pink cup with a straw--easy to hold and use the straw, and is cute because of the pink
• favorites include: BLUEBERRIES, chicken, fish sticks, graham crackers, marshmallows, Goldfish, strawberries, apples, bananas, pouches (the Earth's Best brand flavors are good AND they have Elmo/Big Bird, etc. on the outside. Bonus points at our house.), PBJ, toast, scrambled eggs, quesadillas, french fries, turkey, CHEESE.
• LOVES to eat ketchup--wants to "shoop" anything in it: her thumb, french fries, blueberries... Yuck!
• doesn't love cupcakes or ice cream--she will eat them, but not devour them. What is up with this girl?

Likes:

• Sofia the First and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (usually just on Saturday mornings for 1-2 episodes, but she asks for it all the time!)
• looking at pictures on our phone or in the house where we have photo collages (always says, "SEE CARA! SEE CARA!" in a very demanding voice)
• being outside, playing on the back patio or going for a walk, riding in the wagon, etc. We just got her a water table and bubble blower, so hopefully more fun times outside are soon to come
• her pink stool, sitting on it and carrying it
• reading books, especially ones that make sounds (those are OUR least favorite...) :)
• running through the house, and I'm so glad we have a bigger house that encourages running in the free space!
• giving kisses and hugs--all the time!
• dancing and listening to music
• singing kids songs like Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy and You Know It, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ring Around the Rosie, any song with motions
• having Mommy hold her or sitting in my lap
• wearing her Ariel sunglasses and saying, "Hey, behbeh"
• Elmo, Big Bird, Grover and Sesame Street characters, mostly from seeing them on her diaper and other objects around the house

Dislikes:

• not being able to do something for herself (eating, dressing, reaching, seeing)
• sharing toys or items with a friend at school, cousins, friends who come to play, etc. She gets the indignant face until we explain that she needs to share what she has.
• sitting in a high chair at a restaurant; she wants to sit in my lap or run around instead

Most challenging:

• She was sick with a super-high fever for 5 days straight. Like 103+ scary. We had to miss work from Wednesday-Friday (Chance took most of it off) and then it was still high for most of Saturday. I hate seeing my sweet girl sick, especially when it's a virus I can't make better!
• teaching her to communicate, even though she picks it up quickly
• keeping her entertained--this mama needs to get creative for the summertime with art projects, crafts, music, activities. I want to keep her busy when we're home together like she is at daycare. Boredom leads to fussiness and we DON'T want that!

Looking forward to:

• summertime! Spending time with my girl at home, playing with friends, going on sno cone and breakfast dates
• prepping for her second birthday party! I think I'm narrowing down a theme and ideas.
• seeing her learn more and do more things that make us laugh and smile all the time.
• potty training!