Eighteen Months Old

YIKES! Madeline is only six months away from being TWO! That, to me, just means that she is a full fledged toddler!

Madeline has a zest for life, and it's so funny to watch her bee-bop around. She will walk up to random strangers if we are walking together and just join in the conversation with a very enthusiastic "HI!" Madeline loves to be around people, and she wins them over with her hilarious antics whether we are in the grocery store or the church nursery. She loves being around other children, and she tries to play with them. Unfortunately, she does lack a few social graces, but with some effort and play dates, we can hopefully correct those. Madeline adores her Daddy, music, dancing, her bunny lovey, and her books. This child is destined to be a reader! She will thumb through chapter books jibber-jabbering away as if she knows what she is reading, and she's memorized so many of her board books. She loves to color, to walk around in my shoes, carry anything on her arm as her purse, be outside, "roughhouse" with her Daddy, and just play. Madeline still enjoys playing independently, but she likes to be within a closer range more so than she used to prefer. If I'm in the kitchen, Madeline has her books, toys, etc. right there near me. If she wanders off down the hallway, she comes back to check to see where I am and what I am doing after a little bit.

Our dear, sweet Madeline has really become a handful as many of my posts have addressed lately. Yes, she is asserting her independence, is very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with her temper and emotions, and has a mind of her own as of late, but I also think this is a stage of frustration. She can understand SO much, but she cannot totally communicate her needs and wants. Therefore, we are left to guess or just "make" her do this, that, and the other. Everyday I have to remind myself that she is going to test boundaries, rules, and limits, and it is our job to enforce those boundaries, rules, and limits. I only pray that Eric and I model the behavior we are preaching in hopes that she will see that we practice what we preach. There are some rules that Madeline continues to challenge as if to question my consistency (seriously, when will she learn that I have 10 years of teaching 5th grade under my belt?), and there are some that one discipline action is enough to curb the behavior.

Madeline's general temperament continues to be happy-go-lucky and obedient. Madeline has adapted to our change over the last 9 months really well, but this month she has shown a tad bit of separation anxiety. I think her Daddy's increasingly busy travels have caused the anxiety to fester and rear it's ugly head. Some days are better than others, but she's cried and clung to me more than she ever has especially in familiar places. We will just power through it, and our little sweetie will learn that Mama always comes back. (Everyone tells me that she calms down almost immediately with an enticing distraction which makes me feel better.)

Madeline has become quite frustrating in the food department lately mostly because her appetite is up and down, & she doesn't want to sit in her chair at the table for a long period of time to eat. However, her use of a little fork and spoon are improving. She loves to use it, and she does pretty well for someone of her age. Her pickiness and aversion to some foods has no rhyme or reason. Some meals she eats like she's never been fed, and some meals she hardly eats a nibble, and it could be all of her favorites. She'd live on Goldfish and Cheez-its (and other similar snacks) if I let her, and I've really curbed the snacking in hopes of creating a very hungry child at mealtimes. Again, if she could communicate just a little more clearly, I think she would operate well under an "A or B" choice for breakfast and lunch, and then that's what SHE chose, so SHE has to eat it or be really hungry. Of course, I am sticking to the dinner rule --- eat what we eat. Black eyed peas and lima beans were part of a recent dinner, so I kept consistent with my rule, and Madeline especially loved the black eyed peas. I quote, "Yummmmmy!" as she shoved a huge fistful of them into her mouth. She ate the very same leftovers for lunch the next day and scarfed them down. So, in addition to Madeline's current favorite foods, I am adding black eyed peas and lima beans. Madeline is not big on sweets, but she discovered chocolate covered raisins and loves them. Ironically, she won't eat plain raisins.

Madeline still does really well in the sleep department. Believe it or not, Madeline's "bewitching hour" is between 11 AM and 1 PM not the typical 4-6 PM. Her afternoon nap can be anywhere from an hour and a half to three and a half hours. I've tweaked her nap time routine, and it's going remarkably well. When it's time for nap, (most days, Madeline will say, "Night Night." when she is ready for a nap/bed), we go upstairs to her room, read a few stories in the rocking chair, have a few snuggles, and down she goes. Rarely, do I hear a peep from her room. She's a great nighttime sleeper sleeping 12-13 hours each night. She's always in bed by 7:30, or we really pay for it the next day. In light of our nap time routine going well, the nighttime ritual is soon to be tweaked as well. (Yes, I admit it --- my 18 month old still gets a bottle with whole milk at bedtime. More on that later.) Unfortunately, Madeline is very attached to her paci, and she's only allowed to have it in her bed right now. I have plans to go cold-turkey on that later this summer when it warms up so I can retreat outside while she screams for her paci because I know she will scream for it.

As challenging as this past month has been as far as having to step up the discipline, this past month has been really fun to watch her grow physically, mentally, and emotionally! Madeline has mastered the stairs going both up and down. Of course, I haven't removed the gates at the stairs, but she is much more confident in her abilities to navigate steps. She's learned how to climb onto chairs, sofas, etc., but luckily for us, she has also figured out how to get down and land on both feet. Madeline's vocabulary continues to explode daily. She is so eager to repeat words, use her new words correctly, try to use simple sentences, point to things wanting to know what it's called, explore how things work, and do things all by herself. It has been amazing to watch her figure problems out on her own. She has really blossomed in that area over the last month, and I have resisted the urge to jump in and do it for her. Before she would try to figure something out, and if her solution didn't work after a minute or so, she gave up and whined for me to help her or found something else to do. Now, she sticks with a task, and her logic has become much more reasonable and well thought out. Therefore she's become successful in accomplishing her tasks she sets out to do, and she's looks at me with a proud smile across her face. It's so cute as if to say, "Look at ME, Mama! I did it all by myself."

As much as Madeline may try our patience or test our boundaries, she hugs, kisses, and blesses us with her "conversations" tenfold each and everyday. Most of all, she is just a lovable, huggable, spunky child, and she's our sweet little Madeline Grace.