18 Months

18 Months!?! Cora has suddenly turned into a little girl rather than a baby. While it's lots of fun, she's also thrown in lots of tantrums just to keep us on our toes! :)


18 Month Stats:
Weight: 21 lbs. 9 oz. (32%)
Height: 30.3" (7%)
Head: 19.2" (96%)
Teeth: 12
Words: mama, dada, siser, bah (ball), mah (more), ahh da (all done), buh (book), 16 months: bay-bay (bye-bye), uh-oh, wawa (water), sna (snack), seyah (yes), ni-ni (night night) 17 months: sish (fish), dat (that), dis (this), Whas saa? (what's that?) guh (go). 18 months: chick (chicken), hah (hot),  She can also make the sounds of most animals when asked and find most body parts (16 mo)

Favorites:
Foods: oatmeal, pasta, guac, passionfruit, berries, chicken legs, lettuce wraps
Books: Ditty Bird music book, Roadwork, Go Go Stop
Things to do: anything sister does, listen to music, read books, swim, break block towers, throw balls
Loves: bubbles, lovie bunny, animals, especially fish, Emmeline's purple chair

Cora has learned so much in the past 3 months. The most exciting thing is that she has finally started walking! Right around 16 months, she decided one day that walking was the way to go. And since that day, she hasn't ever really looked back. Since she took her time to walk, she was pretty proficient from the get go, and never really took any big spills. She's happy to walk all the way to the pool and back without being carried. Probably the benefits of having an older sibling to keep up with.

 


Her words and language have really taken off. She is eager to repeat what we say and follows simple directions and commands. Right around 18 months she started putting a few two word phrases together like "bye-bye dada" or "mah mik" (more milk). While she loves to talk and babble, she still is easily frustrated when we can't understand exactly what she wants. This leads to some epic tantrums and meltdowns, often continuing for 10-15 minutes, throwing herself (or her food) on the floor. Literally there's nothing you can do to console her, other than let her cry it all out. I'm really hoping as she starts to talk more, that the tantrums will lessen! We finally transitioned to 1 nap around 16.5 months. It hasn't been easy, and there are still days were she doesn't nap well, but in general she naps about 2 hours right after lunch. Makes it easier to get out and do things, as long as we make sure we are make in time for an early lunch at avoid the meltdowns!

 

Cora continues to be just a happy, smiley toddler. Almost everyone that meets her remarks on how happy she is (if only they could see her in the tantrum state!). She is definitely a mama's girl, though, and can be a bit shy around new adults. Kids, she loves, especially ones at Emmeline's school. She just wants to be a big kid like them! The one thing she definitely doesn't like are airplanes and jets. There's been a lot of them flying around recently practicing for National Day, and every time I get a "mamamamamama" and wanting to be held. We've taught her to say "bye bye jets", so she will now do this when in the safety of someone's arms (usually mom's).

 


Her stubbornness still shows through, particularly when she's eating. Around 15 months she refused to be fed at all, and started using the fork and spoon on her own. She's quite proficient at both now, though the spoon she tends to turn sideways/upside down as it enters her mouth. Some days she eats so much food, others not at all, and there's no way of convincing her otherwise.

 

Cora loves to make forts and play anything Emmeline is playing. She'd rather break a tower than build it, dump the puzzle pieces out than put it together, rip the paper than color it, but she sure is happy while doing it! She does love reading books, and her new favorite thing to do is find animals or things hidden on each page. She loves to swim and can already blow bubbles, kick her legs, and go down the slide with Emmeline. (Yet still hates getting her hair washed at bath time). Cora is great at helping: putting clean dishes away, getting her dishes out for meals, getting her shoes on, throwing trash away. I love this stage where they still love to help! Can't wait to see what the coming months have in store as we get closer to 2. (2!?!)