21 Months!

I am amazed at how much Caroline seems to learn everyday! As a speech therapist, I am so accustomed to seeing kids with special needs that struggle so much to even make a sound sometimes, and I know how lucky I am to have a "typical" little girl. I can understand most of what she says. I'm not sure if it's because I'm around her all the time or because I interpret "toddler talk" all day long at work. I'm choosing to think it's that she's a great talker! She has such a little personality and is such a sweetie (when we're not locked into one of our battles!). You might think from my post yesterday that she's a little terror...but the sweet and good moments definitely outweigh the bad (even though the bad ones stick with you a little longer sometimes!). She's definitely a Mama's girl; she likes to have Daddy around but doesn't want to be picked up or snuggle with him most of the time. And it drives John crazy! :-) Enjoy some Caroline facts:

*One day in the car about a month ago, I said, "love you"; she usually repeats it back to me, but this time she said, "love you, Mama". Melted my heart!!!

*She is obsessed with Toy Story 3!! We've watched it every now and then because I have it on the DVR, but lately she asks for it all the time! I think we watched it 10 times over Labor Day weekend. She'll say, "Toy! Toy!" and will say "no!!" if I try to turn on anything else. She did "let" me watch football on Saturday though!

*She loves to push you and say, "Move!". Not such a nice thing to say so we've been working on it. She'll now push you and say, "Move please, move please". :-) Hey, it's as start!

*She still loves all of her babies. She pushes them around in her stroller or grocery cart. She's also very concerned about their potty habits--she often tells me that they've pooped and will pull her 1 diaper she's allowed play with out and ask for a wipe. Too funny!

*If you've read on Facebook, you know that potty training has had its ups and downs...mostly downs lately. She did awesome when we went to visit my family in MS. I was worried because I thought the change in routine might confuse her, but it seemed to do the opposite. I think a big problem is daycare. They can't work on it there until she moves up into the 2 year old class. I've thought about talking to the director about maybe moving up early.

*Shes likes to use pottying as an excuse to stay up later. As soon as we get out of the tub or start putting her pj's on or rock, she says, "pee pee potty" in a very panicked voice. So, since I want her to tell me this during the day, we head back to the potty where she is content to sit forever. And may or may not pee and/or poop (she's only actually gone 3 times during these 6 or 7 times a night she tells me). The past 2 nights I've had to pry her off of me asking to go potty and crying to get her into the bed. In fact, John and I had to lower her bed because she kept trying to climb out last night!

*She's been on a major yogurt kick lately, and I think she would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I let her.

*We've been talking a lot about being a big girl vs being a baby (ex--big girls pee pee in the potty, babies cry). When I say something about being a big girl, she will say "no crying" or about using the potty, she will say "[insert a pretty distorted version of "Caroline" here] big girl".

*The reason we talk about crying is because she gets a little whiny/hysterical when she decided she wants something Example: Out of nowhere, she will drop what she's doing, come to me and say "nilk, nilk, nilk!!!!!!!" like she hasn't had anything to eat or drink in months and months. So I tell her to stop crying and say, "milk please". Which she does right away. Trying to figure out how to eliminate the hysteria. :-)

*She hates having her teeth brushed. I manage to get it done at bedtime but don't have the energy to tackle it in the morning yet. I just hope her teeth don't rot out!

*Sometimes when you give her something, she will say, "thank you much". So cute!

Guess that's enough for now! Have you enjoyed the Caroline novel for tonight?? Oh, and I can't forget the pictures....