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18 MONTHS

Eat Wake Sleep Cycle Month 18 Babywise

I can’t believe it- our little girl is 1.5 years old! She is SO intelligent, and so much fun! She is also such a handful! haha

 

Schedule/Sleep 

7 am wake and drink milk

8/8:30am breakfast

12 pm lunch

12:30/1-3 pm nap (I no longer wake her), milk when she wakes

5 pm dinner

7 pm bed

At this age, while the schedule is pretty set in stone, it is also fluid if need be. Caroline is old enough to handle changes pretty easily.

This schedule fluctuates a bit if she is sick or teething and seems to need more rest. As indicated above, I let her sleep as long as she needs to at this point as well.

If she takes an extra long nap, she needed the rest, and we simply keep her up a bit extra at bedtime (if needed).

Caroline recently started waking up at 4 am. She just sits there and doesn’t wake us. So, I am not entirely sure how long she’s been doing this.

She is tired during the day as a result, sleeping in and still going to bed at the same time.

To help this, we are now waking her at 7 am consistently (instead of letting her sleep in), and we are starting her bedtime routine at 7 (instead of having her in bed by then). It seems to be helping!

Wake time

 

Caroline has a lot of energy, so we spend most days going out and doing something in the mornings.

 

Things we like to do:

– Go outside and walk/explore

– Go to the playground (she climbs up and goes down the slide all on her own now!)

– Go to the trampoline park (we usually go once a week)

– Run errands (Caroline sits in the cart for most of it, but we do
practice staying close to mama and following instructions as well. Target around 9/10 is perfect for this!)

– We book library play rooms and meet up with friends for some social interaction

– Storytimes have actually fallen off of the list in the last 3 months (she simply can’t sit still for these at the moment)

– Fountains/pool are being added back in as of this week (now that the weather is nice again). She’s going to love this because she loves any activity with water involved!

– Go outside and play in the rain/splash in the puddles (one of Caroline’s favorite activities, and mama too!)

Here are some ideas for toys for 18 month olds.

– Caroline watches an alphabet video on YouTube (she absolutely loves it!)

– I quiz her on her letters using our alphabet puzzle (she can pretty much do all of the letters now when she has the patience to sit down and do it!) #babygenius LOL

– She likes to read her Dora book EVERY night (all three stories in the book)

– Caroline names her stuffed animals and likes putting them all in her crib with her to play

– She invites me (insists really) into her crib for early morning snuggles while she drinks her milk (also does this after her nap)

– She loves to run, jump and climb on everything

– She also likes to practice doing somersaults

– She loves to paint and doesn’t even mind getting dirty anymore

– Caroline enjoys finding the flags on license plates

– School buses and trucks are a must see every day!

Caroline is completely poop trained. We will be doing pee training soon. I am thinking in about a month (just waiting on her to be able to tell me more clearly when she has to go).

She has six FULL words that she says:

– Mama

– Dada

– Nana

– Elmo

– Bobby

– Lenny

She says a whole slew of other words, but only says part of the word. See the full list (minus the ones I forgot haha) in this post about Leap 10!

We had her 18 month appointment today and it sounds like she is perfectly on track with her words. They want them saying about 6 words by 18 months, and closer to 30 words by 2 years old!

A lot is going to change in the next 6 months, that’s for sure! They loved that Caroline knew pretty much the entire alphabet, and that she would revert to speaking instead of whining when asked (even if we can’t understand what she’s saying).

Caroline has some pretty intense tantrums now- all the time. She gets mad if I say no to something, and also gets mad when she can’t communicate what she wants.

It is obviously frustrating on both ends. She is going through a biting phase. She hasn’t successfully bitten me, but she tries. She gets super angry and tenses her muscles, then turns towards me with her mouth open.

My mama instinct is to push her away LOL Poor girl is probably wondering why mama is pushing her! I, of course, say no biting and explain.

This is a one time offense and you are done situation. If she tries to bite me, we are done with whatever it was she was doing. No warnings.

Trying to correct this issue before she tries to do it to someone other than mama or daddy! If my child ever runs at you with her mouth open, you have my permission to push her to the side (please be gentle)! hahaha

Bath time is so much fun now. She really enjoys this with Daddy the most. She splashes water out of the tub and just has such a good time! She also has a cup of water that she fills and pours on herself. She taps her shoulder to get daddy to help and pour more water on her.

Caroline is great at doing puzzles now. She only enjoys doing her alphabet puzzle, but she can pick up a piece and find exactly where it goes, and rotate it into position perfectly!

She is pretty good with a spoon and a fork now, although she chooses not to use them most of the time. She also loves to dip her food in things now! French fries in ketchup is a favorite, and apples in peanut butter is a close second! She even dips quesadillas in salsa!

I swear she knows everything we say. Everything. She can pick out every object in every book and in real life. She answers all of our questions and laughs at our jokes. She knows exactly what we are asking of her (even if she doesn’t listen). This girl is just so smart. Fascinating to see! I can’t wait to hear her talk more!

Outside time is worth tantruming to get, and tantruming when we come back in. Tantruming apparently isn’t a word- but it is now!

Caroline helps put away the dishes and the laundry. She loves getting on her kitchen stool and her bathroom stool.

She is simply a delight to my every minute. I know I am forgetting some things. This girl is just so unique and so lovely. I wish I could capture it all on paper to remember later! Happy 1.5 years, my beautiful, smart and strong daughter!

Check out all of our schedules here!

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