Nineteen Months Old

What a month it has been! Madeline continues to be our sweet yet spirited little girl. Over the last month, her comprehension has really improved, and she does really well following simple directions. Her verbalization has become much more clear to us and even others who've seen her regularly over this last month. Madeline has started to string together a couple of words to make statements such as: "I fall down." "I slide. I swing." "Boo-boo. It hurts." Occasionally, she'll belt out with an "I wuv you." or "Bless you." at the appropriate time. It's really neat to watch her figure out how to communicate and be successful. She's very into having things organized: putting her books back into the basket, if the corner of a rug is flipped up, she'll bend down to make it flat again; picking up things off the floor and putting them into the trashcan; if the drawer/a door/a cabinet is slightly open, she'll walk over and shut it; if her gate is not closed at the steps, she'll shut it.

Madeline seems to have gotten over her separation anxiety for the most part. What a relief! I think she's gotten used to her Daddy's travel and my flip-flopping gyms, so she's figured out that we always come back for her regardless of our schedule.
Madeline is no longer on any bottle. Woo hoo! She dropped her nap time bottle on her own one afternoon simply because she pushed it away when I tried to give it to her before nap. I went cold turkey on nap time bottle from that day forward, and as I suspected, Madeline did just fine without it. I planned to drop the nighttime bottle after our weekend away to Greenville so my brother's family wouldn't have to listen to her cry it out at night. Well, she ate so much at each mealtimes with them that she pushed the bottle away when my sister-in-law tried to give it to her, so she just put her down for the night. After that, I just stopped giving it to her at bedtime cold turkey. Again, she did fine without it. Madeline actually seems to prefer milk to juice or water, so she gets plenty of milk calories throughout the day without those extra bottles. Madeline is a roller coaster eater --- some weeks she eats us out of house and home eating & trying anything on her plate, and some weeks she's the pickiest eater and goes on food strike. I think in the long run, she's going to be a good eater and eat what she's served. Speaking of eating, her use of a fork and a spoon are coming along quite nicely. However, if she's really hungry, she will forgo the utensil and just grub down with her hands.

Madeline has finally cut all of her teeth --- these last two lower canines have been terribly painful for her. I actually think the canines have been the worst teeth of all as far as making her wake up in the middle of the night crying out in pain, the buckets of drool and runny nose, the cranky disposition, and the gnawing on anything. Phew, I'm glad to be done with teeth for now, and I'm sure Madeline is excited too!

Madeline is happiest when she can "read" her books, color, play outside, and just wander around chatting to me, her babies, or her stuffed animals. I marvel at how independent she really is to be so young. Of course, I play with her, but I let her come to me when she wants a story to be read to her, etc. because sometimes she'll push me away if I try to play with her as if to say, "I'll let you know when I need/want you to play with me." I love her independence, and I know in the long run her ability to play by herself will come in handy. Her little mind certainly knows what she wants, and when she doesn't get her way, she's sure to let us know. However, she's simmered down in the testing of boundaries and limits this past month (thank goodness!). I guess this consistent Mama made those limits very clear. Madeline has really started to respond to a "firm, teacher voice" because she will stop dead in her tracks and look at me when I call her name in my teacher voice. I am happy for that not just for discipline reasons, but also for safety reasons if she's about to get herself in a dangerous situation (being near the open oven door when I'm making dinner, getting too close to the curb when we are outside, not holding my hand walking to the car, etc.). Madeline is quite curious about everything around her, so I have to keep tabs on her.

Madeline's sleep habits continue to be awesome and like clockwork. She goes down for her nap around 1 PM and will sleep until about 3 or 4 PM. Her bedtime remains between 7-8 PM even with the time change, and she gets up between 7-8 AM. I can't complain about her sleep. She has had to "cry it out" more before nap and bed lately simply because she's in a new routine. Madeline is having to learn how to calm herself down instead of relying on the 8 oz. bottle to relax her. We do read her a couple of stories, but sometimes that is just not enough to fully relax her. Her crying it out usually lasts less than 5 minutes, but there have been a few times that she's let us know for about 15-20 minutes that she's angry about being in the bed. Unfortunately for her, we don't give into the crying --- no rocking, no back rubs, & no going back into the room once she's down. (Of course, I like to sneak a peek well after she's asleep to make sure she's okay.) Luckily for us, the times we've had sitters or relatives keep her for us recently, they have followed our strict orders to let her cry it out, so that has helped us to remain consistent in the new routine.

Madeline's little life is zipping right along (sometimes just entirely too fast!), and I am so happy that I get to be home with her to experience it all with her.

We love you sweet girl!