Our babe is an entire year and a half! People told me that once she hit 18 months, there’s a huge developmental leap, and it’s true! She’s such a big little person these days. She is full of personality and just such a wonderful little love.

Walking Update: This should really say “running update”… the child is OFF! She’s constantly walking/running everywhere. One interesting little tid bit is that she walks on her tip toes quite a bit. As a 5′ 1″ (and that 1” might be a bit of a stretch) little lady, I spend a lot of time standing on my tip toes. It’s a habit. So I don’t know if she’s seen me doing it or if it’s a toddler thing, but it’s pretty silly. And sometimes leads to her falling on her tush.

Talking Update: The child is a chatterbox. I forsee many a report card comment about spending too much time chattering and socializing in class (just like her mommy received). Her comprehension is amazing. We can give her 1 and 2-part instructions and she goes right ahead and does it. Sometimes she shocks me with the words she knows. The best way I’ve found for teaching her words is through books. We go through picture books and identify the images.

I say, “Where’s the lion” and she points to it. Then, “What does the lion say?” And in the most feminine, high pitch voice, she squeals, “Raaaa!” She can do this with tons of animals (monkey, bear, giraffe, dog, cat, frog, fish, lion, pig, etc) and other objects (baby, milk, pine cone, tree, cup, ball, and the list goes on).

In terms of words she says, her vocabulary is a bit more limited, but still impressive (to me!):

• Mom, Momma
• Dad, Dada (she used to call Mark “MA” so this is a welcomed new lesson)
• Baba (baby)
• All Done (she said this today and it was clear as day)
• Mosht (toast)
• Chssss (Cheese)
• Ornch (Orange)
• Hot, Hot, Hot (this is Charlie’s favorite word that she uses nonstop. She touches EVERYTHING and anything remotely warm makes her say “hot” for 20 minutes)
• Pom (Pom Poms – I have little tissue paper flower pom poms hanging in my office)
• Mor (More)
• Ba (Bear)
• Liii (Lion)
• Sssssss (Steffie – my cousin)

I’m sure there are more because I’m literally shocked daily, but it’s so hard to remember all of them.

New Tricks:

• She is a wizard with a fork and spoon!
• She can do “downward facing dog” and is working on a somersault     
• She blows bubbles in the pool. AND, even crazier, she graduated to Level “Baby 2” in swim class and now goes in the pool without Mark. She has 2 others in her class with her and she sits on the pool step (in the water) by herself while the teacher takes the other kids for their turn. This to me is mind blowing. SUCH a big girl.    
• She can point out every part of her body.
• She loves to play dress up with Mommy’s hats and of course, look in the mirror or at pictures of herself in her “costumes”      
• She “counts”… aka points at objects and makes a noise to imitate counting.
• She can play the harmonica… with her nose.  
• She’s the toughest “tough girl”
• She can take her shoes and socks off on her own.
• She loves to take care of her “baby” (her baby doll). She gets baby all wrapped in her swaddle (and by gets I mean that she demands that Nana, Dada or I wrap her up) and carries her EVERYWHERE, rocks her, pushes her in the stroller and/or grocery cart, and gives her tons of smooches.        
• She loves her puppy and kitty. I actually haven’t noticed her pulling the cat’s tail recently… so hopefully she’s going to stop that. She’s very sweet with Toby. Gives him hugs and pets.    
• She helps unload the dishwasher (sometimes even when we don’t want her to)
• She throws away trash (and picks up any and every little speck of dust that comes in her path) and closes the trash cabinet door after.
• She can wipe her own hands, face and nose (not perfectly, but pretty well) and cleans up spills with paper towel.
• She knows the hand signals for “wheels on the bus,” “no more monkeys jumping on the bed”, “Take me out to the ball game,” “Patty Cake,” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”… hmmm… I’m sure there are more.
• She’s obsessed with music. LOVES, LOVES, LOVES music.
• She pretends everything is a phone and puts it to her little ear for a chat. She also LOVES to “work” at mommy’s desk.  
• She’s a hilarious dancer.
• She LOVES to brush her teeth. In fact, sometimes she refuses to drink her milk because she just can’t wait to brush her teeth.

Daily Schedule:

• 7/8:30: Depending on when she goes to sleep and what her plans for the day are, she wakes up between 7 and 8:30 (she has slept as late as 10:30/11ish before) – the girl LOVES her sleep.
• 8/830: Breakfast
• 10: On non-school days, Charlotte takes a morning rest/nap. Sometimes she falls asleep, sometimes she just has quiet play in bed. Regardless, we typically only let her sleep 30-60 minutes in the morning. On non-school days, Charlotte skips this nap and comes home zonked.
• 12: Lunch
• 1/2: Depending on her mood, Charlotte’s afternoon nap falls somewhere between 1 and 2/230. She will typically sleep anywhere between 2-3.5 hours. Usually it’s around 2.5. Again, this depends on whether she took an AM nap, what she did all day, etc.
• 6: Dinner, Bath (on bath days – she bathes every other day and on swim days)
• 7/8: Charlotte goes to bed most often around 7:30/7:45ish

School Schedule: Charlotte goes to school from 9-12:30 on Thursdays and Fridays (on these days, she eats a snack and lunch at school and does not nap)

Favorite Foods: Mealtimes are kind of my least favorite lately. Although, the past few days, Charlotte has been pretty good. But she’s SO toddler when it comes to food. Some days she loves something, others she hates it. Some days she refuses to taste anything, some days she’s adventurous. Some days she eats three huge meals, other days she fizzles after breakfast. The gist is that it’s not always easy. In fact, the only meal that’s “easy” is breakfast… ever.

favorites

• Cheerios or pretty much any other cereal
• Oatmeal with cinnamon
• Quiche
• Cheese Sticks
• Oranges
• Crackers (she rarely gets these)
• Yogurt
• Cottage Cheese

sometimes loves

• Toast with cinnamon
• Pasta with Sauce (only lately)
• Bread
• Taco ground turkey meat (lately)
• Berries – used to be her fave, now only sometimes
• Non string cheese cheese (hit or miss)
• Mac & Cheese
• Grilled Cheese
• Veggie shakes
• Egg bread (my version of French toast)

Favorite Toys:

• Her blankie. She LOVES her blankie. It’s expensive, but worth every penny.
• The VTech Learn to Talk & Read Baby Doll – Charlie is obsessed.
• The Circo Baby Stroller – She pushes baby all over the place in this sucker.      
• Leapfrog Shapes & Sharing Picnic Basket – this sucker just came back out and she’s loving it all over again.  

Favorite Books:

• Tiny books like these and “word books” like this
• Good Night Wisconsin
• If you Give a Mouse a Cookie
• Sophie Pop Up Peakaboo
• LadyBug Girl Series
• The Going to Bed Book
• The Little Engine That Could
• 10 Tiny Puppies

Size:

• Clothes: 18/12-18 Months (sometimes the pants and shirts are too short depending on where they’re from)
• Diapers: Size 4
• Shoe Size: Toddler 4.5

Teeth: Charlotte has so many teeth. I want to say she has 16… although I haven’t gotten a look to see if her 2 year old molars are making their way